Fellowship

***UPDATE*** January 22, 2023

We are pleased to announce the four people elected to serve on our Vestry:

• Brian Davis
• Brooke Di Lauro
• Pete Kelly
• Peggy Verdine

Thank you to all of our nominees for their willingness to serve!

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Thanks be to God for Brian Davis, Brooke DiLauro, Michael Hodgkin, Pete Kelly, Joseph Lyttle, Peggy Matthias, and Peggy Verdine who have graciously offered to serve on our Vestry! Below is the biographical information each nominee shared. At our Annual Meeting on January 22, 2023, we will elect four of these nominees.

Click here for a message from the Rector about the Annual Meeting on January 22, 2023 at 10 am.

Click here for a video introducing our vestry nominees. The passcode is: H?Fv&9K6

Brian Davis – attends 9 am worship

Admittedly, I wasn’t inclined to serve on the Vestry.  I’m busy at work, busy at home, and usually feel “spiritually challenged.”  Moreover, my gifts are secular.  I’m a nerd who likes spreadsheets and finance.  What could I offer that someone with more time or deeper faith couldn’t?  Nevertheless, multiple people have encouraged me to consider serving on the Vestry.  Despite some apprehension, I’d be honored to serve on the Vestry and contribute my gifts and experiences.  St. George’s has helped make me a better human being, and I feel a responsibility to give back.  A cliché, I know, but true.

My religious journey began in Pennsylvania in 1997 during marriage preparation with the Catholic priest who married Danielle and me.  In 1998, I received five sacraments in two months: baptism, confirmation, first eucharist, first reconciliation, and marriage.  I was an enthusiastic Catholic, even if I harbored some minor reservations.  We moved to Virginia in 2004, but the Catholic Church here was different, more dogmatic.  By 2012, my misgivings led me to search for a new faith community more aligned with my values.  Enter St. George’s.  Danielle and Sandi soon followed, and we count our blessings that we found St. George’s.

Ministry Experience

• Children’s faith formation, 2016 – 2020
• Trustee, A.W. Wallace Trust Fund, Benevolent Society of St. George’s, and Matthew 25 Fund, 2015 – 2020
• Stewardship commission, 2015 – 2016

Professional or Volunteer Experience

• Member, Finance Committee, St. Gregory’s Catholic Church, 1999 – 2004
• Member, Building Committee, St. Gregory’s Catholic Church, 2000 – 2003
• Member, Coventry Creek Homeowners Association Board of Directors, 2006 – 2008
• Financial Secretary, Knights of Columbus Council, 2009 – 2011
• Treasurer, FBI Quantico Recreation Association, 2011 – Present

Brooke Di Lauro – attends 11:15 am worship

Since we joined the church in 2013 and sent our girls to preschool here, St. George’s has become a central part of our community and I see serving on the Vestry as a way to give back and give thanks for all that the church has given us. I am particularly excited about contributing to the “Open to all in love” project. I am a good listener, open-minded, detail-oriented, and organized. I think these qualities will help me contribute positively to the Vestry.

I was raised Episcopalian and baptized (1981) and confirmed (1990) at the Church of the Redeemer in Baltimore, MD where I served as an acolyte for four years. I moved to Fredericksburg in 2006 to take a job as a French professor at UMW and my husband joined me when we got married four years later. We have two daughters, Caroline (9) and Marina (6). In my spare time I love to read and travel—each year we get to spend a month in France as a family while I run my study abroad program in Aix-en-Provence and Paris.

Ministry Experience
I joined the Flower Guild two years ago and began teaching Sunday School last fall. This year my husband and I began serving on the Generosity Team and were co-chairs of the Generosity Campaign.

• Professor and dean of the College of Education at University of Mary Washington
• Convener for the Virginia Education Deans and Leaders
• Member of Advisory Board of Teacher Education and Licensure
• Member of Virginia Association of Colleges of Teacher Education
• Board member for Smart Beginnings Rappahannock Area
• Member NAACP and NAACP Education Committee and NAACP Finance Committee
• Member Fredericksburg City Public Schools Education Equity Task Force
• Taught special education in prison, middle school, and adolescent psychiatric unit.

Joseph Lyttle – attends 9 am worship

I’ve had conversations with other St. Georgians encouraging me to consider serving. I would love to be more involved because St. George has become a true church family for me. I have experience in serving in similar capacities and I believe the Vestry could benefit from my work and volunteer experience.

Peggy Mathias – attends 11:15 am worship

Having been a member since 2019, and through my volunteer work at The Table and community dinners, I am ready to become more deeply involved and give of my talents to shape St. George’s mission and help make that mission a reality.

• Baptized and confirmed and married in ELCA Lutheran church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
• Member of three different ELCA congregations in Chicago area as we moved to different suburbs.
• Moved to Fredericksburg with husband Peter Rasmussen and youngest son Kyle in 2017 and completed Pilgrims Path class at St. George’s and received April 2018.
• Attracted to St. George’s by the history and by the music program but finding outreach and racial reconciliation and the opportunity for fellowship and spiritual growth are pulling me in more deeply.
• Hobbies and interests include golf, pickleball, knitting, reading, and my Shiba Inu Tessa.

Ministry Experience
Choir of St. George’s, The Table, and community dinner. Recently started getting involved with grant writing for The Table. Previously was financial secretary recording all pledges, offerings, and generating statements of giving (late 1980’s). Assistant director of christian education (early 1990’s).

Professional or Volunteer Experience
I have an MBA and CPA and spent most of my professional career working with IT systems for business and accounting. Completed a certificate program in patient advocacy at University of Wisconsin which involved learning about social services as well as health care systems.

Peggy Verdine – attends 7:45 am worship

I love St. George’s, it is my home and I would love to serve in any capacity. I have a degree in business management with a minor in computer science. I have volunteered with the Historic Fredericksburg Foundation as a member of the Market Committee. In my community, Falls Run, I chaired the Buildings and Grounds Committee which cared for 199 villa homes. I have been a member of St. George’s since 2015 with experience as a docent, greeter, community dinner manager, The Table, lecto,r and LEM.

My faith history includes being raised as a Catholic before coming to St. George’s. I was baptized, received First Holy Communion and Confirmed while living in Albany, New York. I was received in April 2015 into the Episcopal faith. I was married for 39 years before my husband passed away from cancer in November 2014. I have one son, Shawn, who has moved to the Fredericksburg area. I recently remarried in January of 2022 to Joseph Dreyer. As a veteran, I lived in Germany and then I was stationed in Virginia. Reading, travel and family time are my hobbies.

Ministry Experience
Docent, greeter, lector, LEM, community dinners, The Table, Micah Sandwich Team, Prayer Shawl Ministry, Racial Reconciliation Book Group and the Tuesday night book group. I am also a third year student of EfM.