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Napa prosecutor doubles as a clergyman at idyllic church
Mike Mautner is a deputy district attorney and a priest at St. Stevens Church on Oakville Grade. Lianne Milton/Register | Buy photos
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CommentIt’s hard to answer to one boss, let alone two. Especially if one of those bosses is God.
But Napan Mike Mautner has been doing just that for several years, and wouldn’t have it any other way.
But Napan Mike Mautner has been doing just that for several years, and wouldn’t have it any other way.
Mautner, 42, has been a Napa County deputy district attorney since 2001 and the rector of St. Stephen’s Church off Highway 29, south of Oakville, for close to six years.
Born into the Jewish faith, Mautner had no doubt his future was to be a rabbi.
Born into the Jewish faith, Mautner had no doubt his future was to be a rabbi.
“I was born in Boston and grew up in the Jewish faith,” said Mautner, whose family moved to Napa when he was a young boy. “I went to college with the complete faith of becoming a rabbi. After my first year in college, I gave up. I knew that was not what God wanted me to do. It was a very painful walk down the path of life for me. I just really don’t know how I knew, I just knew. It was a religious experience, and it hurt.”
At that point, in 1985, Mautner abandoned the idea of “divine service” and set his sights on a law career.
At that point, in 1985, Mautner abandoned the idea of “divine service” and set his sights on a law career.
In that respect, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Mautner’s father, Jerry Mautner, was the elected Napa County District Attorney from 1983 to 1990.
“My dad was a prosecutor,” Mautner said. “That was all I knew about the law. Beginning when I was 9 years old, every summer, I would go to court with him and hear him argue for victim’s rights. For me it was an easy, natural and rewarding way to make a living. Although a lot has happened to me in my life, as far a choices, I have never been sorry I became an attorney.”
After reluctantly giving up his hopes of becoming a rabbi, Mautner enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley in 1984 and from there went to law school at California Western School of Law in San Diego. He graduated in 1991 and passed the bar the next year.
Mautner immediately followed in his father’s footsteps and took a job as a prosecutor with the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office. From there, he worked a short stint at the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office, but soon returned to Yolo County.
Mautner then turned to probate law, working for a private Sonoma law firm and eventually operating his own practice in Napa from 1997 to 1999.
It was then, Mautner, an weekend thespian, met his wife, Kerry. The couple met while performing in a Dreamweavers Theater production of “Harvey.”
“We got married, and she convinced me to go to the seminary,” Mautner said. “I listened.
“Once again I found the Lord, and he found me. It was 1992,” he said. “In 1993, I left my Jewish faith to be baptized as a Christian. I was very involved with St. Stephen’s Church.”
After he and Kerry married, Mautner put his law career on hold to devote his energy full time to his religious calling. He went to St. Joseph of Arimathea Anglican Theological College in Berkeley from 1999 to 2001 and was ordained in 2002.
When learning there was a “little Mautner” on the way, Mautner made the decision to bring his law skills out of retirement. While continuing his seminary studies, he accepted a job in 2001 as a deputy district attorney under Napa County District Attorney Gary Lieberstein.
And who had hired Lieberstein in Napa? Jerry Mautner.
“His father hired me and I hired his son. I don’t think Mike’s two callings interfere with one another. They both live by the golden rule,” Lieberstein said. “Mike brings a sense of calm to the hard and sometimes emotional work we do. His colleagues are drawn to him, and he is always willing to help anyone anytime.”
Napa County Superior Court Judge Mark Boessenecker has worked with Mautner since 2004, when Boessenecker was the county’s chief deputy district attorney.
“Mike is bright, hard working and extremely conscientious,” he said. “I think he does an excellent job meshing his two careers. Both of them require a significant amount of commitment and both can be very emotional draining jobs. Being a prosecutor should involve the highest ethics, and Mike brings that to the job.”
Mautner said meshing his two careers is not too difficult.
“I pull from each of them. As a prosecutor I face daily the consequences of the fall of man, but so did Christ. I never talk about my pending cases to my congregation, but as prosecutor I find them very instructional when preparing my sermons,” Mautner said.
Mautner admits he most likely will not be able to pull his double shift forever.
“I have done funerals and given last rites on my lunch hour,” he said. “I gave a very good friend last rites the night of the day of my first felony trial. I know something will have to give someday. I couldn’t have done it this long without the support of my wife and three kids. And until the recent of appointment of Rev. James Prudhomme as my assistant, I performed all the church duties myself.”
“I guess when the time comes for me to make a choice, I will let God make that decision for me and go from there,” he said. “Even if I am no longer a rector, I will always be a priest.”
“My dad was a prosecutor,” Mautner said. “That was all I knew about the law. Beginning when I was 9 years old, every summer, I would go to court with him and hear him argue for victim’s rights. For me it was an easy, natural and rewarding way to make a living. Although a lot has happened to me in my life, as far a choices, I have never been sorry I became an attorney.”
After reluctantly giving up his hopes of becoming a rabbi, Mautner enrolled in the University of California, Berkeley in 1984 and from there went to law school at California Western School of Law in San Diego. He graduated in 1991 and passed the bar the next year.
Mautner immediately followed in his father’s footsteps and took a job as a prosecutor with the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office. From there, he worked a short stint at the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office, but soon returned to Yolo County.
Mautner then turned to probate law, working for a private Sonoma law firm and eventually operating his own practice in Napa from 1997 to 1999.
It was then, Mautner, an weekend thespian, met his wife, Kerry. The couple met while performing in a Dreamweavers Theater production of “Harvey.”
“We got married, and she convinced me to go to the seminary,” Mautner said. “I listened.
“Once again I found the Lord, and he found me. It was 1992,” he said. “In 1993, I left my Jewish faith to be baptized as a Christian. I was very involved with St. Stephen’s Church.”
After he and Kerry married, Mautner put his law career on hold to devote his energy full time to his religious calling. He went to St. Joseph of Arimathea Anglican Theological College in Berkeley from 1999 to 2001 and was ordained in 2002.
When learning there was a “little Mautner” on the way, Mautner made the decision to bring his law skills out of retirement. While continuing his seminary studies, he accepted a job in 2001 as a deputy district attorney under Napa County District Attorney Gary Lieberstein.
And who had hired Lieberstein in Napa? Jerry Mautner.
“His father hired me and I hired his son. I don’t think Mike’s two callings interfere with one another. They both live by the golden rule,” Lieberstein said. “Mike brings a sense of calm to the hard and sometimes emotional work we do. His colleagues are drawn to him, and he is always willing to help anyone anytime.”
Napa County Superior Court Judge Mark Boessenecker has worked with Mautner since 2004, when Boessenecker was the county’s chief deputy district attorney.
“Mike is bright, hard working and extremely conscientious,” he said. “I think he does an excellent job meshing his two careers. Both of them require a significant amount of commitment and both can be very emotional draining jobs. Being a prosecutor should involve the highest ethics, and Mike brings that to the job.”
Mautner said meshing his two careers is not too difficult.
“I pull from each of them. As a prosecutor I face daily the consequences of the fall of man, but so did Christ. I never talk about my pending cases to my congregation, but as prosecutor I find them very instructional when preparing my sermons,” Mautner said.
Mautner admits he most likely will not be able to pull his double shift forever.
“I have done funerals and given last rites on my lunch hour,” he said. “I gave a very good friend last rites the night of the day of my first felony trial. I know something will have to give someday. I couldn’t have done it this long without the support of my wife and three kids. And until the recent of appointment of Rev. James Prudhomme as my assistant, I performed all the church duties myself.”
“I guess when the time comes for me to make a choice, I will let God make that decision for me and go from there,” he said. “Even if I am no longer a rector, I will always be a priest.”
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elb wrote on Sep 5, 2008 12:28 AM:
You have to be kidding me. It's one thing if this is what his schedule sometimes forces him to do, but to have actually made this statement in an interview?
The image a statement like this invokes is not a very good one. It's as if Mr. Mautner's sporting a Bible in one hand and a Big-D burger in the other, all while standing over a dying man, or in front of a grieving widow.
I'm sorry if others don't agree with me, but that statement seemed rather tacky.
Also, the whole time I was reading this article with Mr. Mautner's responses, I could not help but to consider the following Scripture verses:
Matthew 6:1-4 "Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.
2 Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites (Actors) do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.
3 But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,
4 that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly."
Personally, I would have been more encouraged to have witnessed a slightly more humble heart here in this article. "
OldCynic wrote on Sep 5, 2008 8:01 AM:
Have you ever been interviewed? These were honest answers to questions asked by the person doing the interview. I doubt Mike Mautner sought out this interview, in fact he might have been reluctant to even give it. Mike is a credit to this community and serves it well. You don't know this man and yet you judge him harshly.
Good Job! What are you doing to serve others? "
napamama wrote on Sep 5, 2008 8:06 AM:
MOMINAPA wrote on Sep 5, 2008 8:49 AM:
napaforme wrote on Sep 5, 2008 9:07 AM:
me2you wrote on Sep 5, 2008 9:27 AM:
Can't get better than that. "
vocal-de-local wrote on Sep 5, 2008 11:17 AM:
xmrs09 wrote on Sep 5, 2008 11:52 AM:
highwayman wrote on Sep 5, 2008 12:37 PM:
y2kcbr wrote on Sep 5, 2008 12:55 PM:
nava707 wrote on Sep 5, 2008 1:02 PM:
happyday wrote on Sep 5, 2008 1:42 PM:
comment wrote on Sep 5, 2008 2:59 PM:
asahigo wrote on Sep 5, 2008 3:53 PM:
donnaitalia wrote on Sep 5, 2008 3:59 PM:
Yetiyet wrote on Sep 5, 2008 6:23 PM:
kck wrote on Sep 5, 2008 8:18 PM:
Baraki wrote on Sep 5, 2008 10:07 PM:
aqualung8705 wrote on Sep 5, 2008 10:31 PM:
Adam in Las Vegas. "
asahigo wrote on Sep 6, 2008 12:07 AM:
jonqcitizen wrote on Sep 7, 2008 1:48 AM:
This phrase describes the seperation of church and state. It means that the government may not force us to believe in, or show favoritism or persecution to any particular religion. It does not mean that you may not be religious and be a government worker. "
14obama wrote on Sep 17, 2008 12:26 PM:
Now, go to your room and think about it ! "