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I am honored to continue serving as Warden of the Vestry for another term. Our Church is very special to me, and serving God is one of my personal priorities. I will do my best to be a good servant and support the positive trajectory that we are on. I have been an Episcopalian all my life; being baptized, confirmed and married at Christ Church in Hornell, NY. I joined Christ Church Pittsford as a newlywed in 1988 and have been an active member since that time. I served on the Search Committee that called Winifred Colin and have been a member of the vestry two times. I have had the privilege of teaching Sunday School for many years and have been a member of the Outreach Committee.

I am Vice President of Magna Products Corp, our family business that services automated machinery. My primary responsibilities are in the areas of human resources, customer service and strategic planning. I hope that my business background will be of value in making decisions for our Church.

My husband Ken and I have three grown daughters and live in the Village of Pittsford.

Christ Church has a strong spirit that has brought us through some difficult times, and I believe that this same spirit will guide us to bright days ahead. We are facing severe financial challenges while craving the growth of church programs. We have a fantastic Search Committee who will be working hard to call our next Rector. Interim Rector Julianne Buenting has brought life back to our parish, and for whom I thank God! We have an amazing Warden in Daryl Sharp, who has led us through some dark times and who is the ultimate shepherd. We have a wonderful staff, whose dedication is unmatched. We have an engaged congregation of caring people. May we continue to be a place that offers comfort and connection to God and each other.

A cradle Episcopalian, I was raised in a New Jersey suburb of Philadelphia. My family moved to Syracuse in the mid-80’s and I began attending Christ Church, Manlius where I served on the vestry and as a warden. I moved to Rochester in 2005 and joined Christ Church Pittsford in 2015. In addition to being a lector and worship assistant, I have served previously as a member of
the stewardship committee and as a vestry member where I worked as part of the leadership team for our CCP Listening Sessions. A nurse for more than forty years, I am currently Senior Advisor for Accountable Health Partners and the University of Rochester Center for Community Health & Prevention. My husband Bob and I live in Brighton; we are blessed with four wonderful children and two beautiful grandchildren. Now in my second year as a warden, I strive to bring a thoughtful and prayerful presence to our work together, to listen well, to lead responsibly and inclusively, and to support our mission and goals. I am enormously grateful to be a member of our congregation and promise to always give my best to our parish and to the communities we serve.

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I was born and raised in Fairport where I was baptized and confirmed at Bethlehem Lutheran, sang on the choir, served as an acolyte, and even taught third grade Sunday School. After high school I attended Oberlin College where I majored in Geology and minored in Music and Physics and then continued my education earning masters and doctoral degrees in geology,  A forty-two year college teaching and administrative career followed, the last thirty-four years at Centenary College in Shreveport, Louisiana,  After moving to Louisiana I became a member of the St. Marks Cathedral Parish where I served as cantor and section leader in the choir, coordinator for adult Christian education, and as a member of the vestry during a search for a new dean.  To help me be better equipped for these ministries, I attended the three-year bishop’s school in the diocese. In May of 2022, I retired and retuned to upstate New York, and chose Christ Church (which I had visited several times when I was visiting my mother) to be my home church I look forward to bringing my diverse experiences to helping Christ Church serve its mission as we move into a demanding future.

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Patty Sampson-Bouchard has been a member of Christ Church since 2018 and has served on the Outreach, Stewardship and Nominating committees as well as assisted in worship as a Lector and Communion Assistant. Patty’s background is in finance spending most of her career in Corporate and /or Personal Finance roles retiring in 2018 as a Financial Advisor at TIAA.   She has also served on the boards of the Girl Scouts of Genesee Valley, and was Council President at Bethlehem Lutheran Church. Patty is currently a Trustee of the Victor-Farmington Library serving on the finance and personnel committees.

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Patty enjoys spending as much time as possible out-of-doors and also participates in the Rochester Garden Club and their Conservation Committee. Patty and her husband, John, reside in Victor and have 3 adult children.

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My wife Jean and I have been members of Christ Church Pittsford since 1991, and it feels like home to us. I have served the parish in many ways over the years - on the Welcoming Committee, the Nominating Committee,  as an usher, a lay reader, and a member of the choir. I have also served on the vestry in the past, as well as two terms as Warden. Jean and I have three children and two grandchildren. I work at the University of Rochester as a research administrator. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve again on the vestry, and I hope my experience will be useful as we work through our transition to a new rector.

Nahoko Kawakyu-O’Connor, her husband Don, and their children Aodhan (18), Rai (16), and Sora (13), have been members of Christ Church since 2016. Nahoko loves the familial and welcoming atmosphere at Christ Church, which reminds her
of her Lutheran upbringng at the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Haus in Schmiden, Germany, where she attended
youth group, Sunday School, and loved being part of the community outreach team. Nahoko is grateful for Christ Church’s inclusive and inter-generational community and programming, the world-class and soul-healing music, and the thought-provoking,
humorous, and reflective sermons.

Nahoko believes in equitable access to quality education and learning opportunities that lead to flourishing lives and empowered communities. She is a faculty member in the Ed Leadership
Department at the Warner School of Education at the University of Rochester, where she also serves
as the Faculty Diversity Officer, the Director of Program Evaluation at the Center for Professional
Development and Education Reform, and is an affiliate faculty of the Center for Urban Education
Success. As a Board of Manager member of the Memorial Art Gallery, Nahoko serves on the Board
Policy and Nominations Committee and Academic Programming Committee, and is currently serving as a
member of the Inclusivity Advisory Committee at the Pittsford Central School District.

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Jeremy Brown has been a member of Christ Church Pittsford since 2008.  During this time, he has served as a youth group leader (staying awake for many lock-ins) and been an usher for the 10am services.  Jeremy’s background is in Computer Science.  He spent 12 years working at Thomson Reuters (West Group) before taking a teaching position in the Rochester Institute of Technology Computer Science department.  During his downtime, Jeremy coaches youth baseball, advises the RIT ham radio club, volunteers with the Rochester Amateur Radio club for public service events and works on restoring classic cars.  He also enjoys table top games with his friends and son, Kyler (10).  They reside in Henrietta. 

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Natalie and her family (Wes, Jake and Helena Dixon) moved to Fairport in 2010, and found their way to Christ Church in 2017.  Both Natalie and Wes grew up Lutheran and appreciate worshipping in the liturgical tradition.  They have attended both Lutheran and Episcopalian churches; Jake was baptized Episcopalian and Helena baptized Lutheran, both in Tucson, Arizona.  The family was originally attracted to Christ Church by the music, traditional worship, youth programs, and welcoming congregation and clergy - and has grown to appreciate the scope of parish programs and the opportunity to become involved in worship and other activities.  Natalie has participated in the Christ Church Choir, the Annual Giving Committee, the Organ Committee and the Nominating Committee.

Natalie grew up in Seward, Alaska and received her AB from Harvard and Radcliffe Colleges.  After college, she worked in arts administration in Boston, MA, health care in Oakland, CA, and HIV/AIDS education in Nairobi, Kenya, and obtained MAs from the University of Sussex in England and Teachers College in New York.  Since 2000, she has worked in research administration, first at the Columbia University School of Social Work, then at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and now at the Department of Psychiatry at Strong/University of Rochester.

In addition to working and keeping up with her family, Natalie enjoys reading, cooking, gardening, and spending time with friends and family.  She also likes to travel, road trips both local and further afield, and visiting the family farm in southwestern Kansas.

Mike and his wife, Lori have lived in Rochester for 34 years. They have a son Matthew. Mike and
Lori have attended Christ Church for 10 years. Mike has been an usher for the last three years.
Mike retired from the Unitversity of Rochester. He enjoys playing golf and working in his garden.

I grew up in the United Kingdom and was confirmed in the Church of England while studying at university, having fallen in love with its balance of tradition and intellectual openness, as well as the simple beauty of its liturgical and musical traditions. My wife Laura and I have been attending Christ Church since 2010. This wonderful parish community is where our twins, Colin and Dorothy, were baptized in 2013, 
and where we continue to grow in faith as a family. I know we face many challenges over the coming years and I look forward to working with my fellow vestry members and the wider parish family as we emerge from the pandemic and focus on growing and reaching out to our community with the love of Jesus Christ!
 

I am honored to be asked to serve on the vestry at Christ Church. I have been an active member of this church for the better part of 45 years. I have served as a Sunday School teacher, lay reader, chalice bearer, Altar Guild and the co leader of Caregivers. I believe my experience and involvement will serve me well on Vestry and look forward to contributing to the mission of Christ Church.