Annual Meeting and Vestry Election
Sunday, February 8, 2026
St. Philip’s annual meeting is Sunday, February 8. We’ll elect new vestry members, vote on bylaw updates, hear about the work of St. Philip’s over the past year, and look forward to things coming up in 2026. Join us!
One worship service at 10am – Church and Online (Facebook, YouTube | Download bulletin)
Voting
Voting and annual meeting start at 9am. Confirmed members age 16 and older may vote. This year we’ll vote on proposed bylaw updates and elect four new vestry members.
Zoom attendees: You can join the meeting via Zoom at 9am and 11:30am, but you must be physically present to vote.
Schedule
Nursery and children’s activities available.
8:30 AM – Bagels, donuts and coffee – Parish Hall
9 AM – Annual meeting and voting begin, featuring celebrations and name tags – Parish Hall and Zoom*
10 AM – Eucharist with Choir – Church and Online (Facebook, YouTube | Download bulletin)
11:30 AM – More voting (if needed), more celebrations, the vestry’s annual report, meet the new vestry members, and eat lunch – Parish Hall and Zoom*
Annual Meeting Lunch
We’d love to feed you lunch! RSVP by Wednesday, February 4
* Zoom attendees: You can join the meeting via Zoom at 9am and 11:30am, but you must be physically present to vote.
Questions? Ask Senior Warden Marty Nelson or the Rev. Maryann D. Younger.
Meet the Vestry Nominees
Jillian “Jill” Downs (she/her)
What originally brought you to St. Philip’s? How has your experience since then reinforced your expectations – or surprised you? Our family, including my husband and our daughters, now ages 21 and 13, found a church home in St. Philip’s after moving from the DC area in late 2016 and putting down roots in Durham. My simple expectation was reengaging in Episcopal traditions with hopes of igniting spiritual connection. A pleasant surprise has been some of our closest bonds growing not inside the parish walls, but on the shores of Kerr Lake! We cherish what has become an annual camping adventure with fellow Journey to Adulthood youth, leaders, and parent friends.
What gifts, skills, assets, and experience – personal or professional – would you bring to vestry service?
- In my current professional role with a global funder, I respect nonprofit partners whose boards of directors enable their organizations to survive and thrive not only fiscally, but by staying focused on mission work. On the vestry, I would, above all, support St. Philip’s in fulfilling its vision as a beacon of God’s light in downtown Durham through “worship, love, and action.”
- As a former civil servant with educational background in city and environmental planning, I am interested in broader issues St. Philip’s will continue addressing in the coming years, including a church restoration project and future uses on the urban block and at The Trees. On the vestry, I would deliberate on these complex topics with openness and care for the church and greater Durham community.
- Our daughters have benefited significantly from St. Philip’s holistic youth programming. Based on their experiences of Sunday formation, acolyte service, and J2A pilgrimage, on the vestry, I would remain a proponent of church as a warm and inclusive place for children and families to learn and grow.
How has your involvement with a particular ministry, worship experience or other activity at St. Philip’s been meaningful to you? I am honored to participate on St. Philip’s Sacred Spaces Committee, whose goal is steering pre-work for interior improvements in the 1908 sanctuary, mindful of its historic character and meeting the needs of today’s parish community. Considering design recommendations to enhance liturgy, flexibility, and accessibility in the church has been a meaningful, contemplative, and creative team process.
James Rives (He/him)
What originally brought you to St. Philip’s? How has your experience since then reinforced your expectations – or surprised you? I’m a cradle Episcopalian, but for most of my adult life I attended services only rarely. About 15 years ago, I realized I wanted worship to be a regular part of my life again. St. Philip’s was very close to where I was living, so I gave it a try. The services were everything that I wanted: traditional in feel, progressive in attitude. I kept coming back, and gradually realized (no surprise) that the services reflect the people who make up the St. Philip’s community.
What gifts, skills, assets, and experience – personal or professional – would you bring to vestry service?
- As a long-time academic, I have much experience working with peers to define and advance collective priorities
- As a department chair for eight years, I have experience with budgets, administration, and long-term planning
- I’m focused and organized
- I’ve been told I have good people skills, but I’ll have to let others decide for themselves!
How has your involvement with a particular ministry, worship experience or other activity at St. Philip’s been meaningful to you? Although I greatly value all the social ministries that St. Philip’s sponsors, worship is at the core of my St. Philip’s experience; it’s the one thing that no other kind of group or organization can provide. For the last year and a half, I’ve enjoyed serving as an usher and doing what I can to help others have a good worship experience.
Andy Slaughter (He/him)
What originally brought you to St. Philip’s? How has your experience since then reinforced your expectations – or surprised you? My family has been attending St. Philip’s for almost 15 years now. We were initially drawn here after hearing about the wonderful Atrium children’s programming, as well as a desire to find a more thoughtful and inclusive faith tradition than what we had previously been involved with. In my time at St. Philip’s, my expectations of this have been validated, but also I continue to be impressed with the amount of volunteering and involvement this community provides to local organizations. There are so many people in this parish who work either through St. Philip’s or independently to make Durham a better and more equitable place to live.
What gifts, skills, assets, and experience – personal or professional – would you bring to vestry service?
- Professionally I am a proposal manager with a large central laboratory services provider working in the clinical trials (pharmaceutical and biotech) industry.
- Clear communication, organization, and attention to detail
- Thoughtfulness and a mindset to see issues and challenges from a variety of perspectives
- Personally, I have also been serving as a board member and a shop coordinator at the non-profit Durham Bike Co-op for the last three years. I lead a Saturday morning workshop that allows people to earn volunteer hours and learn some bike maintenance and mechanic skills by salvaging bicycle components.
How has your involvement with a particular ministry, worship experience or other activity at St. Philip’s been meaningful to you? In terms of worship experience, I do appreciate the liturgy and continuing an actual faith tradition with roots and legacy, but mostly I just deeply value my connections to the community here at St. Philip’s. This church community, the friends I have made here, and the memories my family and I have of so many church holidays and events are all things I treasure greatly. Now that my children are becoming adults and moving on in their own lives, I would like to give back to this place that has been so very good to me.
Natalie Sommerville (She/her)
What originally brought you to St. Philip’s? How has your experience since then reinforced your expectations – or surprised you? A move to Durham brought my husband, Henry, and me to St. Philip’s in 2002. The friendliness of parishioners and clergy, the commitment to being a church in the city, and the beautiful worship spaces made St. Philip’s our church in short order. I am grateful that in this changing world, especially in an era of significant challenges, St. Philip’s both adapts to meet the moment and stays true to the essential attributes that initially called us here. It has been a delight to grow spiritually and to raise my family at St. Philip’s.
What gifts, skills, assets, and experience – personal or professional – would you bring to vestry service?
- More than 30 years working in libraries, a service profession that honors individual needs while using standards to ensure best practices over the long term
- Experience working collaboratively on a variety of leadership teams, with a recent emphasis on leading through the effects of national and world events, funding constraints, and personnel changes
- Experience creating and maintaining authoritative data, along with analyzing and using it to assess and evaluate impact
- Personal commitment to practicing anti-racism and to addressing societal harms against marginalized people
How has your involvement with a particular ministry, worship experience or other activity at St. Philip’s been meaningful to you? Liturgy has been an anchor throughout my adult life. I find inspiration and community in attending services and marking the liturgical year. This has led me to participate in liturgy-forward ministries over the years, including the acolyte and lay Eucharistic ministries, either directly or through supporting my family’s participation. Altar guild is my longest standing ministry. For the last 20 years, I have worked collaboratively to prepare our physical spaces for worship. A lot goes into it! I hope that in this behind-the-scenes way, I am supporting everyone’s liturgical experience.
Bynum Walter (she/her)
What originally brought you to St. Philip’s? How has your experience since then reinforced your expectations – or surprised you? I am a lifelong Episcopalian and came to St. Philip’s when Matt Walter and I moved back to North Carolina from Baltimore in 2011. We had been attending Cathedral of the Incarnation and friends there highly recommended St. Philip’s. As an Episcopal Church with a strong liturgy centered around the Book of Common Prayer and the Hymnal 1982, I find St. Philip’s to be comfortable and reassuring. The wild card is all the other stuff we do to be the Body of Christ in Durham; this part doesn’t so much surprise as keep teaching me new ways to be a faithful person.
What gifts, skills, assets, and experience – personal or professional – would you bring to vestry service?
- 20 years working as a city planner, with a focus on process and community engagement
- Executive experience leading teams of up to 20 people
- Current and previous participation in a wide variety of St. Philip’s and/or diocesan ministries
How has your involvement with a particular ministry, worship experience or other activity at St. Philip’s been meaningful to you? This fall I started working with Rite 13. Sometimes it is fun, other times awkward, other times illuminating! To use some old-fashioned stewardship language, I am giving of my time and talent. But it also helps me, and that’s been my experience with every ministry I have engaged with at St. Philip’s. Every time I give, I get just as much (if not more) back in strengthened faith and fellowship. Giving my time and talent to St. Philip’s is an important part of my practice of faith, so I welcome the opportunity to serve on the vestry again.
Aileen Womark-Montes (she/her)
What originally brought you to St. Philip’s? How has your experience since then reinforced your expectations – or surprised you? My long-time friendship with Sharon Massey brought me to St. Philip’s – I came to worship beside her in her time of sadness, illness, and lose. Every time I showed up, I felt welcomed, seen, heard, cherished, and celebrated here. The love was palpable.
What gifts, skills, assets, and experience – personal or professional – would you bring to vestry service?
- My listening heart, which has led me to share who I am today on every level.
- The gifts of willingness, prayer, openness, and honesty.
- My professional experience as a special education teacher in Durham public schools for young adults with autism, developmental delays, deafness and other communication challenges. Through this work, I discovered I have a gift for communicating with all different sorts of people with different abilities.
- Knowledge of American Sign Language
- Love for community and children
- My diverse background, and a heritage that covers several continents and a mixed-race family – all of which lead to new understanding and compassion. My parents were born in Germany, I was born on Long Island and raised in Israel, and I married a man from Peru! My children are bi-racial with an international heritage. My diverse background and family have deeply impacted my journey of faith and relationship with Jesus and the church.) It feels like Jesus put me in the special forces of being able to communicate easily with different groups of people.
How has your involvement with a particular ministry, worship experience or other activity at St. Philip’s been meaningful to you?
- I deeply appreciate the Wednesday evening Eucharist – I love it and find it very helpful. After Eucharist, I find great joy attending Wednesday night dinner and the Engage studies.
- I’m interested in reviving our involvement with Urban Ministries of Durham. I volunteered at UMD before coming to St. Philip’s, and I’d like to be involved in supporting that ministry.
- I feel a strong sense of being hospitable to anyone new at St. Philip’s. If I see someone new here on a Sunday, I’ll introduce myself and offer to give them a tour, because people were hospitable to me when I first arrived.
Proposed Bylaw Updates
Our bylaws are the rules that govern how we operate as a church. Ours were last updated nearly 30 years ago, and it’s time to ensure our bylaws reflect who we are today. After much evaluation and input from parishioners, the vestry is proposing several changes to align our bylaws with current practices and make our governance more inclusive, transparent, and practical. A majority of parishioners present must approve the changes before they go into effect.
1. Allow electronic/remote participation in voting and meetings.
Why? Our current bylaws say parishioners must be physically present at the annual meeting in order to vote with a paper ballot. The proposed change would allow parishioners to vote and attend electronically (for instance, via Zoom).
Because the parish now has the technological capacity to include remote participants in worship and formation, and the vestry recognizes that remote participants should be included in the voting process, vestry meetings, and the full life of the church.
2. Require six to eight vestry candidates to run for four vestry positions.
Why? Our current bylaws require eight vestry candidates to run for four vestry positions. But for several years, the nominating committee has had difficulty identifying eight candidates.
The proposed change would allow compliance with the bylaws if only six candidates are willing to run, but the elections committee could still nominate eight candidates if as many can be identified. (Nominations from the floor would still be accepted during the preliminary annual meeting.) By continuing to require more nominees than available positions, the change ensures the parish would still have a democratic election process.
3. Clarify how often the vestry must meet and how our operating reserve fund is calculated.
Why? The proposed changes would align our bylaws with current practices. Our current bylaws require the vestry to meet monthly, while the proposed change would allow for one month with no meeting (typically coinciding with summer vacations). Our current bylaws also require our operating reserve fund to equal “1/6 of the annual operating budget.” The proposed change clarifies that the percentage set aside is based on budgeted expenses for the year, rather than revenue.
Questions? Reach out to Senior Warden Marty Nelson or the Rev. Maryann D. Younger.