MEET THE CANDIDATES
Vote on June 11th After Service
Ruth Rose – Board Clerk
Ruth has been a member of First Parish since 1988. She currently sings in the choir and serves on the Adult Programs Committee. Over the years she has served on the RE Committee, the Canvass Committee (now the Stewardship Team), the Mayfair Committee (twice as co-chair), the Church Auction (chair), the Ministerial Search Committee, the Music Director Search Committee, the Memorial Garden Committee, the DRE Search Committee, and, most recently, the Voices on the Green team. Outside of First Parish she served several three-year terms as clerk on the board of the Boston Cecilia chorus. She is currently on the OWLL (Older, Wiser, Lifelong Learners) Program Committee at the Lexington Community Center. Her most recent career before retirement was in the reading department of the school division at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Ruth has been married to David Rose for almost 54 years and has two grown children and six grandchildren.
Susanna Whitman – Board Member at Large
Susanna Whitman is a life-long Unitarian Universalist who grew up in this congregation. Having lived in England and Scotland, she returned to her hometown in 1997. She is married to Jonathan Kinghorn, and has three adult children who grew up in the church, attended youth group, and are First Parish members. Susanna has served on the Board of her previous congregation as Vice Chair, and at First Parish was cochair of Members and Friends, and prior to that a member of the RE and Adult Programs Committees. She was on the UUA staff for over 10 years (2000 – 2011) and was also a DRE at the Melrose UU Church (1998 – 2000). Susanna is currently chairing the 8th Principle Implementation Team and is the Parish Administrator at First Parish in Needham.
Tom Rich – Auditor of Treasurer
Tom Rich has been a member of First Parish since 2000 and has held a number of leadership positions, including Religious Education Committee chair, Junior High Youth Group Advisor, Board member, Board Chair, Committee on Leadership and Service Co-Chair, Treasurer, Auction Chair, and Stewardship Drive Co-Chair. He has also served on multiple search committees and sings in the choir. His wife, Suzanne Adams, is Storytelling Director for Voices on the Green and a Worship Associate.
Bob Coyne - Auditor of the Trustees
Bob grew up in Avon, NY, a small town in western NY, came to Boston to attend Northeastern University majoring in Finance and settled in the area following graduation. He is co-founder of Aligned Vision, a small, high-tech manufacturing company located in Chelmsford. Bob moved to Lexington in 1977 and has been married to Linda since 1980. He followed Linda to First Parish in 1999, signed the membership book in 2000, served as Treasurer for three years beginning in 2005 and has been a member of the Finance Committee since that time. While Bob has not worked as an auditor since his second co-op job at Northeastern “a few” years ago, he looks forward to taking on this roll at First Parish.
Johnathan Richardson – Board Member at Large
I grew up attending First Church, Unitarian Universalist, in Boston, hearing the sermons of Reverend Rhys Williams (1929-2003), also a close family friend. My mother, Rebekah Richardson, worked closely with Rhys to offer aid to seniors, creating the Hale-Barnard Corporation in Boston, which still exists today. In church matters, I take a lot of inspiration from my mother, who is now a senior herself, living in a nearby community, still interested in many charitable endeavors. My wife Dorothy and I joined First Parish in Brookline in about 1999 when our first child (Elliot) was about 3 years old. Our second child (Ian) was born in 2002. We shepherded both of our children through all phases of Religious Exploration, both of us teaching many different classes. Over the past several years I have helped with the Coming of Age class, and I was so happy to attend the recent Coming of Age service at First Parish Lexington. The one thing I have learned through my many years of involvement with Unitarian Universalism is that there is so much to learn, and I look forward to learning more from our Reverend Anne Mason and others at First Parish Lexington!
Dorothy and I are excited to have landed in Lexington for our next phase of life. The town is quite familiar to us since I have worked nearby for more than 20 years and we have a number of close family friends living here as well. We have felt very welcome and at home at First Parish Lexington from the first moment we walked in: There was no question that we wanted to become members; which we have! I am very impressed with the level of commitment of the FPL congregation: it is evident in so many aspects of the church. I would like to carry on with this tradition of service.
Mia Roop - Treasurer
Mia grew up in Lexington and went to Colby College. For 35 years she worked in high tech sales for Lotus, SPC, Symantec, Nuance, and Claris (subsidiary of Apple). Mia has been married to Larry Roop for 37 years and started attending First Parish in 2007. She has two adult children (John and Maddy) who attended Religious Education, Youth Group, OWL and Coming of Age. Mia was a First Parish Greeter and Greeter Coordinator for many years, served on the Personnel Committee in 2014, and is currently a member of the Racial Justice Team, the Preserving our Democracy Team, the Board, and the Personnel Committee. She also coordinates Social Hour and the Living Our Values Fair.
David Bovet – Trustee
Member of First Parish since 1981. Chair of Finance Committee and Board member (both ending June 2023). Co-Chair of 2017-2023 Capital Campaign and 1986-1989 Capital Campaign.
Managing Partner of New Harbor Consultants, a boutique management consulting firm. Previously a senior partner at Oliver Wyman, economist at The World Bank and Coast Guard officer. Degrees in engineering, business and economics.
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