 Ron Balcarras -
Elected to Vestry November 2009
SENIOR WARDEN
As the new Senior Warden of our St. Marks Vestry, I would like to thank the
Vestry and the congregation for this humbling honor. I am very excited to
work with each elected Vestry member throughout this upcoming New Year to
bring the best administration and leadership to St. Marks.
At this time, I would like to recognize outgoing Senior Warden Greg Noren
and Junior Warden Kate Pilcher for all the inspirational leadership and hard
work they gave last year to St. Marks. Greg and Kate helped me to see all
the functional workings of St. Marks and also helped me to gain a clear
understanding of what is needed to lead by glorious example. Thank you both
for being enlightening mentors to me and the other Vestry members.
This also marks the end of the three year commitment of Jim Hall, Judy
Robnett and Suzanne Lindsey to the Vestry. On behalf of the entire
congregation, thank you all for your leadership, your passion and your
dedication to St. Marks.
The Vestry for 2011 includes – Greg Noren, Kate Pilcher, Cyndy Fahnestock,
Eileen Cardwell, David Winters, Don McEwen, Sampson Udeh and Junior Warden
George Noren. Please reach out to any one of us if you have any questions
about St. Marks and we’ll be sure to help in any way we can.
Our Vestry Retreat is Feb. 5 th this year, and
we promise we will be focusing on Parish Leadership, Congregational Life and
Spiritual Foundation. We will be sure to excel by assisting our Rector,
promoting our out-reach/in-reach, maintaining our property, offering fiscal
responsibility and enhancing our congregations’ spiritual journey.
I ask for your supportive prayers for the Vestry as
we enter this year. We will do our very best for our St. Marks Family.
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Eileen Cardwell -
Elected to Vestry November 2009 |
David Winters -
Elected to Vestry November 2009 |
 George Noren - Elected to Vestry November
2010 Junior Warden
My name is George Noren and I am the newly elected
Junior Warden. I would like to
take this opportunity to let everyone know a little about myself.
I am what some would call a “cradle Episcopalian” meaning I was
baptized and raised in the Episcopal Church.
I have attended St. Mark’s for the last 14 years and have served on
the vestry twice before. I look
forward to serving the church again and as Junior Warden would ask if you
have any questions or notice anything that needs fixing in the church please
contact me either at 542-2837 or e-mail me at
nabbygln@aol.com.
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| Don McEwen - Elected to Vestry November 2010 |
| Sampson Udeh - Elected to Vestry November
2010 |
 Dawn
Russ - serving remaining term of Greg Noren ends November
2011 |
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Kate Pilcher -
Elected to Vestry November 2009 -
God’s House….our
home….
I’ve been on the vestry now for two years and the
Junior Warden for half a year…and my goodness I’ve learned a lot in that
time! There is so much to do to run our church and keep the building and
grounds beautiful. It can honestly be overwhelming at times.
Over the passing months of being in charge of the work
days and helping to get maintenance done at St. Mark’s I have begun to
understand some things about what being a member of a smaller church is
about. We are a FAMILY, in every sense of the word. We are very close knit,
we know each other better than any of us would like to admit to, and are
“there” for one another in times of trial and need.
The point I would like to make is that it seems that
some of the emotional connection to the place we all meet each week has
diminished over the years. In speaking with many of the elder members of the
congregation, it seems that in years past, there was a greater sense of
ownership and pride in both the building and grounds at St. Mark’s. Not to
say that many of you are not doing your part now, I guess I am just trying
to reach out to some of the folks who haven’t really felt a connection like
this with our lovely little church.
Our work days that we schedule for Saturdays each month
are one of the only times that so much of the church maintenance gets done,
and lately the number of people showing up to lend a hand on those days has
been dwindling. We are so blessed to have such an amazing group of people in
our congregation, and I am just hoping to inspire some new life and new
commitment when it comes to this particular need for our church. We usually
only work 4 hours or so and it ends up being a lot of fun. Beyond that, it
is a great opportunity for fellowship with each other.
I will be honest here and say that before I joined the
vestry, my offerings in the department were meager and I didn’t really feel
the connection and ownership for quite some time. I guess I just always
thought “someone else can do that”. The thing is…..we are not a huge number
of people, and each of your talents is needed. It’s like going to Grandma’s
house for Thanksgiving….You help out in the kitchen, you take out the trash
for her, you lend a hand. This is our family. This is your home. Take pride
in it!!
I cannot emphasize enough what a wonderful blessing the
church family has been to me over the years. If you feel the same way, I
hope that you will take some time to give back. It feels good! I promise you
will have fun and enjoy getting to know your family in a new way.
Peace,
Kate Granger
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Cyndy Fahnestock
-
Elected to Vestry November 2009
Dear Congregation,
I am Cyndy Fahnestock, one of the vestry members installed
on January 11, 2009. This is a new position for me. My husband, Bruce, and I
have been attending St. Mark's for about a year where I have been in the
choir. As a child I was confirmed a Methodist, (my maternal grandfather was
a Methodist/Episcopal circuit rider), but as a teen I attended Church of the
Ascension, (Episcopal) in Lexington Park, MD and was confirmed at Washington
National Cathedral in 1969 . Bruce and I were married at Ascension and our
two daughters, McLean and Erica were baptized there.
In 1981 we moved to Fairfax, Virginia and attended Truro
Episcopal, a charismatic church under the guidance of John Howe, now bishop
of Central Florida. There we participated in the Arts Ministry, singing in
the choir, acting in various drama productions, playing guitar for the
interdenominational Friday night Praise service (contemporary music) and
traveling the East Coast providing music for Episcopal Renewal Conferences.
Upon moving to Tennessee in 1991, I attended St. Bart's
for about a year, Brentwood United Methodist Church (2 years), and New Hope
Community Church for 13 and you guessed it... I sang in the choir and
participated in drama. Also while at New Hope, I was the mentor for the MOPS
(Mother of Preschoolers) group and attended video Bible studies made by Kay
Arthur, an Episcopalian. We moved from Brentwood to Smyrna in August of 2006
when my husband retired from Volunteer Corporate Credit Union in Nashville.
My business experiences are: teaching music (my BA is in
Music), marketing for a local credit union and working retail and teaching
at the Beaded Bungalow. I teach piano, play guitar, sing, and make jewelry.
As this is my first go at being a vestryman, I hope to quickly learn how I
can be of service to the Kingdom here at St. Mark's.
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