Our Staff

Our Staff

Our friendly staff is available to help assist you with questions and can be contacted anytime by calling or emailing the church office at 206-723-1536 or blaineoffice@yahoo.com. We look forward to meeting you!


Pastors

Rev. Karen Yokota Love, Senior Pastor
Karen Yokota Love (she/her/hers) currently serves at the senior pastor at Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church in Seattle, WA. Prior to being appointed to Blaine Memorial, Rev. Karen served congregations in Milton, Puyallup, and Tacoma. She is a Yonsei, or fourth generation American of Japanese descent. Rev. Karen has spent her life collecting stories about her ancestors’€™ experiences during their detention to help bring to light justice and healing. She also enjoys educating people about this nugget of history and how we use the past to work towards a better future. Rev. Karen currently serves as the president of the National Japanese American United Methodist Caucus. She holds a B.A. degree in Journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Divinity degree from Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, California. When not at church, Karen enjoys spending time with her husband, Jesse, getting her hands dirty with any sort of DIY project, reading, taking long walks, and attending a good yoga class.


Rev. Mia MiKyung Park, Associate Pastor
Mia MiKyung Park (she/her/hers) serves as the associate pastor at Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church. She became a provisional elder in the Oregon/Idaho conference in June 2020 and she is pursuing to be ordained as a Full Elder. She received the Master of Divinity from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL in May 2019. Mia grew up in a small farming town with five siblings in South Korea. She got her BA in Social Work and became a social worker working in the community in South Korea. Mia came to the U.S. with her husband, John (the senior pastor at Mercer Island UMC) for education and they lived in NJ, ID and OR. The family including two daughters, Grace and Gloria became the residents of WA July 2019 and they enjoy getting to know people and environment in the PNW area. Learning from growing up in a big family, she considers church as an expanded family of faith where everyone is welcomed and belonging. She spends her free time reading, playing piano, and hiking and playing board games with her family. Her favorite board game is Queen Domino and her favorite hike is Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park.


Program Staff

Yuki Sofronas, Office Assistant

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Lynne Onishi, Blaine Youth Group Co-Director
Lynne Onishi (she/her/hers) is a lifelong Blaine Memorial UMC congregant. She has been co-directing the Blaine Youth Group since 2017. Prior to that, she served as a volunteer youth leader. Drawing from her experience as a student in youth ministry, Lynne strives to make BYG a community where youth can learn about faith through curiosity, service, justice, and meaningful relationships with God and neighbor. Lynne holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Seattle Pacific University. She has worked with children, youth, and young adults in ministry settings and beyond. In her ministry work, Lynne has served as a counselor and adult chaperone for NJAUMC summer camps, as a teacher for Vacation Bible School, as a small group leader for undergraduates at SPU, and as the associate minister at the Wesley Foundation at Seattle (a Methodist campus ministry organization by the UW campus). Lynne has also worked with children and youth as a pediatric dental assistant and as a tutor and teaching intern in educational settings. When she’s not working, Lynne enjoys activities such as photographing her two cats, getting outside for a run or hike, doing DIY projects, and eating delicious food. She can often be found reading a book, writing in her journal, or belting show tunes to a nonexistent audience.



Support Staff

Mimi Mar, Bookkeeper

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Wendy Yates, Bookkeeper
Wendy is a long-time Blaine Memorial UMC member, mom of 3 daughters and 4 grandchildren. She spent most of her working career in education. Loves to crochet!