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Candidates for the election to the Vestry
February 28, 2012Voting for five members of the Vestry takes place during the Annual Meeting, which immediately follows the 11:00 am Mass. The polls will also be open briefly following the 8:00 am Mass to accommodate those who attend the early Service, and before the 11:00 am Mass for those who cannot stay. Please plan to attend and cast your vote for the Vestry.
10 candidates nominated for 5 open places on the St. Clement’s Vestry. Members may vote for up to five (5).
Each candidate was invited to provide a brief statement and a photograph.
Incumbent Vestry Members
Nominated by a majority of the Vestry Nominating Committee for an additional 3 year term:
Patrick Curran
Daniel Fulton
Andrew Nardone
Martin Peicker
Louise Tulleken
Members of St. Clement’s
Nominated by more than 6 parishioners of St. Clement’s, as established by the bylaws, for an initial 3 year term:
Jeff Ezell, Ph.D
Dr. Laurentine Fromm
Juliet Geldi-Riggall
Todd R. Grundy
Donna Johnson
Patrick Curran
A native of Philadelphia, has served on the Vestry since 2011. Since first attending S. Clement’s three years ago, he has quickly become one of our most active parishioners. Many of you will know Patrick as one of the ushers at Mass on Sundays and Holy Days, and he serves at the altar on any Sunday or Holy Days when not serving as an usher. Patrick has become an integral part of the Vestry since beginning his term last year, and the Vestry is especially grateful for his willingness to serve another term. Patrick currently lives in Huntington Valley and is pursuing his bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies. Patrick’s goals for the parish include: maintaining the excellent standards of Anglo-Catholic worship that have long been an important part of the identity of S. Clement’s, insuring that S. Clement’s is a parish where the orthodox Christian faith is taught and lived out, and undertaking new efforts of outreach and evangelization, especially to the many non-churchgoing Christians in Philadelphia whose spiritual lives might be enriched by the Catholic faith as it is practiced at S. Clement’s.
Jeff D. Ezell, PhD
I am a clinical psychologist by profession, with degrees from the University of Texas at Austin, and Texas Christian University. Much of my career was spent in Austin, Texas. I have been an Anglican since my high school years, and was confirmed by the Rt Rev’d Willis Henton, late bishop of the Diocese of Northwest Texas. During graduate school I started attending an Anglo-Catholic parish, St. Timothy’s, Fort Worth. Immediately prior to moving back to the States and coming to S. Clement’s, I was on the rolls at All Saints Margaret Street in London, a premier Anglo-Catholic “shrine” church that is also an incredibly lively, vibrant and viable parish in a city in which many Church of England parish churches are poorly attended. I presently live in the suburbs of Wilmington, Delaware with my partner of the last 37 years, Alex Carbonell (we were legally married in Toronto in 2003, our marriage now being recognized as a civil union in the State of Delaware).
Alex and I have been attending S. Clement’s since August 2007 when we relocated from London to Delaware. I had long known of S. Clement’s and it seemed the natural place for us to choose as a parish home when we moved to this area. I value the high standards of its liturgy and music, as well as the pastoral care of Fr. Reid. Above all, I value the centrality of the Mass in the life of this Christian family. At the same time, I believe S. Clement’s has much unrealized potential and can be even more than it presently is. Being concerned for the future of this parish’s Christian mission, I am hence standing for election to the vestry.
Dr. Laurentine Fromm
Laurie Fromm has been a member of S. Clement’s Church for approximately twelve years. She previously served one term on the Vestry, and appreciates the opportunity to offer to serve in that capacity again. Her goals for S. Clement’s are to achieve a sound and sustainable fiscal base for the maintenance and outreach needs, to preserve the Anglo-Catholic traditions and rituals currently practiced, to increase the practical services activities, and to continue to provide opportunities for congregational fellowship.
She lives and practices psychiatry and forensic psychiatry in Philadelphia. She is a member of the Franklin Inn Club and a fellow of the Philadelphia College of Physicians.
Daniel Fulton
Daniel Fulton has attended S. Clement’s since 2004, when he moved to Philadelphia after graduating with a B.A. from Columbia University in New York. Daniel’s professional background is in asset management, and he is currently employed as Managing Partner of Fulton Capital Group, a privately held investment firm. In addition, he serves as Manager of Wehrmann Angus, LLC, which produces purebred Aberdeen Angus cattle on his family’s farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Daniel has served on the Vestry since 2008 and has also been a member of the Vestry’s Finance Committee since 2008, Chairman of the Finance Committee since 2010, and Clerk of Vestry since 2008. He has been a regular altar server since first coming to S. Clement’s in 2004.
During his tenure as Chairman, the Finance Committee has produced budgets that have been successful at reducing unnecessary expenses, increasing annual revenues, and working towards a balanced budget—all while protecting and preserving the principal of the parish’s endowment. Daniel’s experience in asset management has been of tremendous value on the Vestry. For the past two years, Daniel has led the Finance Committee’s efforts to improve the annual return of the parish’s endowment accounts. By working closely with our portfolio managers to optimize allocations and holdings and carefully monitor and manage risk exposure across all three separately managed accounts, the parish’s endowment has outperformed its benchmarks every quarter for the past two years. As a Vestryman, Daniel has not only been committed to protecting the long-term financial viability of S. Clement’s, but he has also been a forceful advocate for preserving S. Clement’s heritage as a traditional Anglo-Catholic parish.
Juliet Geldi-Riggall
I first came to St. Clement’s at the invitation of a close college friend who brought me to feast day masses in the late 90s and early 2000s. I started attending regularly in January 2007, and my husband Gavin and I were married here in October 2008. We have been parishioners ever since. We were struck by all of those things for which St. Clement’s is known world-wide -- beautiful liturgy and music -- but also by the fact that we could become part of a small, but close-knit church community. Gavin and I are both architects with our own business here in Philadelphia. We have provided our services pro bono to survey the parish hall so that it could be more easily advertised to prospective tenants, a space which is now filled by Clementine Montessori. We have also done volunteer planning and planting work in the St. Clement’s garden, have prepared and served coffee hours, and participate in cooking and serving dinner to homeless men at the Trinity Wintershelter as part of St. Clement’s practical services group. I look forward to seeing parish life continue to develop and thrive around the core of St. Clement’s Anglo-Catholic liturgy, and hope to be part of that effort.
Todd R. Grundy
I joined Saint Clement’s in 1992 and was confirmed here in 1993. I am a member of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament and the Guild of All Souls, also serving as the Guild’s parish branch secretary since 1995. In 1996, I was elected as delegate to the Southwark Deanery and am still serving in that position. In 2003 and 2005, I was a convention delegate. I have been a Server at the altar at St. Clement’s for many years, including as Sub-Deacon.
And as a chemical engineer at 3M Corp., I also bring 22 years of business experience to the table.
Donna Johnson
Donna Johnson was born in Philadelphia and attended South Philadelphia High School, Levitan Business School, and Peirce Junior College, pursuing a career in the health care field. She was confirmed at St. Augustine’s Church, where she was married in 1969. Her career took her to postings at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in Nursing Administration; Graduate Hospital in the Nuclear Cardiology Division of Radiology; the University of Pennsylvania in the Orthopedic Department; and she is presently working as an Administrative Coordinator at Hahnemann University Hospital in Kidney, Liver, Pancreas, Hepatobiliary and Abdominal Transplantation Division of the Department of Surgery
Donna is also blessed with and enjoys caring for her 84 year old Mother, Ms. Charmaine Graham, who also worships at St. Clement’s Church.
After the untimely death of her son in 1996, she adopted her Granddaughter Leia Marcia Johnson, now 18 and in Twelfth grade at Friends Select School. Leia was confirmed at St. Clement’s Church several years ago.
Donna’s other interests include mentoring youth, interacting with her patients, reading, music, cooking, and fellowship and worship at St. Clement’s Church.
Andrew Nardone
A native of New Jersey, has attended S. Clement’s since returning to the Philadelphia area in 2006 after attending college and graduate school in Michigan. While in Michigan, Andrew earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Hope College and a master’s degree, also in music, from the University of Michigan. His career experience includes time as professional church musician and more recently as an apprentice organ technician at the Wanamaker Organ. Andrew has been one of our most dedicated and active altar servers since he first arrived at S. Clement’s six years ago, working to prepare for and serve many of the 15 services that are conducted at S. Clement’s each week. Since last year’s retirement of head server and sacristan Larry Reilly, Andrew has taken on many additional responsibilities in the sacristy, having trained under Mr. Reilly for the past several years. Since being appointed to the Vestry in 2011, Andrew has been a strong supporter of the Vestry’s commitment to prudent stewardship of the parish’s financial resources. He believes that maintaining S. Clement’s identity as a traditional Anglo-Catholic parish is essential to the long-term health and growth of the parish.
Martin Peicker
is a long-time parishioner and Vestryman of the parish. Martin first came to S. Clement’s in 1969, and was confirmed at the parish in 1972. Since 1974, he has lived in Reading, where for several years he belonged to S. Mary’s, Reading, before returning to S. Clement’s when Fr. FitzHugh was rector. Martin, an accountant by profession, holds two bachelor’s degrees, one in Secondary Education and one in Accountancy. His long history in the parish and professional experience are tremendous assets on the Vestry in this period of uncertainty. Martin has served on the Vestry since 2003. As a Vestryman, Martin is staunchly committed to both protecting the financial future of the parish and to maintaining and defending the Anglo-Catholic tradition that has existed at S. Clement’s since the early days of the parish.
Louise Tulleken
has been a dedicated and very active parishioner of S. Clement’s for more than 25 years. In recognition of her years of dedicated service to the parish, she was given the honor of being named a Guardian of the Shrine of Our Lady of Clemency in 2007. She has served on the Vestry since first being elected in 2009. Louise lived in the Netherlands and was educated there prior to coming to the United States in 1968. Prior to her retirement, she worked as a physical therapist. On the Vestry, Louise has been a strong voice for maintaining traditional faith and practice at S. Clement’s, and she is devoted to seeing that traditional Anglo-Catholic worship continues at S. Clement’s long into the future.
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