Vestry

Vestry

The vestry is the legal representative of the parish with regard to all matters pertaining to its corporate property. The basic responsibilities of the vestry are to help define and articulate the mission of the congregation; to support the church’s mission by word and deed, to select the rector, to ensure effective organization and planning, and to manage resources and finances.

Chris Allen ('27)

Senior Warden

Chris and his wife Izzy have been members at Trinity since 2004. He served for six years on the Stewardship Committee, including 3 years as co-chair; for four years on the Vestry, including two years on its Executive Committee; as well as two Associate Rector search committees and the Director of Music Search Committee. The proud parent of 3 choristers, Chris has participated in the DOCC program, Habitat for Humanity, and the Leadership Development Task Force. When not at Trinity, he is working as an in-house attorney for a biopharma company, cooking barbeque on a smoker, playing golf, skiing, reading, and spending time with his family.

Matt Diver ('29)

Junior Warden

As an adult received into the Episcopal faith, Matt has been an active parishioner since 2016. He has served as Chair of the Finance Committee at Trinity Boston Connects, as a Eucharistic Minister and usher on Sundays, and on the Youth and Adult Formation Committees. Matt lives in the South End with his wife Nicolle and two sons, Henry and Miles, both of whom were baptized at Trinity. Henry, Miles and Nicolle are faithful members of Trinity’s choir. Matt is the co-founder of Galen / Atlantica, a health policy advisory firm focused on genetic medicine and pandemic preparedness.

Peter Renner ('28)

Treasurer

Peter has been a parishioner since 1989 and has served our parish in a variety of ways: as Co-Chair of the Stewardship Committee, Chair of the Children’s Ministries Committee, in leadership positions in both of our most recent capital campaigns, and as member of the Investment Committee, Nominating Committee, TrinityNext Committee, and Homeless Task Force (late 2000s). He currently serves with the Pine Street Feeding Team. He lives in Wellesley with his wife Mary, and they have three daughters, Madeline, Maggie, & Lindsey, all of whom were baptized at Trinity.

Gaye Bok ('29)

Clerk

Gaye Bok has been a member of Trinity Church for more than forty years and has attended regularly with her husband, Alex Bok, since the 1990s. Trinity has been an integral part of their family life: their children, Kenzie, Abigail, and Oliver, all participated in church school, youth group, confirmation, Trinity Choir, and mission trips. Gaye previously served on a Youth Ministry advisory committee and more recently has been active in the lector ministry. In 2021, Trinity was the site of a joyful family milestone when their daughter Abigail was married to Ned Downie. Gaye and Alex recently welcomed their first grandchild, Eleanor Joan Downie, into the family. Professionally, Gaye has spent three decades working at the intersection of service, healthcare, and innovation. She served for fifteen years on the board of Pine Street Inn, where she chaired the Governance Committee. More recently, she was a founding partner of Mass General Brigham’s AI & Digital Innovation Venture Fund, where she helped build a portfolio of early-stage companies advancing care delivery. She has served on multiple company boards and brings experience across healthcare systems, emerging technologies, and mission-driven organizations.

Kathy Moon ('29)

Katharine (Kathy) H.S. Moon has attended Trinity Church since 1994 and was received as a member in December, 2000. She grew up in Korean immigrant churches of the United Methodist Church and became a youth leader and Sunday School teacher. She maintained active church participation during her undergraduate years at Smith College, serving the Chapel and being ordained as a deacon. Her faith journey as an adult and her love of music led her to Trinity Church, where she overcame her unfamiliarity with Episcopal/Anglican practices and then eagerly adopted them. Kathy is a member of the Choir and is part of the Prayer Ministry, which she recently co-led. She enjoys the good literature and fellowship of the Trinity Short Fiction on Faith group. She serves in the Trinity Neighbors ministry, which aims to assist and support refugees and new immigrants, and is a new member of the Pastoral Visitors ministry (as a Eucharisitic visitor). She also is a lector and Eucharistic lay minister. Kathy is Professor emerita at Wellesley College, where she taught for thirty years in the Department of Political Science. She is the author of scholarly books and articles in U.S.-East Asia relations, East Asian politics and women-related issues. She was the inaugural holder of the Korea Studies Chair at The Brookings Institution and has appeared widely in international media on diverse topics related to the Koreas and East Asia. Kathy Moon is a board member of the U.S. National Committee on North Korea and was on the board of directors of Smith College. She lives in Cambridge with her husband Jeffrey Frankel, loves to garden, and is working on a novel about elder-care and family.

Josh Fiala ('27)

Josh and his wife, Jeannette, began regularly attending Trinity in 2009. Their involvement at Trinity has grown with their family. Josh’s earliest involvement at Trinity was as a Godly Play teacher in the second grade for about 5 years. Since then, Josh has been a member and Co-chair of the Children’s Ministries Committee. Josh has also recently served as a member and Co-chair of the Stewardship Committee. For twenty years, Josh and Jeannette have participated in and raised money for the Walk for Hunger and have been a part of Trinity’s Walk for Hunger team for the past few years. Josh grew up in Michigan and met Jeannette at MIT. Josh is an architect and urban planner and works as a Principal Planner for MAPC, the regional planning agency of the Greater Boston area. Josh enjoys traveling and running. He is running the Boston Marathon as a member of the 2023 Trinity Boston Connects Team. Josh and Jeannette live in the South End and are proud parents of Violette and Edgerton, who were baptized at Trinity and are currently singing with the choir as Choristers.

Sukaina Garcia ('28)

Sukaina has been a parishioner since 2008 and has served the parish in a variety of ways. She has been a member of the Outreach Leadership committee and Co-Chair of the Anne Bonnyman Symposium. She is currently a member of the Audit Committee and a Eucharistic Minister. In addition to her service at Trinity, she is also a tax accountant. Sukaina and her husband, Chris, currently reside on the South Shore.

Tim Martin ('27)

Tim has been a parishioner since 2005 and has served the parish in a variety of ways: Youth Mentor, Vestry, committee member (Nominating, TrinityNext, Adult Christian Formation, and the Rector Search Committee), and currently chairs the Building Committee. Tim and his wife Julia were married at Trinity, and now live in Sudbury with their two daughters.

Peter Smiledge ('29)

Baptized and confirmed in the United Church of Christ, Peter began attending Trinity in 2007 and was received into the Episcopal Church in 2019. He regularly attends the 10 am service and frequently serves as an usher. A participant in the 2013 Trinity Disciples of Christ in Community (DOCC) program, he was a member of the Trinity Holy Land pilgrimage of 2017. He also completed the recent Trinity Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain. A Trinity Church tour guide for 16 years, Peter has served on both the Art and Architecture and Building Committees and has led several Trinity tour guide training programs. Peter has served as a pastoral visitor since 2019. Raised in South Hadley, Massachusetts, Peter attended the University of Connecticut at Storrs where he received BS and MS degrees in pharmaceutical sciences. He worked in healthcare information technology for more than 35 years with posts in the Philadelphia area, Columbus, Ohio, and Kansas City, Missouri. At his retirement he was a vice-president and general manager for Siemens (later Oracle) Healthcare. He and his wife Lynn moved back to New England in 1999 and lived in Andover for 10 years before moving to the Back Bay where they live now. They share a daughter and two granddaughters. In addition to leading tours, Lynn and Peter remain busy working as preservation consultants conducting surveys of historic properties in Southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod.

Chuks Okoli ('28)

Chuks joined Trinity Church Boston in 1982 as a single individual but married and wedded at Trinity Church 1986. Chuks was a founding member of Nigerian Christian Fellowship Group at Trinity Church, an evangelical Christian group of Anglicans worship in various churches in greater Boston area. His children, David and Michael, were acolytes at Trinity. Chuks has been a lifelong member of the Anglican (Episcopalian) Communion originally at Emmanuel Anglican Church Ubulu, Imo State, Nigeria. Chuks graduated from Suffolk University, Boston, Massachusetts with a BSBA in Accounting and a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA). Chuks also earned a Doctoral Degree, (Ed.D) from Northeastern University Boston, Massachusetts. He has been a resident of Jamaica Plain for close to 3 decades and has been a licensed CPA (Certified Public Accountant) since 1996. Chuks was formerly the Comptroller and the Vice President for Administration & Finance (CFO). Currently, he is the CEO and founder of Okoli Financial Inc., a Certified Public Accountant Practice and Real Estate Brokerages Services since 2017. Chuks is blessed with three children, a granddaughter Anayah Oluchi 2 years old and a 6 months old grandson, Noel Ikenna.

Constance Perry ('28)

A cradle Episcopal, born and raised in Boston, Constance grew up worshipping at St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church in the South End. She began attending Trinity Church in 1998. In 1999, the Rev. William Barnwell invited her to join the Advisory Committee to explore bringing a summer program for inner city Boston youth to Trinity. The results -Trinity’s TEEP was created, and Constance met Dain Perry whom she would marry at Trinity Church in 2006. In 2002, the Rev. Sam Lloyd charged Constance and Dain to form and co-chair a committee to explore bringing an anti-racism initiative to Trinity. Over time and with participation from many others, that exploration led to the formation of the AntiRacism Team. She has served on the Urban and Justice Steering Committee, Grants Committee, Trinity Church Welcome Task Force, the 2005 Parish Profile Committee, and currently serves as co-chair of the Trinity Church Task Force for Justice and Reparations. Constance has also served on a number of diocesan committees including Diversity and Leadership, Co-Convener of the Boston Harbor Deanery, two separate terms on the Standing Committee, and currently co-chairs the Reparations Subcommittee of the Diocese of Massachusetts Racial Justice Commission. For six years she was on the board of Episcopal Relief and Development, the international relief and development arm of the Episcopal Church, serving the last three as Vice President. Along with her husband, Constance facilitates screenings of Traces of the Trade across the country in a variety of venues including Episcopal Churches. Prior to “retiring”, Constance designed and managed workforce development programs, and was a self-employed national consultant. Constance enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, reading, knitting and running.

Mary Roetzel ('27)

Mary grew up in the Presbyterian Church in St Paul, Minnesota. She first started attending Trinity in 1997 and was confirmed into the Episcopal church in 1998. She started singing in the choir a few years later, which still gives her great joy. She has participated in several committees related to the music department, including the Concert Committee and the Tour Committees in 2010 and 2016. Mary also has served on the Stewardship Committee and the Director of Music Search Committee. A resident of the Fenway, she works in Human Resources at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and is an avid travel buff, heading to northern Minnesota each summer and further afield as often as possible.

David McFerrin ('28)

David McFerrin grew up an acolyte at Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst, Massachusetts. Now a professional classical baritone with an active performing career around the United States and Europe, David first came to Trinity Church in 2010 as a staff singer in the choir. Trinity soon became his spiritual home, and his engagement expanded beyond the music program. In addition to singing in the choir for seven years, David led morning prayer services during Advent and Lent, served Trinity’s Habitat and Pine Street Inn ministries, and was a Confirmation mentor. More recently, David was a member of the church’s 2020 Leadership Development Task Force and led the weekly online Compline ministry. He is currently in his third year on the Stewardship Committee, and he serves as co-facilitator of the Ministry Council Outreach and Justice cohort. For the past two years, David has been a co-leader of Team Trinity’s participation in the Rodman Ride for Kids to support the programs of Trinity Boston Connects. A frequent lector on Sunday mornings, David has also recorded the church’s audio tour. Early in his Trinity life, David was introduced by a mutual friend in the choir to Erin Doherty; David and Erin married in 2014. Now living in Natick, they attend Trinity with daughter Fiona and David’s parents, John Lemly and Catharine Melhorn.

Katie Wrisley Shelby ('28)

After growing up and being married in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Katie and her husband, Tyson, were formally received into the Episcopal Church in 2019 after attending Trinity since around 2011. She finished her Master’s in Theological Studies at Harvard Divinity School in 2012 and defended her dissertation in Historical Theology at Boston College in 2018, and has since taught as a contingent faculty member in Theology at both BC and Providence College. Throughout her years experimenting in the stresses of academic theology, Trinity Church has served as a spiritual home, space of solace, and source of beloved community for Katie and her family, which now also includes their one- year-old daughter, Rebecca Jane, who can often be found in the nursery during the 10 am service. Since 2011, Katie has participated in various ministries at Trinity, including as a server at Rosie’s Place, as a Lay Eucharistic Minister, on a Discernment Committee, as an attendee of the 20s/30s Group, and most recently, as a member of the Bible Study Guide Writing Team. The Shelbys currently reside in Concord

Tim Kelly ('28)

Tim started attending Trinity Church in the mid 2000s while studying at Boston University. Soon after, he took part in the Inquirer’s Class and was confirmed by Bishop Tom Shaw. He joined the Trinity Choir in 2009 and has been singing with the choir ever since. He has also served as a member of the Ministry Collaborative, Budget Committee, and as a member and co-chair of the Stewardship Committee. Tim and his wife Melissa were married at Trinity in 2015 and their daughter Charlotte was baptized at Trinity in 2021. They live in the Boston area. Tim works for the College Board, a nonprofit organization that connects students to college success and opportunity, where he oversees leadership and professional development programs for higher education professionals.