St. George’s Episcopal Church, Arlington, Virginia

A Diocese of Virginia parish serving God in Arlington, Virginia, since 1908; on the net since 1998
Our mission: to make God known.

Vestry

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St. George’s managing board

About the Vestry

Draft minutes from the most recent vestry meeting

Look for last month’s vestry minutes here soon

St. George’s vestry members

Draft agenda for the next vestry meeting (Microsoft Word 2000)

Who’s leading the opening meditation and bringing munchies

Access a copy of the vestry ministry report template:

Put your cursor over the following link (vestry ministry report template) and right-click your mouse.

Choose “save target as” from the menu and specify a location on your computer where you would like the file to be located.

From there, use it in your word processing program as you would any other file (or template).

About the vestry

St. George’s governing board is its vestry. There are 15 lay people who serve on the vestry at any one time in three-year terms, with five rotating off each year after the annual congregational meeting in mid-January. The congregation elects vestry members to make decisions about how best to carry out God’s will for St. George’s and how to make God known in this community.

St. George’s has divided the tasks of managing the ministry of the church into these ministry areas: Administration, Adult Education, Buildings and Grounds, Children and Youth, Communications, Evangelism/Newcomer Outreach, Fellowship, Pastoral Care, Social Ministry, San José Liaison, Stewardship, Wider Church, and Worship. A vestry member has leadership oversight responsibility for one of these ministry areas. In addition, two vestry members serve as wardens.

While many of us think first of the vestry’s responsibility for finances and management of the parish, and those are certainly important, the canons of the diocese reveal a much broader perspective. [The canons may be read via a link at the bottom our parish web page about the diocese at www.saintgeorgeschurch.org/dva_diocese.htm.] Two canons in particular are important:

“Each Vestry shall cooperate with the Rector in promoting the spiritual welfare of his cure and assist him in his duties,” and
“Each Vestry member shall support the programs of the Church and continuously encourage the members of the congregation to support the programs of the Church and to give generously towards the support of those programs; and each Vestry member shall extend personally a hearty welcome to newly baptized, confirmed, received, or transferred members of the congregation.”

St. George’s vestry meets in Room 114 at 7:30 PM on the third Wednesday each month. Each member has primary responsibility for one ministry area and serves as liaison to related groups and committees within the congregation, so the time commitment required is generally more than one evening a month (sometimes much more).

St. George’s Vestry Members

Vestry Member	Year Elected	Vestry Ministry Leadership Position	Non-vestry Ministry Leadership Position
Bob Clarke	2008	Evangelism	Tamara Martin
Ellyn Crawford	2007	Connections	Mike Nelson
Ron Crocker	—	Rector	—
Stan Curtis	2006	Fellowship	Carrie Thomas and Kate Holemans
Brian Glenn	(2006)	Register/Worship	Missie Burman
David Grahn	2007	Junior Warden/ Financial Management	John Edwards
Lisa Green	2008	Adult Ed	(Currently vacant)
Rebecca Hill	2008	Children and Youth	Jill Nusbaum
Norma Kacen	2006	Senior Warden	—
Wayne Lewis	2006	Parish Care	Don Lundquist
Marge Miller	2007	Communications	(Currently vacant)
Garrett Vaughn	2007	Buildings and Grounds	Constance McAdam
Nancy Yeager	2008	Outreach	Happy Olmstead
Tracy Yeager		Youth Liaison	—

George DeFilippi is the Treasurer.

Vestry members’ nominee statements

The following information was current as of the time of each vestry member’s election to the vestry.

Bob Clarke

Throughout my life, I have been fortunate to have a broad and deep exposure to the Episcopal Church. My family has been Episcopalian for four generations, and I have attended churches throughout Virginia and New York City. I have been an acolyte, lay reader at several churches, and was Museum Shop Manager at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (NYC). I have also served on a discernment committee, two search committees, the finance committee and most recently the Stewardship Committee at St. George’s. I was married at St. George’s, and my wife, Mary Beth, is also a lifelong Episcopalian. I am committed to both the Episcopal Church and to St. Georges.

I would like to serve on St. Georges’ Vestry at this time because our parish has several important challenges in front of us, and I would like to use my experience, understanding and passion for the church to help us get to good results. To strengthen St. George’s financial condition I am starting a committee to investigate developing additional revenue sources beyond the contributions we get from parishioners. I am interested in making St. Georges as gracious and welcoming for current and new members as possible. I would like to see St. Georges grow in membership, however I am equally interested in making St. Georges as meaningful and satisfying as possible for our current members. I believe that by developing and highlighting our core strengths (music, adult education, outreach, etc.) we will retain and strengthen our current membership, and attract new members.

As we enter our Centennial year, I believe we are poised to continue doing what we do well, while making adjustments that will enable St. George’s to thrive in the years going forward. We are no longer in a neighborhood of detached single family homes, where families have births, marriages, live lives, and have deaths, all in the same immediate area. We have to adjust to a more transient population, with many more Sunday morning distractions than many of us grew up with. We need to find new reasons to draw people into the church, and new ways to bring our offerings to the attention of potential new parishioners. I believe we can be successful in all of this, as we have before met our challenges, we can and will do so again.

Ellyn Crawford

I was confirmed at the National Cathedral on my twenty-fifth birthday, reestablishing a connection with the Episcopal church. My great-grandfather had raised his family as Episcopalians, but my branch of the family had become AME Zion when my father was a child. In the years that followed my confirmation, I was a member and soprano soloist at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in DC. Moving from Washington to Fairfax County made it difficult to get to DC each Sunday. After a while I looked for a music position closer to home. Several years ago I joined the choir at St. George’s as a guest. After about a year I took a post as soprano soloist at another Episcopal church in Virginia. Still, in the years until I returned in 2005, memories of St. George’s – the members of the congregation, the clergy, the music, and the warmth — were never far from my mind. I am so pleased to be back.

In addition to being a choir member for many years, I have served on the altar guild, been a eucharistic minister/lay reader, taught vacation bible school (Grace Church, The Plains) and been a member of the church profile committee when we were calling a new rector (at St. Luke’s.)

Here at St. George’s I am a member of the worship committee and the chancel drama group, and will have my first assignment as a eucharistic minister soon. Other activities include: volunteer at the Center for Prayer and Pilgrimage and docent-in-training and the National Cathedral and third year student, Education for Ministry (distance learning seminar from Sewanee Theological Seminary.)

My professional education and experience has been in two disciplines: organization development as a consultant, trainer and facilitator, and the performing arts as a classically trained soprano and actress.

I believe that realizing our vision to be "a welcoming, accepting Christian community in central Arlington, Virginia, where people can find unity in God and one another in Christ" requires constant renewal of our attention and energy. Evaluating our progress, setting the next specific goals and developing strategies to achieve them will help us stay true to the path laid by those at St. George’s who have gone before us in Christ’s name. I am honored to be a nominee for the vestry. If elected, I will do my best, with God’s help.

Stan Curtis

I grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. When I was young, I attended the Methodist Church and, later, the Christian Science Church. I played music at the Episcopal church in Tuscaloosa quite a bit.

I have received a bachelor’s of music degree from the University of Alabama, a master’s of music from the Cleveland Institute of Music, and, just recently a Doctor of Music from Indiana University (17 years in the making).

While studying at Indiana, I met and fell in love with my wife, Melissa Bishop, a life-long Episcopalian. We were married at St. Barnabas in Atlanta in 1994 and immediately traveled to Holland to continue our studies. What a wonderful honeymoon we had! Then I worked in an orchestra in Spain for nearly three years. When we realized how much we missed our families, we decided to come back to the U.S. In 1998, we both won jobs with the U. S. Navy Band here in Washington.

Our first apartment in the area was near Ft. Myer, and Arlington must have been just right for us. We started attending St. George’s immediately and have loved the parish ever since. We now call our house in the Barcroft area of South Arlington our home. We have a kindergardener named Felix, and toddler named Owen. So far, I have served as a Junior EYC leader (with Melissa) and a Sunday school teacher for the high school age group. In addition, I have played trumpet at St. George’s on a number of occasions.

I hope to bring to St. George’s vestry an open and inquisitive mind.

Brian Glenn

First of all, I am humbled and honored to be a candidate for the vestry at St. George’s. I grew up in southern NJ, and raised at North Baptist Church, situated at the base of the Ben Franklin Bridge. We stayed at that American Baptist Church until it closed at the end of 1970. It seemed that my father was always on one board or another, alternating from the Deacons to the Trustees and others. When I moved to Miami in 1976, I started attending Plymouth Congregational Church, and actually considered a calling to the ministry, but realized my "hearing" was flawed after a weekend at Colgate-Rochester seminary.

My life as an Episcopalian began when I moved to Atlanta in 1980, and started attending All Saints with my best friend. After 7-8 years, the rector finally convinced me to be confirmed, something I initially thought was spiritually unnecessary having been baptized (the full dunk) as a teen.

When I moved here in 2002, I "shopped around" Arlington for a church home. I decided to stay at St. George’s because of several things: stained glass windows, quality music (from the choir and the congregation), and a spirit of community concern. I served on the Centennial Renovation Committee a few years ago and the Stewardship Committee in 2006. I enjoy serving as a lay reader and singing in the congregation.

St. George’s appears to be at a crossroads in balancing its mission of service with the limitations of leveling attendance and financial contributions. If elected, I hope that I will be inspired to help our parish move forward to answer God’s call to us.

David Grahn

I am an attorney for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and have lived in Arlington since 1988. Jill Nusbaum and I have been married for 18 years and are originally from Minnesota. I am still a big fan of the Minnesota Twins baseball team and follow them over the Internet.

Jill and I both believe that service to the community is important and fulfilling. We started to look for a church home for our family after our daughter Carolyn, now age 10, was born. By being active members of a church we could develop roots in the Arlington community and give our family, especially Carolyn, a stronger spiritual center. Jill discovered St. George’s in 2000 and we have found it to be a welcoming place. We have tried to serve the community in a number of ways. I have particularly enjoyed working with the children of St. George’s. For several years, I was a Kid’s Gospel leader and assisted Dr. Tavernier with the Junior Choir. Currently, I am a 5th Grade Sunday School teacher. I have also served on a discernment committee.

What has impressed me the most about St. George’s is that its members have strong and diverse views on a variety of issues, from the deeply spiritual to those involving the more mundane operations of the church. I think this diversity reflects the true strength of St. George’s. Should I have the honor to serve on the Vestry, I will work to strengthen the Vestry’s role as a forum that builds consensus out of our diverse views regarding the important issues that currently face the Episcopal Church as a whole, and St. George’s in particular.

Lisa Green

I was raised in the Methodist church, but decided during college to attend the Episcopal Church, as I felt more comfortable with the students in that congregation. After college, I moved to the Washington, DC area, where I attended several different Episcopal churches. In 2001, Steve (my husband) and I were looking for an Episcopal church that would be near where we were going to live in Arlington and that we would enjoy being a part of. We immediately felt comfortable with St. George’s and were married at the church in September, 2001. We have been touched by the warmth and support that the congregation and clergy showed us then and now and especially through the trying 18 months when Steve was deployed.

I graduated with a degree in finance and have pursued a career in that field ever since. I am currently the Director of Finance for a non-profit organization in Washington, DC, a position I have held since 2001. My position entails managing the budgeting and financial forecasting for the organization. Steve & I have two children, Andrew, a precocious four- year old, and Eleanor, our very talkative ten-month old daughter. In my spare time, I like to help Steve fix up our house, cook, and read.

I have been looking for a way to be more active in serving St. George’s community and if elected, would be honored to serve on the Vestry. I value the spirituality St. George’s nurtures in its congregation, as well as the warmth and generosity of its community.

Rebecca Hill

My family and I started attending St. George’s in January of 2004. I found St. George’s through the internet when we were church shopping. Prior to 2002 we lived in New York City and were very involved in our parish, St. Michael’s, in Manhattan. At St. Michael’s I served on the vestry and co-chaired their capital campaign to restore the largest Tiffany windows in the world. I taught Pre-K/Kindergarten Sunday School and organized a number of family oriented fellowship events. After moving here we attended a church in McLean for a while, but never felt much of a connection to the community. We liked St. George’s from our first visit. Currently at I serve on the Children and Youth Committee, have been on the Stewardship Committee for the past two years, teach Sunday School and, along with Patty Lundquist, I lead the Half Note Choir for children ages 3-6.

I feel strongly that children need a religious education and a grounding in faith. Often times church for children is too much about the "no" – be quiet, sit still, and don’t touch that. I try to find ways to relate the "yes" about God to kids, to help them find friends and have fun at church while being appropriate. I think that families and children are where the growth can be for St. George’s.

In my professional life I am nonprofit executive. I am currently the Chief Development Officer for St. Coletta of Greater Washington, an organization that serves children and adults with cognitive disabilities. I have been the Director of Development for the National Breast Cancer Coalition and in New York I worked with Robert Wood Johnson to found the Alliance for Lupus Research. Prior to that I was the Executive Director of the Arthur M. Sackler Foundation. Like nonprofit organizations, churches must have a clear vision of who they are and where they are going and keep moving in that direction, usually on limited funds. Growth can be a seemingly slow process but with good leadership and management it can be achieved.

Norma Kacen

When I settled in Arlington in 1999, I questioned whether I could find a church with the warm and welcoming presence of my beloved Christ Church Cathedral where I worshipped in Indianapolis. Thanks to my co-worker and good friend, Tomas Saucedo, I found St. George’s and it has been a blessing in my life.

And thanks to George DeFilippi who invited me to serve as a Eucharistic Minister I discovered the joy of serving. And so I serve as a LEM, an Acolyte, and a Greeter, and take part in committee work and Bible and book groups. The Urban Abbey has been another joyful discovery and a growing experience for me.

I value the spirituality our church nurtures, the open discourse on the difficult issues through which we must make our way, and our reaching out to those in need in our community.

Re the vestry: In all candor, I lack patience with procedure and protocol. My interest lies in probing the boundaries of possibility as we seek to own and honor our place as a caring community in a changed and changing environment. I believe our memories are snapshots of the past that color the way we look at the present, and that they are signs of the possible. Our growth lies in testing them out. That is the only way we know whether we are living in the present or the past.

I am a debtor to this church for enriching my life. And I deeply appreciate the breadth and depth of service of so many in our congregation who give so much to us. Thus, I feel the need to be willing in turn to serve.

Wayne Lewis

My wife Laurie and I have made St. George’s our church home since 1983, apart from two interludes when we were living overseas (Sri Lanka in the late 1980s, and Bolivia in the early 1990s). While Laurie was raised a Roman Catholic, and I a Methodist, our daughters were baptized and confirmed at St. George’s (Kristina, now 22; Stephanie, 20; and Heidi, 17). Following a career as economist at the International Monetary Fund ever since leaving graduate school, I retired last fall.

I have served on the vestry twice before and, if elected, would be pleased to serve again. At present, a primary focus of my energy at St. George’s is the Urban Abbey, where I serve on the leadership team. I enjoy singing in the choir, and am a member of the intercessory prayer group, which was formed last year. I also am a volunteer at the emergency winter shelter; am head teller for counting the collection; and participate in the Monday Bible study, where I have lent a hand occasionally.

My vision for St. George’s is a congregation that builds upon its strength as a welcoming community, whose members seek a balance between serving others within and outside St. George’s, and nurturing the members’ own spiritual growth.

Marge Miller

I’m a native of the Missouri Ozarks, but I’ve lived in Arlington for the past 20 years. I came to this area to take a job at the Congressional Budget Office following graduate school at Syracuse University. Not too many years later, my husband, Pete, and I began to look for a church to attend and pretty quickly settled on St. George’s. The Episcopal Church was new to me, as I was raised a Methodist in a part of the country where to be anything but a Baptist was to be a fringe minority, and the Episcopal Church was hardly known at all. It seemed like a natural choice, though, because my mother’s family belonged to an Episcopal Church in Arlington (St. Mary’s) when she lived here as a child.

My own family’s personal history with St. George’s is probably pretty typical. We were married in this church and continued to attend, if somewhat sporadically, until our children were born. I was confirmed into the Episcopal Church at the same time that my first child, Allison, was baptized. We managed to stay "under the radar" for a few more years, though, until I decided to step up to teach her Sunday School class, and have gradually become more involved in various church ministries since that time.

Most of my involvement at St. George’s has been with programs for children and youth. After teaching for several years, I took over as director of the Sunday School program for two years, then took on the chair of the parish children and youth committee. I now teach in the 5th grade Sunday School class and I’ve recently expanded my horizons by joining the alter guild, and volunteering once a month with St. George’s Food Pantry.

Outside of St. George’s, I still work at the Congressional Budget Office, focusing on state and local government issues, but I now work only part-time. The other parts of my time seem to be well taken up with the duties of parenthood as well as with volunteer activities for my children’s school, their school band, and, of course, St. George’s.

My general approach to all these activities is just to do what needs to be done. I’m as good as the next person at taking a big step back when there is a job to do, but I’ve tried not to step back too far. That’s why I’ve decided to volunteer for the vestry and that would be my focus if I’m chosen to serve.

Garrett Vaughn

My wife, Karen, and I first attended St. George’s late in 1999 and became members a couple of years later. We were Episcopalians in search of a new home and have found that home in the warmth of St. George’s. The clergy, staff, and members of the congregation have welcomed us and invited us to become more connected with the church community. Karen has joined the choir where she can contribute her musical gifts amidst St. George’s superb musical program, and I am proud to serve as a Eucharistic Minister. I am also chair of the Finance Committee and served on the Stewardship Committee last fall. During the week, I work as an economist, researcher, writer, and director of peer discussion groups for a small trade association.

By standing for election to the vestry, I will be seeking my second elected position in a church community. All too many years ago, I was elected president of the senior youth fellowship at the New Hempstead Presbyterian Church in Rockland County, New York—a suburb of New York City. Shortly thereafter, I went off to college and, then, to graduate school. My church attendance slipped precipitously.

My attendance began to recover many years later, after our daughter—Jessica—asked Karen and me "what are we?" after accepting a friend’s invitation to attend a Sunday service at one the area’s "mega" churches. After much thought and a considerable search of churches representing several denominations, Karen and I decided that blending our respective Lutheran and Presbyterian backgrounds together would make us ideal (well, pretty good) candidates to become Episcopalians.

We became members of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Burke, Virginia. David Jones, now one of our bishops, was rector at Good Shepherd at that time. Karen and I both served for several years as adult leaders for the junior youth fellowship program at Good Shepherd. Karen, Jessica, and I survived a number of weekend "lock-ins" at the church along with a dozen other adult leaders and several dozen young teenagers. It was during that era that half of my hair turned white and the other half quit altogether. Although it sometimes seemed highly unlikely at the time, the young teenagers in the fellowship program have since gone on to become marvelous, responsible adults—most with children of their own. I am still amazed at that wondrous journey. Our daughter, Jessica, is already concerned about how she will fare as a parent when her two young boys (now one and three years old) turn thirteen.

After we became empty nesters, Karen’s love of music and song has brought us to St. George’s. The wonderful people of St. George’s keep us coming back every Sunday—well, every Sunday that Karen and I are able to resist visiting our two grandsons (and their parents, too) near Atlanta, Georgia.

If elected to the vestry, it will be my honor to serve the people of St. George’s and the church’s mission of making God known.

Nancy Yeager

As a child I attended the Methodist Church in Perryville, a small town on Maryland’s upper eastern shore. When I was about 15 years old my mother decided to reconnect with the local Episcopal Church that she had attended in her youth. I accompanied her to services and became confirmed about a year later.

A friend invited me to St. George’s in the early 1990s to share in her confirmation. I was struck by the warmth and friendliness of everyone I met—from the nursery workers with whom I left my toddler to the parishioners and clergy who I met after the service. I knew immediately that St. George’s would be the spiritual home for my family.

I began teaching in the church school in 1998 working with second and third graders. After a few years I had the opportunity to work with St. George’s high school students and share in their spiritual journey. In the fall of 2006 I became part of the church school’s leadership team as coordinator of St. George’s middle and high school program. I am a member of the Committee on Children and Youth. I have also hosted coffee hours and helped with Kids Gospel Time.

I retired a year ago from the Farm Credit Administration after a 28-year career in the field of human resources, most recently serving as payroll and benefits manager.

I consider it an honor to be invited to stand for St. George’s vestry. In 2007 I served a one-year term. If re-elected I would bring an ability to explore issues, problem-solve, and work with others to help maintain St. George’s as the church we all call "home" and to invite others in our community to find God’s love and join in the fellowship that we share as St. George’s parishioners.

Page last updated on: 08/18/08

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