St. Peter's Staff
Welcome to our Staff Directory! Here, you'll find information about our dedicated team who are committed to serving our church community.
Steve Wright
Pastor
Stan DeWitt
Director of Music
Violet Fenton
Director of Children & Youth
Sandra L. Erney
Church Administrator
Mike Heard
Facilities Coordinator
Rev. Dr. Steve Wright
Pastor
Steve has been at St. Peter’s since January of 2018. This call has been something of a homecoming for him. More than 20 years prior, he was the Director of Discipleship in the early days of St. Peter’s while he was completing his studies at Fuller Seminary. Soon after graduating he went on to serve as an Associate Pastor at First Presbyterian Church of Fullerton before pioneering a new church project in Ladera Ranch.
Steve grew up here in Orange County. He is a graduate of Long Beach State with a degree in Speech Communications. In order to broaden his horizons, he continued studies at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia where he completed a Doctor of Ministry degree in 2006 and learned to eat grits.
Stan DeWitt
Director of Music
Stan DeWitt is a multi-faceted musician whose work crosses into all realms of music (songwriter, conductor, singer, guitarist, educator) and genres (rock, classical, movie scores, choral). He is currently the Music Director at St. Peter’s by the Sea Presbyterian Church in Huntington Beach and the founding Executive Director of the Long Beach Youth Chorus. He was also the Artistic Director for Zephyr: Voices Unbound, a professional 12-voice choral ensemble. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and an Masters of Music in Choral Conducting from CSULB, and taught at Coastline College for 26 years.
Violet Fenton
Director of Children & Youth
Violet has over 15 years of experience in Children’s Ministry. After graduating from college, she began her career as an assistant to the Director of Religious Education at St. Joseph, Husband of Mary Catholic Church, where she served for several years. She later took a break from ministry to start her own business, raise a family, and focus on being a stay-at-home mother. Following the birth of her third child, Violet felt called to return to work part-time — seeking a balance between professional fulfillment and motherhood.
She accepted a role as Director of Children’s Ministry at First Presbyterian Church of Orange. However, her passion and leadership quickly led her into a dual role as the full-time Director of Orange Presbyterian Preschool. Over the next five years, Violet played a key role in expanding both the church’s family ministries and the preschool program. Currently, Violet serves as a director for a nonprofit organization in Long Beach. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her family, beach-combing for seashells, and caring for her dogs and turtle.
Sandra L. Erney
Church Administrator
Sandra and her husband Dewey have been members for over 40 years at Grace First Presbyterian Church in Long Beach, serving as a Deacon, Elder, and Clerk of Session. She has served in various capacities in the Los Ranchos Presbytery. She is a certified level three member of the Administrative Personnel Association in the PCUSA (APA), serving as the Regional and National Certification Chair for over 5 years. For the past 18 years, she has served as the Secretary/Administrative Assistant at Christ Presbyterian Church in Lakewood.
In this new season, she is excited to be working with Pastor Steve Wright and dear friends Stan De Witt, Susan Wright and Micheal Heard. She looks forward to working with you all to further the Lord's Mission and Ministry here at St. Peter's By-the-Sea.
Mike Heard
Facilities Coordinator
Mike has lived nearly his entire life in Long Beach, where he has built deep roots in the community. He is happily married to his wife, Stephanie, and together they have raised four grown children who have blessed them with sixteen wonderful grandchildren. Family gatherings are always lively and full of joy!
A lifelong lover of music, Mike enjoys playing the drums and is an active member of our current praise band, where his rhythm and passion for worship help bring energy and connection to every service.