Clergy & Staff

Greg Kimura (55) is a Yonsei (fourth-generation) Japanese American and Alaskan. His grandparents became Episcopalians after the WWII incarceration and they served in various elected and volunteer roles at All Saints’ in downtown Anchorage, where his grandfather William designed the stained glass windows.

He holds an MDiv from Harvard University and a PhD in philosophy of religion from Cambridge University. Ordained to the priesthood at 25 by Bishop Steven Charleston, he led the last church in the Episcopal Diocese of Alaska to move from mission status to full parish. In Alaska, he served as a parish priest, interfaith chaplain, professor and department chair (Alaska Pacific University), and president/CEO of Alaska’s state humanities council (part of the National Endowment for the Humanities),where he oversaw the cultural and humanities grant programs for the 50thanniversary of statehood in 2009.

Greg moved to Southern Californiain 2011 to become the president/CEO of the Japanese American National Museum, the institution of cultural record for the community, located in Little Tokyo, DTLA. While at JANM, he produced several traveling exhibits, including “Perseverance: Japanese Tattoo Tradition in a Modern World,” the first museum exhibit to portray Japanese tattoo as a fine art; “Dodgers: Brotherhood of the Game,” which examined the civil rights history of the US through the baseball team; and “Hello! The Supercute World of Hello Kitty,” which broke attendance, membership, and revenue records.

After five years at JANM, Greg returned to the church and served as adjunct clergy at St. Cross Episcopal Church in Hermosa Beach and rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Ojai. Greg was on the board of the local homeless shelter and social service agency and volunteered as a chaplain for the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. He was also a member of the Upper Ojai Search and Rescue Team, where he was certified in first aid, swift water rescue, and backcountry and mountain rescue. At St. Andrew’s he started Laundry Love Ojai, which received the 2019 community award from the Ojai Rotary. He also started the church’s first Spanish language service, which grew to become the largest Sunday service.

Greg has served as a trustee of Bloy House, chaired the Jubilee Consortium, co-chaired the

Diocesan Sanctuary Task Force, and was a member of the Commission on Ministry in LA and Alaska. He has also served as a member the Alumni Advisory Board of Harvard Divinity School, the University of Alaska Anchorage College of Arts and Sciences Board, UAA’s Honors College Board, and the Smithsonian Institution Affiliates.

In 2022, Greg was recruited to become canon vice dean at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. In that capacity, he was executive pastor and oversaw clergy, music, finance, and business operations of the Cathedral and Community Preschool, post-Covid. He led the international search for the new canon director of music, the resumption of a mixed voice choir, and the start-up of the Cathedral’s first girls’ choir.

Greg has published academic work and fiction in the UK and US, including NEOPRAGMATISM AND THEOLOGICAL REASON; “Bama” and “Moving Company” in THE MAY ANTHOLOGIES, ed. by Zadie Smith, Andrew Motion, and Nick Cave; ALASKA AT 50: THE PAST, PRESENT, AND NEXT 50 YEARS OF STATEHOOD;MAKING WAVES: JAPANESE AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY 1920-1940; I AM ALASKAN; and LIVINGSANCTUARY (currently under review).

Greg has been married to Joy Atrops-Kimura for 32 years. Originally from Pasadena, Joy is a graduate of the University of Victoria (Canada) and has worked as a development director at the Anchorage Concert Association, the Almeida Theatre (London), and the Anchorage Museum, where she led the $120m capital campaign for a new building and Arctic Studies

Center. Since moving back to California, Joy has worked at the Peninsula Education Foundation and the Ojai Music Festival. She is certified as a spiritual director through Stillpoint in LA and is currently taking classes in creative writing at the University of California, Berkeley,

Extension.

Joy and Greg have two children, Julian William (21) and Lily Noelle(15).  

Greg and Joy enjoy hiking and climbing. Greg is a trail runner and does CrossFit. The Kimuras have a rescue dog, Daisy.  

I grew up in Seattle and Chicago, and moved to Los Angeles in order to attend the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, where I majored in flute performance. After college I freelanced as a musician in the Los Angeles area while also working in higher education administration. It was through this type of work that I discovered Fuller Theological Seminary, enrolled in the Master of Divinity degree, and met my husband Mark, who was also attending seminary. I had been drawn to the liturgy and music of the Episcopal Church for many years, but finally became Episcopalian during my field education placement at St. James’.

After completing my MDiv at Fuller, I entered the ordination process, was ordained as a Deacon in June, 2010, and as a Priest in January, 2011.  I have also completed a PhD in Christian Worship at Fuller, studying how music contributes to spiritual formation. I am deeply grateful for this community and take great joy in being a part of God’s ongoing work in this place.