Vestry Members:

Senior Warden: PAT MACKENZIE (elected February 2009, 2010)

We MacKenzie’s joined St. George’s in 1985 and appreciated the emphasis on family right from the start. We became part of the “Parent’s Group”. With this bunch of wonderful people, we raised our kids and made fast-friends. Under the umbrella of St. George’s we have worshipped, camped, dined, worked on ministry projects, and have cultured relationships that affirm our faith in God and our appreciation of our extended St. George’s family. 

I can’t tell you how thankful I am to be a part of this church. I have met such good people and have made friends and acquaintances with so many of you. I’ve volunteered to conduct youth activities, ushered, became a chief usher, perennially participated in the Annual Spaghetti Dinner (I have been Antonio Pepperoni’s straight man in perpetuity), and became the Buildings and Grounds Chairman which led to becoming the Visions Implementation Committee Chairman. You have elected me to the Vestry. You elected me to Junior Warden and I have served this past year as Senior Warden. 

I have worked as part of the Vestry team to make continuing upgrades to our church. We’ve done a good job of making St. George’s a place to fulfill your spiritual needs. I have been blessed to receive interim rector, Father Jim Larsen, with his years of experience. Together we are nurturing a proactive Vestry that is concerned about the progress of finding a new rector. We are encouraging the search committee, under the leadership of Junior Warden, Rob Johnson, to move ahead with the parish survey and the resultant church profile. 

 I have tried successfully to balance our operations over the past year with our present income stream. We’ve worked tirelessly on incorporating our new property, 41 Manor into our campus.  More needs to be done. I would be honored to provide the leadership necessary to incorporate a new wave of worshippers, young and old, into our congregation.  As such, I humbly request that you participate in the annual meeting of St. George’s and vote for me for the year ahead as Senior Warden. So…Gotta Go!!!
Peace be with you!
Patrick MacKenzie
Senior Warden

Junior Warden: Rob Johnson (elected February 2009, 2010)
I am 37 years old and am a life long Episcopalian. My wife is named Michele and we have a seven year old son named Adam. I am originally from Connecticut and moved to the Dayton area nearly ten years ago for my job at Reynolds & Reynolds. I am a Product Manager for one of our software applications. We began attending St. George’s a few months after moving to Dayton and have always been very glad that we found this church. In my job as a Product Manager, I am responsible for aligning priorities for my product and deciding what features and enhancements will be implemented. These decisions are often based on our resource availability as well as the market demand. Sometimes these decisions are also made because it is the right thing to do. I believe this experience will help me in my role as Junior Warden. As I have not moved around much, most of my church experiences are limited to the church I grew up in and
St. George’s with some short periods at a couple other churches. Growing up in my hometown church, I participated in many of the activities and ministries my church offered that many youth go through. Other than Sunday school, my first involvement was with the Junior Choir followed by serving as an acolyte and crucifer. In my later high school years, I also served as a chalice bearer/lector. I would also mention the eleven years I spent attending and working at my Diocesan (Connecticut) summer camp. Perhaps the most important thing I learned going to summer camp was that God is fun (among many other things)!  That may sound strange but growing up, I always felt that many of my peers thought that God was there but was not something worth putting much time into. Summer camp showed that you could still have a good time and not need to neglect God. Since Michele and I arrived at St. George’s nearly ten years ago, our involvement has grown. I started out serving as a chalice bearer/lector at the 5:00 service and then became a verger for the Cornerstone service. I have also been a member of the Stewardship committee. Michele and I have also been involved with many other activities like the Spaghetti Dinner, Rummage Sale, etc. The outgoing and welcoming atmosphere is what attracted Michele and me to St. George’s several years ago. I don’t think this has been lost over the years and I would like to see it continue as we grow our ministries. Whether it is a service like Cornerstone or the addition of our new staff members, I think we need to continue to find new ways to reach out to those who don’t know Christ or have been away from him and need to return.At the same time, I also think we need to maintain the strong traditions that the Episcopal Church represents.

Mamle Anim (2010 - 2013)

I want to serve my church community and be a voice for a congregation.  My hope for St. George's and the Vestry is that we continue to grow in faith while increasing our membership.  I hope that our church reaches out to our local community so that we will be recognized as a community partner.  Most importantly, I hope that we remain and inclusive and welcoming church, focusing on strong principles of Christianity.  As we plan and hire a new rector, my prayer is that we find someone who in in tune with our goals and aspirations.

I was born and raised in Ghana, West Africa and went to medical school in Zambia.  I moved to Xenia in 1991 and have a been a member of this church since moving to Centerville in 1995.  I am currently an assistant professor at Wright State University and love my work which involves teaching medical students and residents.  I have 2 children, Memme and Awo Onwudiwe both members at St. Georges.  St. George's has been a source of spritual support and strength to me over the years.  I am ready and willing to serve on our vestry.

Elizabeth (Jean) Case (2010 - 2013)

My hopes and goals for St. George’s:

• Financial stability
• Encourage lay participation
• Establish more educational programs
• Increase membership
• Make the transition from  the Interim Rector to the new one a smooth and non-challenging one

I have been a member of St. George’s since 1970.  Over the course of my membership I have been: 

• A Sunday School teacher
• A member of the Altar Guild
• Stephen Minister/Leader
• A greeter
• Wedding helper
• Member of the healing prayer ministry
• Lay Eucharistic visitor

In addition, I have helped with the Logos program, spaghetti dinners, vacation Bible school as well as numerous other programs. 

I look forward to serving the members of St. George’s through the next three years with God’s help.

Linda Curtoys (2010 - 2013)

Being a member of a community means being willing to work on behalf of that community.  One of the ways to do that is to serve on the vestry, to help with the guiding of the parish over the next three years as we transition into a new phase of our communal life together.  I look forward to working with our new rector as we all move forward in our life together.

I believe that the grace we have been given is meant to be shared, that we are called to be Christians not for ourselves but for the world in which we live.  Therefore, I hope to see St. George’s become a more welcoming parish and a community that is known in the area as one that is involved on a personal basis with the needs of the Dayton region.  We have many material and human resources here at St. George’s that can be utilized to nurture our world and I would like to help bring those to fuller use.  I also hope to build on the foundations of worship and education that are a part of our life together to make them even more vibrant and enticing to young and old alike. 

I have been an Episcopalian for over 31 years and have served on vestries for nine of those years.  I have also been responsible for developing and presenting various workshops on the subjects of prayer, ministry and the diaconate.  I have been a Eucharistic minister, Sunday school teacher, and lay reader as well as active in the various outreach ministries of the parish to which I belonged.  Here at St. George’s I am involved in helping to distribute meals at the Salvation Army as well as being a member of the Greeting Committee.   My work experience is in education where I taught school for 10 years in grades 6 -12 and then spent 28 years as Education Director in a residential care facility for children.  I am retired now and live at Bethany where I volunteer weekly. 

Elizabeth Gustafson (2010 - 2011)

I have served on the Vestry twice over the twenty seven years of our time at St. George's, and I enjoyed serving in that way.  At this time of transition to a new priest, the Vestry will have important challenges and exciting opportunities that will have a real impact on our future.  I hope that my experience on the vestry and my knowledge and love of St. George's will help to guide us into that future.

In the coming year, I hope that St. George's will welcome a new priest who has the ability to inspire the people of St. George's spiritually and as a community.  We need to get beyond the "wait and see" attitude of many of our members that has reduced our attendance, our pledges and, thus, our ability to provide the programming and personnel that we need.  In the next three years, building membership, budget and programming that connects us as a church family are vital to our success with special emphasis on creating a thriving youth program.

I have been an economics professor at the University of Dayton since 1983 and am currently serving as Associate Dean in the School of Business Administration.  I earned my doctorate in economics at the University of North Carolina in 1974 and I was on the faculty at UC and at Miami before coming to Dayton.  My husband, Steve, and I have two sons, now aged 27 and 30 and living in Seattle and Sacramento, who grew up at St. George's and who greatly benefited from their experiences with the Sunday school, youth group and youth trips.  At St. George's, my current activities are choir, finance committee and organizing foyer groups.  Over the years, I have also been involved with Vestry, fellowship, coffee hour, discernment committees, personnel committee, vacation Bible school, the parents' group and whatever else came along.  When the boys were young, I was a scout leader and worked with the Fairmont Band Boosters as well as with PTA and other school-based groups.

William R. (Bob) Hard (February 2009 to 2012)

 Lifelong Episcopalian – member of St. George’s since 1987

 Served one two-year term and two three-year terms on the Vestry

 Senior Warden for three one-year terms

Have been a member of Outreach, Stewardship and Finance commissions – current member of Finance commission

 Head Verger since 1998

 Lay reader / Chalice Bearer

 Retired military officer, former business owner, currently work as government contractor and program manager at WPAFB

St. George’s has been an integral part of my family’s life since we moved here in 1987.  It is where our children were brought up, where our friends are, and where we worship and socialize every week.  I believe my experience as senior warden during our last rector search, combined with my skills, discipline and focus, will help St. George’s succeed as we proceed through these difficult economic times and as we transition in the search for a new rector.

Max F. Heintz (February 2009 - 2012)

My wife and I have been members of St. George’s since 1988.  We have always found St. George’s to be a vibrant, friendly, and spiritually nurturing community.  I was a member of the choir for five years, and my wife a Sunday school instructor for five years.  We have participated in many church events over the years.   

As a CPA with my own firm, and experience as Treasurer for several not-for-profit entities, I am accustomed to looking at issues from a financial and budgetary perspective.  Certainly we need to be as careful and frugal as possible with our present resources, but we also need to find ways to expand our membership and revenues.  There is no “silver bullet,” rather, we should consider a number of small initiatives that hopefully add up to a significant difference.  For example, we might try to formalize and expand an effort to obtain “legacy” funds as part of an estate or trust.  As another example, we probably should be looking a Manor Lane as a competitive advantage in seeking a permanent rector. 

We must find resources to hire an outstanding permanent rector.  Second, we must find a way to fund an outstanding youth program.  I view these are the two most critical components in ensuring a vibrant, growing and healthy congregation.  Certainly this would be the perspective of any prospective parishioner visiting the church.  This is not to diminish the importance of all other programs the church currently has, but only to identify those that have the “biggest bang for the buck.” 

I pledge to bring as many new ideas to the table as possible, work to bring those and other ideas to fruition, and be part of the team that ensures St. George’s continues as a loving, growing and vibrant church community. 

Ted Knox (February 2009 - 2012)

 I was raised in the Episcopal Church in Wilmington Delaware.  Before our family moved to the suburbs after WWII, I was baptized in the Cathedral church in Wilmington.  I served as an acolyte all the way through college at Brown.  Carol and I have been married for 43 years and have two children and two grandchildren.  I have degrees from Brown (B.A., Biology), Iowa State (M. S., Physiology and Biophysics) and the University of Illinois at the Medical Center in Chicago (PhD, Physiology and Bioengineering).  I was a Captain in the Army Medical Service Corps and have worked in research and development for both the Army and the Air Force for some 31 years.  I also was an Associate Professor of Physiology and Biophysics at LSU School of Medicine in Shreveport LA for 7.5 years and have held adjunct faculty appointments at Louisiana Tech and Wright State.  Since 1989, I have served as Principal Scientist in what is now called the 711^th Human Performance Wing of the Air Force Research Lab and have manage groups of up to 20 or more professionals with budgets of several million dollars.

 I have served on three Vestries – Brown Episcopal Student church at St. Stephens, Providence RI, Epiphany Episcopal Church in Enterprise, AL and at St. George’s.  At Brown I was vice-President of the Student Christian Movement (among other things we raised money to support voter registration in the South during 1960-1963).  At Epiphany I also sang in the Choir, was Superintendent of the Sunday school and on building and priest search committees.  In Shreveport I attended St. Paul’s and sang in the choir and taught Sunday school with Carol.  At St. George’s I have sung in the Choir since 1989 and served on the Newcomers, Accessibility, visions committees and the Vestry (one term).  I have worked on two Habitat Houses and was stage manager for two choir shows.

Bob Loper (February 2009 - 2012)

I have been a member of St. George’s Parish Church since January 2006, shortly after I reported to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.  I am no stranger to the Dayton area, since I grew up in Dayton, though I moved away in 1995 for school and work.  St. George’s was not the first Episcopal parish I tried when I moved back to Dayton, but I found St. George’s to be a welcoming home, and I draw spiritual nourishment from the wide variety of services and ministries we experience here.

I am a first lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, and I work as a physicist and intelligence analyst at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center.  I anticipate starting a physics Ph.D. program at the Air Force Institute of Technology (also at Wright-Patt) this summer.

In the service of the church, I have been a tenor in St. George’s choir since Steve Gustafson recruited me on my second Sunday here, and I’ve been serving as a verger since May 2006.  I have served on the Social Issues Commission since 2008.  I explored a call toward the priesthood for two years of my time with St. George’s, but ultimately felt that that call was nudging me toward the lay ministry of theologian.  Toward that vocation, I have been studying part-time at United Theological Seminary for the last two years.

I am a relative newcomer to the Episcopal Church; I was baptized at the Easter Vigil of 2005 at St. Peter’s in McKinney, TX.  Here is where I have a unique perspective:  I am not a cradle Episcopalian but a convert, brought into the church because I sought a home where I could find spiritual nourishment.  Keeping in mind the challenges which we face as a faith community now and in the near future, I would like to apply this perspective as a member of the Vestry to ensure that the hard decisions that are made to help St. George’s continue to operate also allow our faith to invite new members to join our church.

Jeff Reed (elected to 2 year term February 2009 - 2011)

Heather and I live in Kettering and teach history and humanities at Clark State Community College in Springfield and Fairfield. I moved to the Miami valley in August 2004 from Washington DC, after working on two US Agency for International Development contracts performing communications, publications editing, layout and design work, most recently for the Africa Bureau’s Office of Sustainable Development, dealing with agriculture, the environment, HIV/AIDS, education and other economic development issues. Before moving to DC, I taught at colleges in Michigan and Georgia.

I have been privileged to attend two of the best educational institutions in America. I received an ALB in history from Harvard University in 1986. After my undergraduate years I went on to graduate school at Emory University in Atlanta and received my doctorate in history in 1998.

Heather and I joined St. George’s community in July of 2007, after searching for a church that shared our principles and convictions. We both appreciate the wonderful ceremony of the Episcopal Church, but I was drawn by the high level of social commitment that is the hallmark of Episcopalian belief and practice. That the St. George’s family so quickly made us a part of their community is a demonstration that we made the right decision!

This is a critical time for St. George’s, and the new vestry is going to have to make many difficult choices. Installing a new rector and balancing the budget will remain the main focus of vestry activity, and are fundamentally important at the current time. As it says in Psalm 11 “When the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do”? We must make sure that our foundations are strong, so that St. George can fulfill its mission.  After all, a strong foundation is only a first step. St. George’s needs to continue to meet the needs of the congregation, grow its membership, and remain active in the Dayton and worldwide community.

Eric Schryver (February 2008 - 2011)
First, it is an honor to be asked to run for a Vestry position. If elected, I will serve willingly and thoughtfully. I grew up in Dayton; attended St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and graduated from Oakwood High School. I attended the University of Colorado and the University of the Seven Seas. In 1967 I married Sue, also a native of Oakwood. By 1973 we were a family of four with two children -- our son, Lew, and our daughter, Elizabeth. After working at Dayton Power & Light for 20 years in Sales and Marketing, I left the corporate world to pursue my real passion -- photography. In the mid-seventies Sue, the children, and I joined St. George’s, where the opportunities to worship God, meet new friends and volunteer were endless. My journey of faith and walk with Christ was renewed and nurtured at St. George’s. I taught Sunday school, served on the Finance and Stewardship Committees, helped the Organ Committee raise funds, and worked on the Spring Festival. I was a member of the Vestry for eight years --the last four as Junior Warden. In the community, I was involved in Scouting as a troop leader, Centerville Rotary as president, the Professional Photographers of Southwestern Ohio as president, the Professional Photographers of Ohio as a board member, the regional high school arts review board, and Ohio’s Arts and Communications Panel for the State’s vocational schools. Our children have grown, graduated from college, established careers, married, and brought us four wonderful grandchildren. Currently, I am a Stephen Minister, a volunteer for our music outreach program, chairman of the Membership Committee, and attend Wednesday and Sunday Bible Study. And, oh yes, I enjoy ushering with Sue. As a candidate for the Vestry, I bring the
gifts of leadership and relationship experiences, an open but questioning mind, an innate curiosity, and a sense of humor. I come with the perspective of a strong
interest in the well being of family, friends, and St. George’s. I most appreciate the presence of a loving and tolerant church family. We should reach to activate our inactive members, and bring new members into the body of Christ.