New vestry members elected at virtual annual meeting

This year, for the first time, St. Stephen’s Church had a “virtual” annual meeting, held on Zoom on Sunday, May 16. The business included the election of six new members to the vestry:

Dick Hamrick is a pulmonary critical medicine physician and healthcare consultant who has been active at St. Stephen’s since 1996. He is a member of St. Stephen’s Choir and a devoted supporter of the music program, and has served as a Sunday school teacher and annual giving campaign volunteer. He has also consulted extensively with the leadership and staff of St. Stephen’s on issues related to health and safety during the pandemic.

David Hodge, a member of St. Stephen’s Church since 2017, is a project manager with eTech Mechanical Group. He has served at St. Stephen’s as a lay reader and greeter, and as a member of the advisory group for St. Stephen’s Preschool. He and his wife have three young sons and David has been a participant in the parent groups and the parish weekend at Shrine Mont.

Anne McElroy is a retired physician who has been a member of St. Stephen’s since 2003. As the mother of three children, she was active in children’s and youth activities; more recently, she has served as a greeter. She has extensive community and board experience, including service on the boards of the Medarva Foundation, Richmond Eye & Ear Hospital, Princeton Association of Virginia, and St. Catherine’s School. She participated in several trips to the Middle East with the Center for Interfaith Reconciliation, a ministry founded by St. Stephen’s Church. She co-chaired the search committee for the Head of School at St. Catherine’s.

Penn Rogers is an attorney who has been attending St. Stephen’s since 2008, eventually transferring his membership from another Episcopal church in 2011. He serves as a verger, lay reader and lay Eucharistic visitor, and has represented St. Stephen’s as a delegate to the diocesan convention. He previously served on the vestry nominating committee at St. Stephen’s. He has taken part in Disciples of Christ in Community (DOCC) and Education for Ministry (EFM), and was treasurer of the vestry, chair of the finance committee, and a founding trustee of the preschool at his former parish.

Martha Sherman has been a member of St. Stephen’s since 2007. She co-chaired the grounds committee of our centennial capital campaign, and is a member of the flower guild, a food pantry volunteer, and a member of the committee planning a meditation garden outside our café. She is a past participant in the prayer shawl ministry. She’s also a graduate of the Education for Ministry (EFM) program, and took part in the Disciple Bible Study group. In North Carolina, she served as president of the diocesan Episcopal Church Women, as a member of her parish vestry, and was on the Commission on Ministry for the Diocese of East Carolina for six years.

Nancy Thompson is a lifelong member of St. Stephen’s Church, where she has been active in volunteer and leadership roles in our outreach ministries. She currently chairs the local outreach committee, and serves on the grants committee that makes recommendations to St. Stephen’s vestry for outreach grant funding. She has participated in mission trips to the Dominican Republic, and has helped coordinate our sheltering of those experiencing homelessness through the Caritas program. She’s participated in our jail ministry and in an Emmaus group. In our partnership with Fairfield Court Elementary School, Nancy has been a classroom assistant and coordinated the 2020 Christmas shop at the school with donations from St. Stephen’s parishioners.

Many thanks to the six members of the vestry who completed their three-year terms in 2021: Mary Bacon, who also served as treasurer; Orran Brown, Bob Dibble, Mollie Mitchell, Alston Williams, and Wesley Wright.

The officers of the vestry, who also constitute an executive committee, are Allison Koschak, senior warden; Lynn Ivey, junior warden; Bobby Fauntleroy, treasurer; and Jim Price, register. ✤

Dick Hamrick

David Hodge

Anne McElroy

Penn Rogers

Martha Sherman

At the annual meeting, we learned that in 2020, during a pandemic, St. Stephen’s Church baptized 45 people, married 8 couples, and received 39 new members. We also said Godspeed to 5 people who transferred to other Episcopal churches in the Richmond area, and to 10 who transferred to Episcopal churches in other cities and states. We also buried 44 souls.

May the circle be unbroken, continued from page 4

livestreaming, both of the 10 a.m. Sunday service, and now of the 5:30 p.m. Celtic service.

On Sunday, July 4, we will resume the 8 p.m. sung Compline with a fully-vaccinated choir, all of whom will be positioned at the west end of the nave.

Also on Sundays, the café will be open with complimentary coffee, from 8:30 a.m. until noon. Other drinks (such as lattes) will be available for purchase from our talented baristas. Grab-and-go snacks (granola bars, Goldfish, chips, etc.) will be available.

MORNING PRAYER

We will continue to livestream Morning Prayer, and will also allow people to attend in person, masked for now. (Morning Prayer takes place each weekday at 8:10 a.m. in the Chapel of the Holy Spirit. When the office is closed for a holiday or for some other reason, there is no Morning Prayer service.)

COMMUNITY SUPPERS

We will also resume the Sunday Community Supper outdoors between the Celtic and Compline services on Sunday, July 4. Masks will not be required for this offering since it takes place outdoors.

SMALL GROUPS AND MEETINGS

We had already begun to permit Emmaus groups and other small groups to reserve rooms and meeting times in the parish house. We will ask people arriving for these meetings to wear masks anytime they are moving through the building—in the hallways, in restrooms, and other common areas. Once you reach your group’s room, it will be up to the group to determine whether to wear masks while in the meeting room, based on the vaccination and health status of those in the group. Many thanks to all who have made a pledge for 2021 or have given a gift to support the vital ministries of St. Stephen’s Church. The pledges and gifts we receive from you are crucial to the work we do. If you are not an official “member” of St. Stephen’s but you take part in worship, visit the café or the farmers market or other offerings, we hope you know how much your presence enriches our life.

If you would like to pay your pledge, become a pledging member of St. Stephen’s, or make a gift out of gratitude we invite you to: • visit the online giving pages of our Web site, ststephensRVA. org/give; • set up a regular payment through your bank’s bill pay; or • mail checks to St. Stephen’s Church, 6000 Grove Avenue, Richmond, Virginia 23226.✤

THE FARMERS MARKET

The farmers market takes place outdoors, and now that mask mandates have been lifted for outdoor events in the Commonwealth, you may shop unmasked.

THE CAFÉ

The café has continued to do a brisk business with take-out orders and outdoor dining, and that will continue. We have re-opened the indoor café space, and ask people to distance from those not in their party and to wear masks when they are not eating or drinking (such as while placing an order or using the restroom).

As mentioned above, we’re also opening the café on Sunday mornings, 8:30-noon, in addition to the weekday and Saturday hours.

We look forward to continuing to open up after this very difficult period in our community’s life. No doubt some will choose to continue to wear a mask, even in spaces and events where masks are not required. Of course, we honor this decision.

In addition to guidance and regulations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Diocese of Virginia, parish leaders have been using data from Brown University’s School of Public Health. Different colors correspond to the number of new cases in a given area, week to week. As this edition of Seasons of the Spirit was being printed, we were in the “yellow zone” in our area. This is an improvement, to be sure, but our benchmark for removing the requirement for masks is seven consecutive days in the green zone. Of course, even if we do achieve that milestone, if we were to later tip back into the yellow zone, we’d go back to requiring masks.