[9] In the early 1980s, she was inspired by Julian Rush, a youth minister based in Colorado, who made national headlines, when Bishop Melvin E. Wheatley of the Rocky Mountain Conference (a predecessor of the Mountain Sky Conference), appointed him to St. Paul Methodist Church in Denver as an openly gay man.

[10][11] "Without someone like Julian," Bishop Oliveto said at the time of his death in 2023, "I would have lived in despair, totally wondering how can I rectify that the God who made me called me into this, but the church doesn’t want me and I think my life would have been much different.

[12] In 2004, she performed the first legal same-gender marriage held in a United Methodist Church[13][14] during SF’s “Winter of Love”.

[15] She has served as the associate dean of academic affairs at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, where she also taught United Methodist history, doctrine, polity, and evangelism as an adjunct professor for 12 years.

[24][25] Pastor, Bloomville UMC, Bloomville, New York 1983-1986 Campus Minister Ecumenical House Campus Ministry, San Francisco State, 1989-1992 Pastor Bethany UMC, San Francisco 1992-2004 Associate Dean of Academic Affairs/Director of Contextual Education, Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, CA 2004-2008 Adjunct Professor of United Methodist Studies at Pacific School of Religion, 2004-2016 Adjunct Professor, DMin program at Drew University, teaching "Prophetic Leadership in Congregation and Community" 2012 Adjunct Professor of Practical Theology, Brite Divinity School (TX), teaching "Evangelism in Methodist History and Practice", 2015 Senior pastor.