Olivet is pleased to announce the election of the Reverend Melodee Bottari as our new pastor.  Here is a brief biographical sketch about our new pastor.

The Reverend Melodee Bottari was born in Manhattan and has lived in Brooklyn, Queens and Hunter Mountain, NY before returning to New York City and moving to Staten Island. She obtained a Bachelor’s Degree from the College of Staten Island in 1996, graduated New York Theological Seminary in 2007, was ordained on March 29, 2009 and became the designated pastor of Pompton Valley Presbyterian Church in Pompton Plains, New Jersey.  She has been trained in Gestalt Pastoral Care by the Reverend Tilda Norberg and utilizes this training by ministering to homeless persons, incarcerated individuals, ex-offenders, substance abusers and people with HIV and AIDS.  For most of her adult life she has also worked in Retail Pharmacy.

The organizations Reverend Bottari works closely with in New York and New Jersey include Girl’s Quest, Project Hospitality, Team Effort, Arthur Kill Correctional Facility, Eva’s Village, Chilton Memorial Hospital and Cedar Crest Retirement Community. Melodee participates in various ecumenical and interfaith events, particularly encouraging love and acceptance of people of all faith communities and denominations.

Rev. Bottari is married to Gregory Piwinski, a Social Worker with Richmond University Medical Center.  Reverend Bottari is blessed to have in her life Gregory’s six children, three sons-in-law, one daughter-in-law, and eleven grandchildren, ranging in ages 1-15.  She and Gregory enjoy camping and have a campsite at Mt. Pocono, Pennsylvania. Together, they have traversed the United States no less than four times by plane, train and automobile. Collectively, they have visited 43 out of the 50 States in the U.S.A. Rev. Bottari is particularly enamored with Alaska and hopes to be able to put together a mission trip there sooner than later. She and Gregory are blessed to share their home with three cats, Laverne, Shirley and Squiggy.  In addition to being an animal rights activist, Rev. Bottari is an avid reader and aspiring author.