Meet our staff!
Rev. Shawna Bowman, Pastor and Executive Director
Rev. Shawna (they/their/theirs) is an artist and pastor. They are the first called and installed pastor of Friendship Presbyterian Church and have been doing ministry with the creative and justice-seeking folks here since 2011. In 2019 Friendship launched a not for profit called Friendship Community Place to create a community center space and Shawna serves as the Executive Director. Shawna is a 2009 grad from McCormick Theological Seminary where they currently serve as Affiliate Faculty, they are an organizer and facilitator at Crossroads Antiracism and Training and serve on the Board of Directors at The Night Ministry in Chicago.
Kasey Trouba, Operations Manager
Kasey (she/her/hers) is a Chicago based jack of all trades. After graduating from Loyola University Chicago in 2017, she came onboard at Friendship as their administrative assistant. In preparation for our move into 5150, her role grew into its current iteration as Operations Manager. When she isn’t serving the fine folks at Friendship, she can be found tending to her garden and numerous house plants, or honing her metalsmithing skills to create unique pieces of jewelry. She is a proud mother of two cats, Mac and Cheese, and one pup, Mimolette, with her wife, Allison.
Andrew Shen, Kitchen Assistant
Kasey (she/her/hers) is a Chicago based jack of all trades. After graduating from Loyola University Chicago in 2017, she came onboard at Friendship as their administrative assistant. In preparation for our move into 5150, her role grew into its current iteration as Operations Manager. When she isn’t serving the fine folks at Friendship, she can be found tending to her garden and numerous house plants, or honing her metalsmithing skills to create unique pieces of jewelry. She is a proud mother of two cats, Mac and Cheese, and one pup, Mimolette, with her wife, Allison.
Josh Lava, Musician
Josh Lava is a musical chameleon who has amassed an impressive and eclectic body of work as a multi-instrumentalist, producer/engineer, composer, and songwriter across the genre spectrum. Whether he's composing for full orchestra, performing live with a jazz trio, or producing an electronic dance track, Josh is musically at home pretty much anywhere.
Meet our leaders!
Friendship’s Session Members are elected to serve as the leaders of our congregation and they guide our community from one chapter to the next with compassionate care. They are responsible for the fiduciary oversight, visioning, strategic planning, mission and spiritual care of the congregation. Members of Friendship’s Session also serve as Board Members of Friendship Community Place.
Members of Session chair the five teams that collaborate with one another to coordinate the work of the church and Friendship Community Place. Those teams are:
Mission & Partnerships Team
The Mission & Partnerships Team coordinates with current partner organizations and cultivates new relationships in our community. They are responsible for our kitchen programming and curate faith and community based programming that speaks to Friendship’s commitments.
Worship & Faith Formation Team
The Worship & Faith Formation Team engages in creative brainstorming, worship planning, spiritual, faith and education programming following the liturgical seasons and in response to the longings and interests of our worshiping community.
Space Utilization Team
The Space Utilization Team is responsible for maintaining our space, planning creatively and strategically for the use of our space and implementing processes and policies for use of our space. This team manages the renting and usage of Friendship’s spaces.
Finance & Investments Team
The Finance & Investments Team is responsible for the drafting of and oversight of annual budgets, regular accounting, our investment portfolio, financial planning, and stewardship and fundraising campaigns. This team also includes a Grant-writing subteam that works in collaboration with staff.
Personnel & Nominating Team
The Personnel & Nominating Team is responsible for HR related tasks, leadership development for both staff and Friendship leaders, Session and Board recruitment, and annual personnel evaluations.