nominations
vestry
Three Vestry members-at-large are elected each year, and serve three-year terms. Those elected at this Annual Meeting will serve until the Annual Meeting in 2026.
There is also a one-year partial-term available this year and they will serve on the Vestry until the Annual meeting in 2025.
Scott Konrad
Senior Warden
1-Year Term
Scott and his family have been members of St. John’s since moving to Essex in 1997. He first served the congregation as warden during the interim culminating in The Rt. Rev. Dr. Jonathan Folts’ 2004 call as rector, and he has twice led the parish’s annual stewardship campaign, twice served as a vestry member-at-large, and has been a diocesan delegate. He is a familiar face in the choir stalls as bass section leader, lector, and intercessor.
A graduate of Colgate University with professional certification from the University of Cambridge (UK) in Risk Management for Churches & Schools, Scott is an internationally-recognized insurance industry veteran and leads a North American Nonprofit specialty practice for HUB International (www.hubinternational.com/nonprofit), a Top 5 global insurance brokerage and risk advisory firm. He was previously associated with the Episcopal Church’s denominational insurance facility and has served on the diocesan insurance board for over a decade. He is a charter member of the Nonprofit Risk Management Center’s Corporate Advisory Council.
Sandy Loether
Junior Warden
1-Year Term
Thank you for considering me for the role of Warden in 2024. I have been a member-at-large on the Vestry for two years. It has been an exciting time to be in this role, and I have watched St. John’s grow as a community of faith in Love during this time. You are all amazing people and bring a host of talents to this place. The vestry will continue to tend to the administrative matters of the running of the parish, from making sure that our staff are well supported and have the tools to support our programs, to maintaining our beautiful and historic building, and to abundantly providing outreach and support of the greater community. There are many ministries to participate in, and I am currently participating in the choir, eucharistic visiting, lay-reading, and vestry. Like many of you, I also participate in an ad-hoc way by volunteering to host coffee hour, weeding our gardens, donating to special drives like backpack and giving tree, and donating to the Shoreline soup kitchen.
On a personal note, my husband Paul and I moved to the shoreline in 2021 to be closer to family, as so many did at that time as priorities were assessed during the pandemic. I continue to work full-time in my day job, which is public sector human resources management. Paul and I enjoy the beauty of the area, particularly the woods and the variety of animals and birds that we spy on a daily basis in and around our home.
My plan is to continue to work to support this place in all that we do and, together with you, to shine a little light in our world.
Dave Rogers
Treasurer
1-Year Term
Dave and his wife Martha recently joined St. John’s in September of this year. They moved from the Diocese of Iowa in February 2020 and immediately went into lock-down quarantine due to the pandemic. It is just now that they are starting to learn their way around Connecticut and have found a home at St. John’s.
Dave currently is employed as the Director of Engineering for Contech Engineered Solutions., responsible for the design of steel bridges around the country. He is also the Treasurer of his HOA and Treasurer of the New London Area Food Pantry.
Dave and Martha have a Son whose family lives in Essex (three grandchildren) and a daughter whose family lives in Las Vegas (two grandchildren). Dave is excited about furthering his ministry beyond being in the St. John’s Choir and becoming the Treasurer for the church.
Anne Littlefield
Vestry Clerk
1-Year Term
Anne has served on the Vestry as Clerk for many years. Anne holds a Bachelors of Arts from Boston College and went to Harvard University for a Masters of Theological Studies. She is a graduate from the University of Virginia School of Law and is currently a partner and general counsel for Shipman and Goodwin LLP in Hartford, CT.
Lois Blood Bennett
Vestry Member At-Large
1-Year Term
“To her leadership responsibilities she has brought a hands-on commitment to getting work done … Most important she has brought a passion for the life of the Church — local, diocesan, and provincial — and a vision for what the church can and should be. At crucial points of decision, she has had a sure-footed sense of what would be the gospel way…” A tribute from the Rev. Canon Dr. Titus Presler upon Lois retiring as warden of St. Peter’s, Cambridge, MA, where she served as junior and senior warden between 1996 and 2002.
She served the Diocese of Massachusetts on Diocesan Council for six years, on the budget committee, and as a deputy to the 2006 General Convention. She also served on the AIDS in Africa task force and Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation nationally. At Christ Church, Cambridge, MA she served as co-steward for liturgy, chair of Lectors and Intercessors, on the vestry, on the stewardship committee, altar guild, and in the choir. She has been a member of the Society of the Companions of the Holy Cross for 30 years and has served in leadership roles for that organization. In September she led a retreat there on Knitting as a Spiritual Exercise. At Saint John’s she worships and sings in the choir with her husband of 42 years, Bill, and irons linens for the altar guild.
A lifelong artist, Lois works in a variety of media and crafts, from fabric arts to digital-mathematical abstracts, exhibiting in group and private shows and executing large, mural-scale commissions. She has a MS in Electrical Engineering and retired in 2022 from a career in IT as a senior computer system administrator.
Tony Custodio
Vestry Member At-Large
3-Year Term
Tony was born in September 1940 in Pawtucket, R.I., and grew up in Cumberland, R.I. He went to the Cumberland School system, graduating in 1958 with high honors in the R.I. and National Honor Societies. In 1959, he moved to Brooklyn, NY, to work with his uncle as a carpenter-cabinet maker for 2 1/2 years, returning to R.I. in 1961. Having no employment and feeling restless, he decided to join the U.S. Army in June 1961 and served until June 1964, during the start of the Vietnam War.
He moved back to Cumberland, R.I., in 1964 and got a job with an electric supply co in Pawtucket, R.I. He met his wife Sandra for the first time and told his fellow worker that he was going to marry her. In September 1966 and October 1966, they were engaged and married in April 1967. In 1967, he started working for various trucking companies. He worked for them until 1984 when he was offered a position with the US Postal Service as a letter carrier, and he worked with the service until his retirement in 2002. Sandra and him were married for 57 1/2 years until her passing in 2023, and they had three children: Vickie, Anthony, and Adelbert (Pat). They were raised as Catholics and converted to Episcopalianism 55 years ago at the Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Cumberland, R.I. Tony served on the vestry as junior warden and on many committees during my time there. At St. John’s, Tony has served as a Lay Eucharistic Visitor, and ushered on Sundays. He was also on the outreach committee for Mozambique and still communicates regularly with José Amaral Filipe, a priest who works in Mozambique at various Episcopal churches.
Wesley Henry
Vestry Member at-large
3-Year Term
Wesley is delighted to be nominated to serve on the vestry. He has found St. John’s to be a welcoming, inclusive community would be honored to contribute to the parish in this capacity. Prior to moving to Essex, Wesley was a member of the Church of Saint Paul in the Desert in Palm Springs, California, where he and his husband were married during the 2022 Pride Mass. Having lived in various regions, Wesley values the sense of community found in Episcopal congregations. At St. John’s, Wesley has enjoyed working with fellow volunteers to garden during the summer months. Additionally, he was part of the cohort of parishoners confirmed in June.
A sampling of his relevant experience includes serving two terms on the Community Advisory Board for Cascade Public Media and KCTS (the primary PBS affiliate serving western and central Washington state and British Columbia). Additionally, he served a term as chair of the board and as an ex-officio member of the Board of Directors. During his time as faculty at California State University Monterey Bay, he was elected to chair the campuswide Budget and Resource Management Committee and also served a term as treasurer of the California Association of Professors of Educational Administration.
Wesley holds a dual bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia and an M.S.Ed. from the University of Pennsylvania. At the University of Washington, Wesley earned a graduate certificate in nonprofit management and Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy.
Kevin Walsh
Vestry Member At-Large
3-Year Term
Kevin and his wife, Tika, live in Killingworth with their two dogs, Amelia and Zoe. They moved to Connecticut two years ago after spending 25 years just north of Chicago raising their three sons, Tanner (27), Reilly (24), & Cameron (23). They’re fortunate that all three live relatively close in Washington, DC. Their family has deep connections to Connecticut and has spent a week on the shore every year before their children were born, and Kevin grew up in Guilford. Christ Church, Winnetka, was central to their lives in Chicago, including volunteering at the soup kitchen, rummage, plus time of the Vestry. On the Vestry, he worked on implementing a formal legacy-giving program and budgeting, two areas he hopes will be useful to St. John’s.
convention delegates
A two-year rotation cycle for those representing St. John’s at the Annual Diocesan Convention. In the first year, those elected serve as Alternates. In their second year, they serve as Delegates.
Allison Fresher
Alternate Convention Delegate
2-Year Term
Allison and her husband, Brian, have been members of St. John’s for over ten years. Presently, Allison serves as the Liturgical Coordinator for St. John’s, helping to design and implement our worship services. In addition, she manages the worship service minister team, training and scheduling the many volunteers who participate in our services, including ushers, lectors, and eucharistic ministers. She also serves on St. John’s Investment Oversight Committee and is a Fellow of the Verger’s Guild of the Episcopal Church. Allison’s background includes several year’s involvement in hospice and prison ministries. Presently, she serves as the business consultant for A Sacred Place, Inc., a non-profit that supports incarcerated women and their families.
Allison served for thirty-five years as a corporate banker and risk management professional for Bank of America, retiring in 2017 as a Managing Director and Treasury Product Executive for the bank’s national portfolio of federal, state and municipal clients. She lives in Haddam with her husband, Brian. Their children, Molly and Sam, are grown, and the newest addition to their family is their granddaughter, Isabelle Grace.
Ellen Pfarr
Alternate Convention delegate
2-Year Term
Soon after moving to Essex in 2001, Ellen had the pleasure of meeting the rector of St. John’s at the time, Hope Eakins. Ellen grew up in the Catholic church but was not actively practicing her faith at the time of the move; she was struck with Hope’s friendly and positive spirit and soon began attending St. John’s. For several years, she had the privilege of coordinating the Soup Kitchen Program at St. John’s, learning that it had been one of the first churches to provide meals to neighbors after the inception of Shoreline Soup Kitchens and Pantries. Recently, Ellen has served on the vestry and coordinates the garden and weeding committee in the summer and fall months. She is excited to take on a new role at St. John’s as a Diocesan Convention Delegate.
Ellen recently retired after a very satisfying career in professional social work, with a focus on working with families and with children. Her work took her from working to help strengthen families in the home to working for the Connecticut Department of Children and Families as the director of a home for children in New Britain. She has been a therapist in a local private practice for the past ten years, again working with families and children. These days, you can find her enjoying an active life with lots of physical activity, often with her Golden Retriever, Maggie, at her side. She is fortunate to have a close relationship with her children and grandchildren, most of whom live in New England and get to see frequently.
annual meeting
The St. John’s Annual Meeting is scheduled for the final Sunday of January and will take place in the church sanctuary. Everyone is invited to join the meeting in person, and for those unable to attend physically, the event will be broadcast via YouTube Livestream.
Please note that Livestream viewers can only observe and will not have the option to participate. The Livestream recording will not be available once the meeting concludes.
At this meeting, we review the past year’s finances while also looking ahead to 2024. In addition, we elect new members to the vestry and delegates to the diocesan convention. Last but certainly not least, we celebrate the mission and ministry of the parish and the many people who contribute to the vitality of this congregation. This meeting is essential for those who are long-time members and those who are new and want to learn more.