Seeking respite from a church she’d called home for many years, Cathy Trout felt called to check out New City in 2018. She loved how New City seemed like the early church – all different kinds of messed-up people worshipping together in love and unity. But what really drew her was the uniqueness of the Grow+Serve group model, how it wasn’t only about learning about God but about being the church in the community. Today she serves as a co-leader on the Downtown Mixed Grow + Serve, and serves with the Justice Team and Praise Band. She worked as a program director at a Christian community center before transitioning into the fund development field to work from home and raise her daughter. At past churches, she founded a single parents’ ministry, coordinated Saturday volunteer service projects around the city, managed a kitchen team that cooked the pastors’ meals on Sundays, and served on visual arts, worship, and prayer teams.
Karen was born in San Diego, California, on July 22, 1976. Her family had always attended church, so Karen was able to hear about Jesus from a young age, and made a decision fairly early on to follow Him. Karen attended college at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA, where she studied Spanish. While at Puget Sound, she joined InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and after graduation spent a year as a volunteer staff member with IVCF at Eastern Washington University. In 1999, Karen moved to Los Angeles to do an internship with Servant Partners, an urban ministry organization, which is how she ended up in Boyle Heights, the community where she still lives. In 2003, Karen went to grad school to get a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science and was hired as a librarian in 2006 by LA County Library. Her current position with the library system involves selecting and purchasing the adult and teen fiction for all 88 library locations. Karen came to New City in the summer of 2016 and joined the Acts 2 small group that fall. She was drawn to the diversity and fellowship of New City, and the way the church really digs into the hard and joyful and messy business of figuring out how to love God and love each other. She is now one of the Huddle leaders of Acts 2, a volunteer on the finance team, and helps Pastor Tracey coordinate the Grow and Serve groups.
Michelle was born and raised in St. Louis, Mo, and grew up the oldest in a house with three younger siblings. After high school, she attended MidAmerica Nazarene University, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Business Communications. She lived in Kansas for a year after graduating. She then moved to Chicago in 2004 to pursue a degree in Interior Design at the Art Institute of Illinois in the South Loop. While in Chicago, she met her husband, Dave. They got married in St. Louis. They promptly drove back to Chicago, loaded the car, and drove (honeymoon-style) out to California. Almost 15 years later, they have three amazing children, an adorable malti-poo named Baxie, lots of great LA memories, and now live in the San Fernando Valley. In the valley, she was a preschool teacher for two years and then spent the last year homeschooling her three kids. She is a natural with kids and has a heart for them and their relationship with Jesus. She has served the church in just about every capacity imaginable, including, most recently, serving alongside her husband Dave as they led New City Church SFV for the last almost 5 years. She is excited to join the staff downtown. She loves all things outdoors, especially camping and water – any kind of water! She is very crafty and resourceful and is a DIY’er/maker at her core. She loves to dance, sing, thrift, entertain, explore the outdoors and spend time with family and friends.