STEWARDSHIP REMINDER. Thank you to everyone who has returned their completed 2023 stewardship pledge form. Anyone who has not yet returned their forms can do so by bringing your completed pledge form to worship, by mailing your pledge form to church, or on our home page stgregoryathens.org via the QUICK LINKS tab GIVING TO ST. GREGORY’S. 

Vestry Nominees for 2023-2026

The Nominating Committee is very pleased to announce the three parishioners who have graciously and generously accepted the call to be nominated for the Vestry: Kate Avinger, Joe Barrett, and Shelby Welch. Please read the brief autobiographies below that the nominees have prepared to introduce themselves to you who may not know them. They will be presented as a single slate for you to vote on at our Annual Parish Meeting on Sunday, January 15, 2023, after the 10:30 serivce.  

In the meantime, please introduce yourselves to the nominees, if you’re unacquainted, and get to know them before the election. According to our ByLaws “The Vestry is the Board of Directors of St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church, Inc. The Rector and Vestry members are the agents and legal representatives of the parish in all matters pertaining to its property, both real and personal, its fiscal affairs, and the relationship of the parish to its clergy.”

The Vestry Nominating Committee this year is composed of Amelia Ross, Anthony Garner, Eddie Bennett, LeeAnne Krause, Nikki Mathis (ex officio), and me.  Our initial charge was to identify, with help from our congregation, some parishioners who meet the requirements to participate on St. Gregory the Great’s Vestry. Our second task was to invite some of the qualified parishioners who were presented for nomination to join the Vestry for a three-year term, 2023-2026. The Committee was able to accomplish its mission during two in-person meetings and just a few email exchanges. I want to express my appreciation to the Nominating Committee’s members for their time and effort and their thoughtful contributions. It was a pleasure working together with you.

Jane Hudson

Senior Warden and Chair of the Nominating Committee

Kate Avinger

I got some Presbyterian and Methodist “churching” up to age 8. I learned the basics of Christmas and Easter but never felt like a part of a church community. I was culturally Christian, but basically agnostic in my teens and 20’s. It was my wife, Gina Defalco, who started gently encouraging me to consider the Episcopal church when we got together in 2003. It took a while to turn me into a church-goer! I have many reasons to love the Episcopal church, but what really stole my heart was the openness and warmth of the St. Gregory’s community. The watershed moment for Gina and me was the 2013 commitment ceremony of Alice Mohor and her dearly departed Nancy Hobart. When Gina attended and brought me back news of the standing-room-only enthusiasm of the church, we knew we had found our church home. Since then, I’ve helped out as a shepherd for the kids’ Sunday School and Children’s Church, been a stage mom for several of the Christmas pageants, and generated content for online church for both children and adults (with the help of my wife and kids). Most recently, I gave

my October 2nd speech on why I pledge to St. Greg’s, expressing my gratitude to the people of St. Greg’s for showing me what it is to be an integral part of a church community. (Check it out on YouTube, if you haven’t seen it already. It starts after the peace, at 59:29).  

In my secular life, I’ve been a licensed psychologist with Positive Outcomes, working with children, adolescents, families, and the occasional adult, for over 15 years. I specialize in work with trauma survivors and LGBTQ folks. When I meet an LGBTQ teen client with religious trauma, I am pleased to tell them about St. Gregory’s and that Christianity is not necessarily synonymous with rejection and oppression. I am blessed to be the wife of Gina, who has pointed me in the direction of truth and growth so many times, and who nominated me to the vestry. She’s served as co-leader of youth group and on the discernment committee of the recently ordained Will Drosos. I am the proud mom of Gavin (13), who acolytes, and Vanessa (11), who recently edited the Christmas pageant script to eliminate confusing language. This is truly my family’s church home. I am so proud to be an active part of our church community. St Gregory the Great is where my children and I were baptized, and where I was confirmed. St. Greg’s is where I learned that I am God’s hands. I’m excited to start my next adventure in service as a member of the vestry!

John Barrett

After retirement, Linda and I moved to Athens (actually Oconee County) in 2016 to, of course, be closer to grandchildren in Madison and Tucker. We landed at St. Gregory about a year later. We love to travel, and we have a cabin in Tennessee, so we haven’t had a stellar involvement record since we joined our fellow parishioners here at St. Gregory. It really feels like it is time to change that.

Prior to moving here, we lived in Jonesboro, Georgia, attended Church of the Nativity in Fayetteville, and were both employed by the Federal Government (I was with the FAA, and Linda was with EPA). We were confirmed into the Episcopal Church at Church of the Nativity in 2003. I served on the Vestry and a Rector Search Committee. Linda and I were co-chairs of the Stewardship Committee. I sang in the choir for many years, and I served as an acolyte when there was a particular need. I also completed Education for Ministry, graduating in 2012.

We were United Methodists before our coming home to the Episcopal Church. I served in a variety of ways, Lay Leader, Staff/Parish Committee, choir, and youth and adult Sunday School teacher.

I grew up in Atlanta, attended a large Baptist Church (still processing some of that), graduated from Sylvan Hills High School, joined the Navy, and got hooked on seeing the world. I attended several universities (including UGA), finally negotiating a degree from Georgia State University. Our daughter, Stacy, and her husband, Carl, live in Tucker. Their son, David, is a freshman at North Georgia Technical College in Clarksville. Our son, Lee, lives in Athens, and his daughters, Elle and Carson, attend Morgan County High School.

Shelby Welch

I am a lifelong Georgian, having been born in Toccoa and living in several areas around the state. I was an English teacher and School Counselor for 33 years before retiring to care for my elderly parents in their last years. I met my husband, Jeff, at our first teaching job, and we have three amazing children and four delightful grandchildren. All of us “bleed red and black,” since both Jeff and I and all of our children are UGA graduates!

While I grew up in the Baptist faith, I felt as though I had “come home” when I started attending the Episcopal church with Jeff while we were dating. We attended Emmanuel in Athens when we first married, but we shortly moved to Social Circle, and we attended Church of the Good Shepherd in Covington. Our whole family was very active there, including serving on the Vestry, teaching Sunday School, singing in the choir, acolyting, and layreading. Later, we moved to Fitzgerald in south Georgia, where once again we enjoyed a very active church life in tiny St. Matthews Episcopal Church. Our family of four (Nathaniel was in college) learned to do everything for the church, since we normally had only 10-12 people at a Sunday service. On a normal Sunday, Toni took care of the altar, Amelia was the acolyte, I was the organist, and Jeff was layreader, Eucharistic Minister, and Senior Warden.

We’ve been here at St. Gregory’s since 2003. I have led children’s music, taught Sunday School, sung in the choir, and been active in Parish Life. It is such a joy to have our youngest daughter, Amelia, son-in-law, Caley, and grandchildren, Jeffery and Kitty, become active in St. Gregory’s too! Jeff and I live in Lexington and enjoy retirement by growing fruits and veggies, keeping up our seventeen acres, making jams and jellies, and hosting family gatherings.

The Altar Guild Needs You!!



The altar guild is looking for new volunteers! You will be trained! Please contact Barbara Dean at 706-354-4269 or via email.

A Counting Opportunity

With the departure of Marilyn Walsh for parts South in the next couple of weeks, we have an immediate need for a counter, someone to tally the week's contributions to St. Gregory the Great between the third and fourth Sundays each month. You'll be trained and have an experienced counting partner, Katie Hein. You'll choose a time convenient for both of you to count each month at the church. It's a 30 minute, once/month commitment. Please contact Jane Hudson, janeghudson@gmail.com, to volunteer. Remember, we’re still a small enough parish that we need everyone’s help to get everything done.

Instructions for Live Streaming

• Just go to the St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church YouTube Homepage

• Near the time for service, underneath our channel logo, you will see our video for that day, with the word ‘live’ on it. The page will look like this:

• If you don’t immediately see the video that says ‘live’, (for instance, if you opened YouTube before the service begins) keep refreshing it.  

• When you see the video square that says ‘live’, click on it. 

Welcome to worship!