Vestry Leadership
What Are the Vestry’s Key Responsibilities?
Members of the vestry, along with the rector, serve as spiritual leaders in our congregation. They are entrusted with the mission of the congregation, called to offer their gifts for ministry to the sacred task of fulfilling God’s call. Rather than a representative for a constituency, they are trustees and stewards of the congregation.
The Episcopal Church Foundation identifies four responsibilities of the vestry, shared with the rector:
- Discerning God’s call
- Identifying new leaders
- Stewarding and developing resources
- Special duties in the absence of a rector
The most important of the four responsibilities is discerning God’s call for our congregation as articulated in its mission and vision. Congregations share the common mission of the Church, but every congregation is uniquely called by virtue of its history, its neighborhood, and its people to live that mission in a particular way. And God has equipped our community to fulfill the mission to which it is called. Discerning God’s call requires knowing your congregation’s history, its neighborhood, and its people.
Canonical Responsibilities:
Every congregation and all clergy in the Episcopal Church are bound to abide by the Canons of the Episcopal Church, which set out the following responsibilities:
- Be agents and legal representatives of the congregation in all matters concerning its corporate properties and the relations of the congregation to its clergy (Title I. Canon 14, Section 2, page 52.)
- Ensure that standard business methods, as outlined in The Episcopal Church’s Manual of Business Methods in Church Affairs, will be observed (Title I. Canon 7, Section 1, page 39).
- When a congregation is without a rector, the officers of the vestry are responsible for the continuation of worship, including the calling of a new rector (Title III. Canon 9, Section 3, page 87).
- The vestry has responsibility for nominating persons for holy orders (Title III. Canon 5, Section 2, page 70).
According to the By-Laws of St. John's Episcopal Church:
The Vestry shall consist of the Rector, two Wardens and twelve lay members. Anyone qualified to vote shall be eligible for election to the Vestry. Any member who meets the qualifications for election to the Vestry and has been confirmed or received in The Episcopal Church, shall also be eligible for election as a Warden.
With the exception of the Rector and the Wardens, no person shall hold office as a Vestry person for more than two consecutive three-year terms. The Wardens may serve two consecutive terms of two years each. A Vestry person or a Warden subsequently may be reelected to the Vestry at an Annual Meeting, at least one year after the completion of his/her second consecutive term. The Rector is not limited to terms of service.
The Vestry is led by an executive committee made up of the Rector, Wardens, and Treasurer.
The Vestry of St. John's Church is:
Billy Wresch
Senior Warden
Billy was born and raised in Astoria, New York and has one older sister. He has been a member of St John’s since 2010. Billy graduated from Pace University with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He started his career as a Fixed Income Securities trader, and later became a bond broker. He then transitioned into the electrical & industrial automation business and became both president and equity partner in the largest independent supplier on Long Island. He is currently a senior vice president at one of the nation’s largest women owned businesses in that same industry. Billy sits on the board of an industry buying group and is a committee member in multiple trade organizations.
Lindsay Kamdar
Junior Warden Vestry
Lindsay was born and raised in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. She has two older sisters who live in Ohio and Massachusetts. Her parents still live in Grosse Pointe. Lindsay and her husband, Dev, have three sons in the CSH School District. Owen (10) is in 5th grade, Anand (8) is in 2nd grade, and Kiran (5) is in Kindergarten. Before having children, Lindsay was a third grade teacher and a math interventionist in Chicago and Detroit. Today, Lindsay enjoys being involved in various committees in the community. She was President of the Executive Board at the Cold Spring Harbor Nursery School for two years, is on the Board at the North Shore Holiday House, and loves playing tennis, paddle, and skiing most weekends in the winter.
Jonathan Hatch
Treasurer-Vestry
Jon Hatch: Jon and Ellen Hatch joined St. John’s Church in 2018 and have found a spiritual, intellectual and caring community. They were welcomed from their first Sunday and are seeking ways to contribute to the church’s ministries.
Both graduated from Franklin & Marshall College and then ventured to Seattle for several years before returning to Long Island where Jon grew up. They moved to Northport in 1986 and were long time members of Trinity Church in Northport.
Ellen was a supporter of community outreach and coordinated some of those efforts with the church’s youth groups. The Hatches’ now young adult sons were active in youth activities and both were confirmed from Trinity Church. As a congregant at St. John’s, Ellen has found a home on the Outreach Steering Committee.
Jon was a member of the Vestry at Trinity, co-chaired the stewardship campaign, and assisted the treasurer in efforts to manage the operating budget and establish a sound financial foundation. He was also the head usher. Professionally, Jon is a Managing Director at Fiduciary Trust Company, International. As an investment portfolio manager, he has served as asset manager and financial advisor to foundations, religious organizations and families.
Leisure activities include sailing, running and shore walks. Jon had long involvement as a coach, director and treasurer of the Northport Lacrosse Club.
Jon is honored to have been nominated to serve as a member of the Vestry.
Joe Bonventre
Clerk- Vestry
Joseph Bonventre: Growing up, I was a parishioner at St. Mary’s in Manhasset and attended Quaker school at Friends Academy. These experiences taught me the importance of religion to individuals, families and communities.
We first came to know St. John’s church through the CSHNS where my sons, Ben and Danny, attended and my wife, Becky, later worked. We joined St. Johns in 2011 and found it very accepting. St. Johns has provided us and our kids with meaningful volunteer opportunities, especially the grow to give garden.
Professionally, after law school, I joined the NY office of an international law firm. In 2004, I left private practice to join what is now Lexington Realty Trust, a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on single-tenant industrial real estate investments across the United States. I currently serve as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel.
When not working, my favorite place to be is on Lake Winnipesaukee in NH during the summer with my family, where I boat, water ski, and hike.
Nancy Cashin
Vestry Member
Nancy has had a diverse and rewarding career and is committed to social good. She is currently working as a consultant with a select group of executive leaders in corporate and not for profit organizations. Nancy’s business background includes co-founding Interactive Marketing Services, a full-service database, direct marketing firm that was acquired by a public company in less than two years, giving Nancy the opportunity to change her career path and discover her professional passion; helping to develop high performing teams within community minded organizations and in the region.
As the former Director of Leadership Huntington and the Founding Director of The Energeia Partnership, an Academy for Regional Stewardship at Molloy College, Nancy helped bring together, influential leaders in the region, providing them with the information and networks necessary to become change agents. Nancy serves on the Board of Pal-O-Mine Equestrian, Inc., the Long Island Community Foundation and the NYS Empire Justice Center. She is a member of the Long Island Regional Planning Council and on the Advisory Board of the Suffolk County Police Commissioners Council. She has been named to Long Island Business News’ “The 50 Most Influential Women” list in 2012 and 2016 and received the Athena Leadership Award in 2015.
Sally Cynar
Vestry Member
Sally, her husband Justin, and twin daughters, Violet and Millie, relocated to Lloyd Harbor in the summer of 2020. They were active members of Grace Episcopal in Massapequa before their move.
Currently a stay-at-home mother, Sally taught for ten years as a middle school Spanish teacher in Massapequa.
Since relocating, she has embraced her new town and community. Sally currently sits on the North Shore Holiday House board as Vice President of Program Development. She and her family attend services each week and look forward to being actively involved in such a special parish in this deeper way.
Kristin Dennehy
Vestry Member
Kristin Dennehy is honored to join the Vestry at St. John’s. She brings eleven years of non-for-profit leadership experience, having served on the Board of East Woods School since 2012, the last four as Co-President.
Kristin and her husband Morgan live in Oyster Bay Cove. They have two daughters; Cate, a junior at Portledge School, and Charlotte, a seventh-grader at East Woods School. Cate was a confirmand in the class of 2017 at St. John’s.
Professionally, for the last 25 years, Kristin has worked at Herbert Mines Associates, an executive search firm focused on the retail and consumer industries. As a Managing Director, she conducts CEO and C-Suite level searches for her clients.
A native of Long Island, Kristin grew up in Northport and earned a B.A. from William Smith College.
Scott Evans
Vestry Member (Building & Grounds)
Scott Evans first attended St. John’s Cold Spring Harbor in 2004 while living upstate. He met Margaret Rayne that same year at St. John’s in Huntington and they have been together ever since. They became full-time parishioners at St. John’s Cold Spring Harbor in 2009 and were married at the church in 2015. Their granddaughter, Cambria was baptized at St. John’s.
Since becoming a member, Scott has been and continues to be involved with the Haiti Partnership, the Grow to Give Garden and the African American Cemetery Project all since their inceptions, as well as other St. John’s programs.
Scott has three daughters, Heidi, Ashley and Rachel as well as two sons both prematurely deceased, Douglas and Micah.
Recreationally, Scott enjoys backpacking on the Appalachian Trail with his daughters, their friends and his granddaughter. Scott also enjoys traveling with Margaret, coin collecting, antiques, vinyl albums and reptiles. Scott is a self-employed carpenter who appreciates the challenges of maintaining older homes and upgrading newer ones.
James Hoover
Vestry Member
James Hoover is Founder and Managing Member at Dauphin Capital Partners and has been a parishioner at St. John's for four years.
Dauphin Capital Partners, Mr. Hoover's family office, is responsible for evaluating a variety of investment opportunities including hedge funds, real estate, private equity, venture capital, direct private company investments and digital assets.
He has been an investor for over 40 years and specialized in the health care industry, specifically medical service companies.
Prior to founding Dauphin Capital Partners in 1998, he was a General Partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe, (WCAS). Prior to joining WCAS in November of 1992, Mr. Hoover was a General Partner of Robertson, Stephens & Co. and a Vice President of the Investment Management Group at Citibank N.A
Jim has been a director of over 20 private and 5 public health care companies and served as a director of American Farmland Company. He is a member of the Special Projects Committee of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center which raises funds and evaluates funding proposals from physicians interested in pursuing early-stage cancer research projects.
Jim received his MBA in Finance from the Graduate School of Business at Indiana University. He holds a BS degree in Business Administration from Elizabethtown College (Pennsylvania) where he presently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees and for a six year term, was responsible for the management of the College's endowment as its outsourced CIO.
He is the father of three grown children and a very proud grandfather and lives in the village of Muttontown.
Matt O'Connell
Vestry Member
Matt and Libby O’Connell moved to Lloyd Harbor in 1984, when their second child, Lucy, was born. The O’Connell’s joined St. John’s church at that time and are regulars at the 8 am service on Sundays. Matt has worked in the satellite and space industry for the last twenty years. He works at Seraphim, a London-based venture capital firm focused on the space industry. Matt founded GeoEye, a pioneer in the use of satellite imagery to make digital maps. One of its biggest clients was Google Earth. Matt served for several years on the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation's Board of Directors and The National Trust for the Humanities.
Matt has worked in communications management and finance for most of his career. Early on, he was the lawyer in charge of corporate transactions for Cablevision Systems Corporation. He began his career as a mergers and acquisitions attorney on Wall Street.
In recent years, Matt has taken an active part in Blue Green Theology, St. John’s effort to raise awareness of the need to protect our maritime environment. He also plays music at occasional services at St. Johns with Blake Hanson and the Rev. Jesse Lebus. In his free time, he enjoys kayaking and tennis.
Jacyln Ryan
Vestry Member
| |
Todd Bertsch
Vestry Member
Todd has been a steadfast resident of Long Island for the bulk of his life. Growing up in Manhasset and Oyster Bay, he moved to Cold Spring Harbor in the late 1990s. He has one older sister living in Austin and a brother in Locust Valley. His parents, accustomed to Florida's warmth, are planning a move to Huntington this summer, eager to become members of St. John's.
Since establishing himself in Cold Spring Harbor in the summer of 1998, Todd has been a consistent attendee at St. John’s services. An enthusiast of the outdoors, he indulges in tennis, golf, and gardening. Todd is a father to three sons—Colin (23), Winn (20), and Beckett (13)—and a daughter, Merrill (12). Each of his children has journeyed through the CSH School District. Having had the rite of baptism at St. John's, Colin and Winn moved on to confirmation, while Beckett and Merrill are navigating that path currently. Their involvement extends to the annual Christmas Pageant at the church. Todd is keen to lend his aid to St. John’s excellent leadership team, aiming to amplify the community's engagement through his role in the Vestry.
Jack Weidinger
Vestry Member
Jack was raised in Oyster Bay and has been attending St. John’s Church since 1982 when his parents joined the Parish. Confirmed at the Church in 1985, he was married to Julia Tiernan at St. John’s in 2005 (with Carleton Lee officiating), and all three of his children have been baptized here. Julia was also baptized at St. John’s as a child and has had an equally long connection with the Church. Their children, Hugh V (12), William (9), and Eliza (6) are enrolled in Sunday School and St. John’s is an important part of their life as they raise their family in the community. Jack is on the Stewardship Committee and was actively involved in the 2019 Stewardship effort.
Jack attended St. Mark’s School, Southborough, Massachusetts, then got a BS in Finance from Lehigh University and an MBA from Columbia University. He is the third generation (81 years) owner of North Bay Cadillac Buick GMC, in Great Neck and Jaguar Land Rover Freeport, of Freeport, with 180 employees. Jack is a Board Member of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association and the Glen Cove Boys and Girls Club. Jack and his family live in Locust Valley.