Our Team
Shaun Rossi
SENIOR PASTOR
Shaun serves as senior pastor of UCC and is going into his 16th year in this role. A native of Connecticut, in the USA, Shaun is married to Katja, and they have five young children. Shaun moved to Tampere, Finland, about 20 years ago, where he entered a degree program in European Studies while planting a church. After, he earned degrees in theology from the U.K. (London, Cambridge, Manchester) and is presently plodding along on a Ph.D. in theology. In addition to his primary responsibility as Senior pastor of UCC, Shaun is the Dean of Agricola Theological Seminary, serves as an adjunct faculty member at a couple of other seminaries in Europe, and recently stepped down as the European director of church planting for Operation Mobilisation.
Daniel Ottoson
EXECUTIVE PASTOR
Daniel is the administrative coordinator of UCC Espoo and looks after the executive functions at UCC. Originally from the USA, Daniel served for two years as a missionary with Operation Mobilisation in Nepal where he met his wife Anne, a Finn. Together they have lived in Finland now for 13 years and Daniel has served in UCC for 10 of those years. The Ottosons have four young children. Besides his work at UCC Daniel has completed a degree at Agricola Theological Seminary including a thesis in the field of Biblical Counselling, and is currently studying for a certificate in Biblical Counselling.
Miriam Brown
ADMIN COORDINATOR, HELSINKI
Miriam works part time for UCC as an administrative coordinator of UCC Helsinki and the music coordinator and communications officer for all of UCC. Miriam is currently working on a Masters degree in Theological Studies from Agricola Theological Seminary, and alongside writing a thesis on the subject of biblical lament, has started work on a second album. Her first album, titled “Where Else Can I Go” is available online on all the usual platforms.
Gabriel Byrd
YOUTH PASTOR
Gabe is the youth pastor of UCC and looks after the kids’ and youth programs at UCC Espoo. Gabe and his Finnish wife Heidi, along with their two young children, moved to Finland from the US in the summer of 2022. Alongside his work for the church, he is pursuing a Masters degree in Theological Studies from Agricola Theological Seminary.
