SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2024 | 11:30AM
HUTTON HALL & Z_O_O_M
Our Yearly Celebration and Annual Meeting will take place in Hutton Hall, with the option to participate virtually. Join us as we celebrate Jesus’ Presence among the servant saints of Saint Barnabas over the past 12 months and lift our eyes to envision our call to discipleship in 2024. Everyone is invited to celebrate what is to come in this vibrant parish community, as we elect new Vestry and Convention delegates. (Scroll down to see our nominees.) We will be giving thanks for our blessings in 2023 while looking forward with joyful anticipation to our future.
Z-o-o-m credentials will be available via our weekly email. Not receiving emails? Subscribe or call the church office. All are welcome.
Questions? Please contact The Rev. Robert Berra or call the church office.
Meet Our Nominees for Vestry and Diocesan Convention
As prescribed by our bylaws, the Vestry Nominating Committee, led by Chair Karen Steckler, has produced a slate of nominees this fall to be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Episcopal Parish of Saint Barnabas on the Desert on January 28, 2024 at 11:30am in Hutton Hall. We are blessed by the dedication of these parishioners to their church. When you see them on our grounds, thank them for their service!
Ten parishioners are nominated to serve as 2024 Diocesan Convention delegates and alternates. Nominees to attend the 2024 convention as Delegates: Emily Krob, Brian Krob, Hank Parker, Erica Williams, and Scott Williams. Those nominated as alternates (voting in the event a Delegate is unable to serve) are: Steve Herman, Sky Larsen, Debbie Moore, Jim Rector, and Phyllis Rector. In addition to these elected roles, Rector Jim Clark has named Don Henninger to continue as our Senior Warden.
Read on to learn more about our Junior Warden candidate and Vestry Candidates for 2024/2025/2026.
Our Junior Warden candidate:
Laurel Kimball
I grew up in the Episcopal Church in Iowa, attended other Protestant churches for many years, and have been attending Saint Barnabas since about 2013. I was first attracted by Quiet Days and the Quiet Services and soon joined a TAEHS (The Art of Engaging Holy Scripture) group that has been a source of much strength and spiritual growth for me. I served on the vestry last year, worked on the Welcoming the Neighborhood campaign, and participate in the Sunday morning forums and the Poetry Group, among other activities. Working together as a community of disciples who make disciples, I have faith that together we will face the challenges of the coming transition and become an even stronger community.
The four parishioners nominated for service on the Saint Barnabas Vestry:
Margaret Beresford
I started attending Saint Barnabas in 1971, when my family moved her from Illinois. It has always been a place where I have felt the presence of God, not only through the music, art, and service, but through the loving community of people who also call Saint Barnabas home and I have found this vital to my sense of wellbeing. My 14-year-old daughter, Megan, and I consider Saint Barnabas our extended family and spiritual sanctuary in an otherwise very hectic, demanding world. We enjoy the educational offerings and variety of ways to participate both as we are able and with longer term commitments. Over the years my daughter and I have participated in a variety of ways from singing in the children’s choir, helping with Broadway Bash, lay reading, teaching Sunday school, serving on the vestry, and we LOVE the Saint Barnabas at Chapel Rock getaways! We are currently greeters and are happy to fill in as able. When we are not at church, my daughter attends Arizona School for the Arts and I am an LPC and Art Therapist working in private practice, working mostly with adults. The healing effects of the arts and mental/emotional wellness have always been passions of mine.
Gretchen Kitchel
I have been attending Saint Barnabas since 1990. I have a passion for working with children and have been volunteering in children’s ministry since 2004. More recently I have joined the LEM team, which I also thoroughly enjoy. I married Jon at Saint Barnabas, both our children, Heidi and Jaron, were baptized and confirmed at Saint Barnabas, and my father is interred in the Memorial Garden. Needless to say, Saint Barnabas is a big and important part of my life.
Charlie Stanton
I am a proud cradle Episcopalian born and raised in Tucson, and the Episcopal church has always been an important part of my life. Chelsea and I have been members since 2019, after quickly being embraced by Saint Barnabas’s welcoming community. The thought-provoking sermons have proven to be invaluable, serving as sources of inspiration and reflection. What I cherish most, however, are the precious friendships my family and I have cultivated while regularly attending Wednesdays family nights and Sunday services. As a greeter on Sunday mornings, I enjoy getting to know current members and having the privilege of extending the same warmth I first received to both familiar and new faces.
Ed Wimmer
Judie, my spouse, and I have been active members at Saint Barnabas since 1993, when we relocated to Scottsdale from the Kansas City area, where we attended Saint Michaels and All Angels. Currently, I have the privilege of serving as a Lay Eucharistic Minister Team Leader, Lay Reader, Usher, Lay Chaplain, and on the Buildings and Grounds Committee. I also served several years in a leadership position as the Lay Pastoral Care Coordinator. What I love about Saint Barnabas is that as we focus on all of Jesus’ teachings we welcome everyone sincerely, so that no one suffers alone. Worship, study, and action, all within the framework of compassion for others as empowered by the Holy Spirit – all of it combines to make me feel I am at home here at Saint Barnabas.