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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

Barbara Dortch-Okara ('25)

Junior Warden

Peter Renner ('28)

Treasurer

Christopher Atwood ('26)

Clerk

Christine Arcese ('26)

Josh Fiala ('27)

Richard Henderson ('26)

Tim Martin ('27)

Niven Narain ('26)

Chuks Okoli ('25)

Constance Perry ('28)

Mary Roetzel ('27)

Pam Waterman ('25)

Katie Wrisley Shelby ('28)

Tim Kelly ('28)

Sukaina Garcia ('25)

TRINITY CHURCH IN THE CITY OF BOSTON

206 Clarendon Street
Boston, MA 02116
617-536-0944

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SUNDAY SERVICES

8 am Holy Eucharist
10 am Holy Eucharist
(Morning Prayer on the 5th Sunday of the month) livestreamed
5 pm Holy Eucharist

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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.

Barbara Dortch-Okara ('25)

Junior Warden

Barbara joined her husband, Ebi Okara, at Trinity in 1992. Her earliest involvement was as a church school teacher for several years. Since then, Barbara has served on the Vestry where she was appointed to the Anti-Racism Planning and Design Task Force which resulted in the establishment of Trinity’s Anti-Racism Team. Later, she was a member of the Anti-Racism Team for three years and was the moderator for the First Anne Berry Bonnyman Symposium. For many years, Barbara and Ebi were volunteers and riders for the Team Trinity Ride for Kids outreach ministry. She has served on the Nominating Committee and was its chair this year. She recently co-chaired Trinity’s Leadership Development Task Force. Barbara was a justice of the Superior Court from 1989 until her retirement in 2012. During that time, she also served as Chief Justice of the Trial Court. In 2013 she was appointed by the governor to chair the State Ethics Commission. At the same time, she joined the faculty of New England School of Law and was a professor there until 2018. She is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of her alma mater, Brandeis University. She and Ebi are the proud parents of their adult son, Preye, who faithfully served as a Trinity nursery attendee, church school student, and acolyte.

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.

Christopher Atwood ('25)

Clerk

A lifelong Episcopalian, Christopher was raised in Trinity Church in Melrose. After a decades-long absence from church life, he has regularly attended Trinity Church Boston since 2013. He was drawn to serve initially as a Greeter, an Usher and as a Lay Eucharistic Minister at Hale House. He has been a regular volunteer for the Harbor to the Bay rideout breakfast, the Flower Guild helping to decorate the church for Christmas and Easter, and a Lector for the 7:45 am service.

After serving as a co-Head Usher with Liz Rosselot for a year, he has been the Head Usher for the past 4 years. Christopher has also served on two nominating committees.

Christopher enjoys umpiring slow pitch softball for the Beantown Softball League and working as Warden for the Boston Election Department on Election Day. He works for Mass General Brigham (formerly Partners Healthcare) as a Learning Program Manager.

Christopher lives in the South End with his husband, Jeffrey.

Christine Arcese ('26)

A lifelong Episcopalian, Christine was raised as a member of Saint Mary’s (f. 1703) in Burlington, NJ. Many of her most important childhood memories took place in that church as she was baptized, confirmed and then married there in 2002 to Eric. When staying with Eric’s family in Boston, they would frequently visit Trinity for services which started a long distance love of the parish. When in 2016, they moved to Duxbury, MA, they began to attend services regularly with their two children, Anna (now 14) and Olin (now 11). They both felt they had finally found their home at Trinity after years on the move for their careers. Christine and Eric volunteered to teach Sunday school and during that time, their children began singing with the Choristers. After following the choir during their last trip to England, Christine and Eric served together as parent liaisons for the Chorister program. During COVID, you could catch Christine singing in the background of choir video recordings, decorating the Narthex for the Christmas viewing in 2020, working with the return to church committee members on COVID protocols or administering COVID tests prior to Candlelight Carols and Christmas services. Professionally, Christine worked for General Electric in IT doing various project management and leadership roles for 15 years. All the while, she and Eric restored and designed homes and after a move to NC, Christine decided to change professions to become an interior designer. She now owns her design business, Lark + Soul, and does work throughout the Northeast.

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.

Richard Henderson ('26)

Richard and his wife Audrey have been parishoners since 1993. Richard has been involved in various outreach ministries over the years, including GBIO, the Oasis Feeding team, Trinity Tutoring, and the Dever Book Drive. He served on the Building Master Plan Committee that led to the development of the Undercroft, was Trinity’s Delegate to the Episcopal City Mission in 2018, and Delegate to the Boston Harbor Deanery in 2019-20. An urban planner, Richard is a member of the Boston Landmarks Commission, and has worked for several State and local agencies over the years. He is currently Chief of Real Estate for the MBTA. Richard and Audrey live in Jamaica Plain, where they raised their daughters Helen and Emma.

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.

Niven Narain ('26)

Dr. Niven R. Narain joined Trinity Church in early 2009 with his wife Paula after moving from Miami, FL. Together, they are proud parents of 3 children. He grew up in the Bahamas and Florida and has held leadership positions in his previous church, serving on Committees for Learning, Witness, Young Adult Formation, in addition to being on the Vestry. At Trinity, Niven has been an active member of the church, most recently as the Co-Chair of the COVID-19 Task Force, a Sunday school teacher, and ad hoc member for various Committee iniatives. Niven and Paula were married at Trinity. Their sons Paul and Philip, have been baptized at Trinity — with hopes to soon baptize their daughter, Margaret. Niven is passionate about his work in heatlhcare and global medicine. He is Co-Founder, President & CEO of BERG, a Boston-based biopharma that employs patient-driven biology and Bayesian AI to develop drugs and diagnostics in cancer, neurodegeneration, and rare diseases. He is an Advisor/Board Member to NASA/Gene Lab Steering Committee, DoD, No. 10, Meharry Medical College, and the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics at Harvard Law School. Niven attended St. John’s University, NY and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where he is still Faculty. He is a frequent international speaker and lectures often at Harvard. He is very active in educational STEM programs in Massachusetts and participates in mission trips to the Caribbean.

Chuks Okoli ('25)

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.

Pam Waterman ('25)

Pam Waterman moved to Boston from her hometown of Queens, New York in 1999, and found her way to Trinity Church in 2000. Pre-COVID, Pam could be found regularly on Sundays serving as an Usher, Lay Liturgist, or Lay Eucharistic Minister. With the invaluable help of her wife Michelle Coleman, Pam led the Rosie’s Place Catering Team from 2007 to 2012, and in 2016 she revived Trinity’s dormant Habitat for Humanity ministry. She served on the 2014 Mission Task Force and just concluded her work with the 2020 Leadership Development Task Force. She was “an enthusiastic but terrible” 2nd baseman for the Trinity Paracletes for many years. Pam was the Trinity delegate to the Diocesan Convention in 2017, and the 2019-2020 Trinity delegate to the Episcopal City Mission. For the past 22 years, Pam has worked as a Project Director at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, and since 2017 she has also been the Director of the Museum of African American History (Boston & Nantucket) Stone Book Award. She and Michelle live in Jamaica Plain. When not working or at church, you can usually find Pam on a tennis court.

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.

Sukaina Garcia ('25)

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.