Rev. Sterling DavenpORT,
Resident minister
Rev. Sterling Davenport joined the ministerial team at BTSD in 2026 as Resident Minister. Prior to this role, he served as a full-time community college professor in Southern California. After earning his M.Div. in Buddhist Chaplaincy from the University of the West, Rev. Davenport began attending Jodo Shinshu services at the Vista Buddhist Temple with his wife in 2018. He soon entered the Minister’s Assistant program, receiving Tokudo ordination in 2023 and Kyoshi ordination in 2024. Reva Davenport finds that studying Buddhism and sharing the Dharma is “the best way to begin and end each week, as it reminds us to be fully present in the here and now and to appreciate all the moments in between.” Rev. Davenport supervises a team of volunteer assistants.
Ministerial team
Rev. Hōkai “Smitty” Smith, Kyoshi Ordination
Rev. Noriko Kawai, Tokudo Ordination, is an ordained Jodo Shinshu minister, and a hospice/hospital chaplain. She provides spiritual care and compassionate support to patients and families from diverse backgrounds, bringing her experience in spiritual care to her work with the Temple community.
Rev. Sharon Sasaki, Tokudo Ordination, has been a Minister’s Assistant since 2021. She grew up in the SF Bay Area, joined BTSD in 1996, and enjoys our temple's Dharma School, Taiko, and chanting groups. She received a Certificate of Shin Buddhist Studies from the Institute of Buddhist Studies, where she is currently studying toward a Master of Divinity. She received Tokudo ordination in 2025. Sharon and her husband Robert Yamamoto have two daughters, Zoe and Ava, and a dog Mimi.
Arturo Rubio, Certified Minister’s Assistant, was born in Tijuana, Mexico, what seems like kalpas ago, but has lived in San Diego since 2011. He received his Buddhist name in 2016 and has been translating and recording Bishop Marvin Harada’s weekly Dial the Dharma message from English to Spanish since 2022. He has also recorded YouTube videos about a variety of Buddhist topics in Spanish.
Arturo is currently a student in the Institute of Buddhist Studies’ Certificate in Shin Buddhist Studies program and hopes to receive Tokudo ordination in 2027.
Kaytee Sumida, Minister’s Assistant
Bill Teague, Certified Minister’s Assistant, married into a Jodo Shinshu family in a ceremony at the Temple in 1971. He he and wife Joyce became more involved when their daughter was old enough for Dharma School in the early 1980s. Bill is grateful to be part of an authentic living tradition suffused with Buddhist values. Interests include early Buddhism and meditation.
Yukari Williams, Certified Minister’s Assistant
The meaning of Yukari's name in English is "connection" or "karmic bond." Her mother chose this name with the hope that Yukari would have a meaningful connection with Amida Buddha. A native Japanese speaker, she gives Dharma talks in Japanese at the temple. She is a devoted student of Shin Buddhism and continues to deepen her understanding of its teachings even after graduating from the Chuo Buddhist Institute. She also lovingly arranges the flowers that adorn the temple's Onaijin (inner altar).