We believe very strongly in the “Priesthood of all believers”—that is, that all believers are gifted and equipped to do ministry in the church.  Certain people are called out for their gifts in teaching and leadership: these are our licensed and ordained ministers. Our church’s goal is to find meaningful ways for everyone to participate and serve, valuing all gifts and talents.

Our team of pastors at Washington City Church of the Brethren is made up of Jennifer Hosler and Nathan Hosler. Jenn and Nate are part-time pastors leading the congregation through preaching and through the sharing of other pastoral roles.

Other team members include Jacob Crouse as our music leader.

Biographical Information

Jennifer Hosler

Rev. Jennifer Hosler, PhD, (Jenn; she/her) serves as a bivocational pastor (plural nonsalaried) at our congregation, focusing on community outreach and preaching. She also works with others to coordinate worship planning and preaching. Jenn directs much of our congregation’s interfaith engagement and activism to support peacemaking around the world. She led our congregation’s partnership with Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid, Hill Havurah, and Capitol Hill United Methodist Church as we welcomed newly arrived asylum seekers bused from Texas and Arizona.

Jenn is a Community Psychologist and a researcher specializing in program evaluation, religious settings, interfaith engagement, and peacebuilding. Other research and practice has focused on underrepresented students in STEM fields, international health, affordable housing, and youth perspectives on policing. Her doctoral dissertation (PhD, Human Services Psychology) was entitled, “Mapping Interfaith Engagement: Interfaith Activities, Sources of Influence, and Motivations for Involvement.” Jenn has previous training in Community Psychology (MA, Community Psychology and Social Change) and also in biblical and theological studies (BA, Biblical Language). She has served for the Church of the Brethren denomination in numerous capacities, including doing peacebuilding work in Nigeria, writing bible study curriculum on social justice in the prophets, conducting a narrative research project on urban churches across the US, and serving on the Global Food Initiative grants review panel. Jenn loves to run long distances, ride her bicycle, plant and tend her tiny urban farm, and spend her little free time with Nate and her son, her kittens, and friends.

Nathan Hosler

Rev. Nathan Hosler, PhD (Nate; he/him) serves as a bivocational pastor in our congregation focusing on advocacy and community engagement. For his employment, he directs the Office of Peacebuilding and Policy (the Washington Office) for the Church of the Brethren denomination.  Nate has a BA in Biblical Language, MA in International Relations focusing on religion and peacebuilding, a PhD in Theological Studies (Theological Ethics), and a Professional Certificate in Macroeconomics.

His writing focuses on the social and theological ethics in peacebuilding, international relations, and public policy. In addition to articles, he has published, Hauerwas the Peacemaker? Peacebuilding, Race, and Foreign Policy. 

Nate serves on the boards of the National Council Churches USA, Heifer International, Churches for Middle East Peace, National Farm Worker Ministry, and Creation Justice Ministries as well as the steering committees of several other organizations.

Nate likes to run long distances, bike commute in DC, cook and try foods from around the world, and create and/or collect art. 

Jacob Crouse

Jacob (he/him) serves as a music leader at our congregation along with running projection, audio, and recording. Brother Jake also works doing freelance Audio/Visual Engineering work for conferences in Washington, DC. Other notable projects he enjoys includes working on vintage motorcycles, editing and hosting the Dunker Punks Podcast, and writing and recording music. He wrote this autobiographical haiku to briefly describe himself to someone who he hasn’t met before:

Technological
Writes, listens, plays, records tunes
Dunker Punk for life!

Monica Raines

Monica (she/her) serves as the Director of Operations for our congregation. In this role, she manages our church office, property, and communications. She is a graduate of The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BA, Sociology) and Wesley Theological Seminary (MDIV). Monica loves serving in the Lord’s church, and has served in ministry to multiple congregations in both North Carolina and the DMV area.

Carolyn “Care” Nestman

Carolyn “Care” Nestman (she/her) is our Brethren House Manager. A native of New Jersey, she graduated from Bridgewater College in 2014, and moved into Brethren House as a resident in June of that year. She lived in Brethren House for 2 years while she managed the Brethren Nutrition Program (BNP). After leaving BNP, she worked for a community nutrition program in a local health clinic, and moved out of Brethren House. After the pandemic, she and her husband Luis were looking for a living situation that was more communal. Because of her great love for the house, Care applied for the open house manager position. With the assistance of Luis, and the emotional support for their dog Barbara, Care has been managing Brethren House since January 2022. She is a contractor with DC Health. When not managing the house or working, you can find Care doing yoga, on a hike with Luis and Barbara, reading, or working on her MBA.