June 2026

Hello, St. B's,

I'm writing once again to share an update with you after June's vestry meeting. This update contains lots of information, as we value keeping you informed of all that is happening behind the scenes to serve our parish!

Lindsley opened with a beautiful experiential devotion, using Scriptures around God's desire to carry our burdens. We spent time visualizing releasing our burdens to God and inviting God's presence to nurture and sustain us.

David West presented his treasurer's report for the month of May. David reported feeling great about our numbers for last month. May giving hit the rare trifecta – higher than 2025 giving, 2026 budgeted giving, and 2026 actual expenses. Year to date giving is now within 2% of budget and year to date expenses are 11% below budget, putting our net position at $73,269 compared to budgeted $9,129 and $56,985 at this point last year. Pledged giving is right on track at 42% of the amount pledged. Thank you for your generosity; we are grateful.

We then heard from Building Exploratory Chair, Jared Danford. He outlined the extensive and strategic work that his committee has been doing on behalf of our parish. They have assessed the current state of each area in all of our buildings and determined that they are in "good", "fair" or "poor" condition and then discussed improvements in categories of "Minimum Improvement Project", "Life Safety/Accessibility and Codes Project", "Lifecycle Project" and "Wish List Project."

He then presented a report that includes the history of our current buildings, a summary of the parish survey results, staff and leadership observations/requests, and a recommended core project scope. He also explained a projected roadmap and next steps.

Thank you to Jared Danford, Tommy Stinson, Fr. Ed Smith, Erin Shankel, Ryon Suiter and Chip Jones for your incredible work as members of the Building Exploratory Committee. We are truly in the best of hands.

After discussion, the vestry voted to authorize the Building Exploratory Committee to begin interviewing architects. We also voted to authorize the Capital Campaign Committee to start interviewing consultants.

Father Josh shared an update that included the "glorious" ordinations of Sudanese leaders (now deacons!) Peter and John, his reflections regarding his 360 assessment and inaugural meetings of the Capital Campaign Committee and Five Year Strategic Planning Committees.

I'd like to update the parish on the commissioning of these two additional committees: The Five Year Strategic Planning Committee and the Capital Campaign Committee.

The vestry charged The Five Year Strategic Planning Committee with evaluating five aspects of parish life and church functioning: Stewardship, Community, Facilities, Staffing, and Budgeting. This committee is to evaluate these facets of parish life, recommend goals for each, and suggest processes and milestones that the vestry can use to evaluate progress to the goals (and ultimate vision for each).

Members of this committee include:

Tommy Stinson (chair) — Tommy and Celeste, along with their children, have been at St B's since 2023. Tommy is a Nashville native who returned after spending 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has been a church planter and an ordained Presbyterian elder and a Fellow at the Newbigin House of Studies in San Francisco. Professionally, Tommy has more than 20 years of consulting experience, helping clients with marketing, visioning, and strategic planning.

Amanda Phillips — Amanda's work focuses on helping organizations bring clarity to their goals, strengthen operations, and create systems that help people flourish. Having joined St. Bartholomew's three years ago, she still remembers what it was like to arrive as a newcomer and discover a community where faith is lived with both grace and purpose. She is grateful for the opportunity to help our parish listen carefully, discern faithfully, and plan thoughtfully for the future.

Sean Cofoid — Professionally, Sean works at the intersection of data and business strategy. He can help quantify the committee's work and provide grounding for decisions. As a parishioner, St B's has been a place of hope, growth, and community for Sean, and he hopes that his work on the committee will help St B's continue to be such a place for many years to come.

Meghan Lucido (vestry liaison) — Meghan loves strategic planning and visioning, and feels that it is one of her strengths. She is very honored to be a part of the group and hopes she can bring value to it!

The Junior and/or Senior Warden will also attend these meetings.

The Capital Campaign Committee is charged with planning and leading a congregation-wide effort to inspire prayerful generosity in support of the church's potential building project. The committee will develop and implement strategies for communication, engagement, and fundraising, helping the congregation understand the vision, goals, and impact of the project while encouraging broad participation in the campaign.

Members of this committee include:

Andrew Kintz (Chair) — St. B's member for 15+ years, serves as LEM and Usher, former senior warden in 2023. Finance Executive at First Horizon Bank, where he founded and leads the Music, Sports & Entertainment banking practice. Has served on development committees for Saint Bernard Academy and Leadership Music.

Morgan Wills — St. B's member for 21 years; currently serves as lector, volunteer with Children's and Adult Formation, and past member of Rector and Bishop Search committees; longtime Physician and executive with Siloam Health and Frist College of Medicine at Belmont. Has served in a fundraising or capital Campaign capacity for Siloam Health, Medical Christian Fellowship, St. Paul Christian Academy, and Raphah Institute.

Cathy Pressnell — Cathy has been attending St. B's for 10 years and has been a member for 8; she serves as a lector and usher. Coming from a different faith background, the Episcopal Church and St. B's in particular has been a spiritually healing experience. She and her husband, Claude, live in Murfreesboro where Cathy serves as the Literacy Coordinator for Murfreesboro City Schools, overseeing literacy instruction for grades kindergarten through 6th.

Claude Pressnell — After 28 years, Claude is recently retired as president of the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association. He's a member of St. B's for more than 28 years, and he thoroughly enjoys the community and the opportunity to serve by greeting, ushering, lectoring, and contributing to the daily devotionals. He's currently serving as a member of the St. B's vestry.

Brian Roark — Brian Roark is a healthcare attorney with Bass, Berry & Sims, where he advises hospitals, health systems, and academic medical centers on regulatory and business matters. Served on vestry 2019 through 2021 and was Senior Warden in 2021.

Jennifer Goodman — Member of St. B's more than 10 years. Jennifer has been active in Nashville civic and charitable efforts in our community. She has served the church on the stewardship committee in years past.

Randy Goodman — Member of St. B's more than 10 years. He is one of Nashville's most accomplished music executives, having served as Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Nashville, overseeing major country music labels and artist rosters. He serves weekly at Room in the Inn and regularly on the music team for Worship.

Rodger Dinwiddie — Rodger Dinwiddie is a professional fundraiser and nonprofit executive who has held senior development leadership roles with STARS Nashville, one of Tennessee's leading youth prevention and student-support organizations. Member of St. B's for more than 30 years. Has been chairman of the stewardship committee.

David Walker and Anne Walker — David & Anne Walker have been members at St. B's for over 4 years and are serving on the Welcoming Committee. They have also helped re-establish the Supper Groups to build community. Anne is retired from a finance/homemaker career and David from the aircraft industry.

Kiersten Marich — Kiersten Marich serves in advancement and development leadership at The Ensworth School, one of Nashville's premier independent schools. Her work focuses on fundraising, donor relations, capital campaigns, and institutional advancement.

Whew, you made it to the end! Thank you for your care for our parish and for taking the time to learn more about what the vestry has been up to. We prioritize transparency and empowering you with information. The vestry will not meet in the month of July and will plan to hit the ground running again in August. Please reach out with any questions, wonderings, ideas or feedback. We are grateful to serve you!

Warmly,
Elizabeth Nunley
Senior Warden