Vestry Members and Delegates

Jen Ewing has been attending the Church of the Redeemer since 2014, when she and her husband, Alex, moved to Chestnut Hill. .  She and Alex are parents to Eloise (age 10) and Jack (age 8).   Jen enjoys teaching Godly Play and otherwise finding ways to volunteer at the Church.  As her “day job”, Jen is a partner at Ropes & Gray where she is an estate planning attorney and serves as trustee and fiduciary for her clients.

Elliot and her family joined the Church of the Redeemer 21 years ago, when she and her family moved to MA from New York City.  At the Redeemer, Elliot has served as Co-Chair of Stewardship from 2007-09 and 2022, as a Lay Eucharistic Minister and Lector, often alongside her husband, John Paolella, and sons, William and James as past acolytes and servers.  During COVID, she was grateful to be part of the Spiritual Formation Group led by Graeme and Debbie Mills.  By profession, she was the John Moors Cabot Chair, Art of the Americas, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for 18 years, and the Director and CEO of the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida before returning to Boston in the summer of 2020.  Elliot is currently a 2022 fellow in the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard, working on aggregating best practices for art museums to meet mission goals for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility while continuing to serve as an important resource for their communities. In addition to spending time with family and friends, Elliot enjoys reading, squash, yoga, and travel.

Ryan Sylvia lives locally in Newton Center with his wife (Louisa), two kids Luke (age 11) and Hadley (age 9), as well as their dog Axl.  Ryan has been coming to the Redeemer for over 8 years, was married to Louisa by Dorsey McConnell and the children were baptized with Mike Dangelo.  Ryan is passionate about his faith practices at the Redeemer, having dived into men's retreats, various Spiritual Transformation groups and regular Sunday worship.  He currently serves as Co-Chair for the Building & Grounds Committee, a group he has supported for many years now.  Ryan served also participated as a Diocesan Delegate Alternate, and has volunteered time in the past at the Christmas Market, St. Stephens and Common Cathedral.  Professionally Ryan is CEO for a technology consulting firm (Envisage, Inc.) in Marlborough and in his downtime enjoys exercise, sports, and time with family and friends.

Christa and her husband Jeff have been active members of the Redeemer since 2003, when they moved to Chestnut Hill.  A teacher of Sunday school for many years, Christa enjoyed being part of the program with her four children, Elaina 20, Elise 18, Brooks 16 and Scarlett  12.  Christa has also served on the Church School Committee.  Christa and Jeff’s children have grown up participating in many aspects of Redeemer life, including Sunday school, youth group and confirmation; serving as acolytes and volunteering as youth assistants.  Recently completing her training, Christa now volunteers for Planned Parenthood’s counseling and referral hotline.  Prior to having children, Christa worked as a journalist and in media relations in the public and private sectors.

By training, Tim was an IT professional working in the manufacturing and financial services sectors for 20+ years.  He left corporate America as a senior executive to start his own business as a boutique shop fixing Mercedes-Benz and BMW automobiles.  After 10 years and achieving his personal goals for his business, Tim retired from the working world to pursue more personal and philanthropic activities.  He has since served on the Board of Trustees of Pine Manor College for 6 years.

Tim and his wife Sarah have been parishioners of the Church of the Redeemer since 1986.  Sarah was the Redeemer’s Church School Director for 15 years and both Tim and Sarah have been Lay Eucharistic Ministers for 22 years.  While attending formal church services have always been special in the hearts of the Allen family, Tim has experienced firsthand the true impact of the church community through the various inreach/outreach activities.  Tim has played various supporting roles for the Christmas Market and he has also served on the Vestry nominating committee.  It is for these reasons Tim is enthusiastic about this new calling to be on the Vestry of the Redeemer.

Stephen and his wife Virginia have been Church of the Redeemer members for more than thirty years. Their sons, Chris and Tom, both attended preschool and Sunday school at the Redeemer. The boys attended confirmation classes and were confirmed at the Redeemer. Gina has been a member of the Altar Guild for more than twenty years. As Head of the Altar Guild she also served as Ex-Officio Member of The Vestry. Stephen officiates the daily prayer about three times a week.  “Worship at the Redeemer is critically important in my life.  I enjoy learning and music here immensely.”

Stephen is a Wisconsin native, but he has strong roots in Newton and Brookline. He has lived in Brookline forty-five years.  Both The Brookline TAB and The Newton TAB are among the fifteen community newspapers he founded, published and eventually sold to The Community Newspaper Company, a Fidelity Capital venture.  Both he and Gina have been active in managing The State House News Service, a news content provider with offices in Wellesley and in The State House, Boston, for more than twenty-five years. An entrepreneur, Stephen also founded News Service of Florida, and Travelers Marketing LLC, which currently operates highway safety programs for Highway Departments and Toll Highway Authorities in twenty-two states. Stephen enjoys playing golf, reading and rooting for The Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Gray lives in Chestnut Hill with her husband Will and three children Peter (9), Whitney (6) and Alex (4). She joined Redeemer in 2013 after moving to Chestnut Hill from Boston where she attended Trinity Church. Gray serves on the Sunday School Committee and can be seen most Sundays in one of her children’s Sunday school classes. Outside of Redeemer, Gray is actively involved in her children’s schools. She enjoys playing numerous sports and coaching her children’s teams. Previously, she invested in commercial real estate debt and managed non-performing loans. She has a BA from Cornell University and MBA from Harvard Business School.

Ethan Foy was born in London and raised in Brookline, having been a member of the parish since 1998. He was confirmed at the Redeemer in 2010 and has long felt blessed by its close-knit community of faith, which he hopes to bolster during his Vestry tenure. Ethan attended Boston College, graduating in 2018 with degrees in Classics & English as well as having spent all four of his years there competing on the men’s rowing team. He now lives in Boston and is in the process of applying to law school. In his spare time, Ethan enjoys skiing, sailing, reading history (with the occasional venture back into Latin poetry), and watching more Red Sox games than is sensible to do.

Debby, together with her husband Graeme, have been members of the parish for almost 20 years, joining Church of the Redeemer when their three children (Ben, Zach, and Sam) were toddlers. After serving as a longtime member of the Mission & Outreach (M&O) committee, Debby is currently Co-Chair of the Strategic Ministries Committee (SMC) and is a co-leader of the Redeemer’s Race & Beloved Community discussion group. She also serves as a Lay Eucharist Minister (LEM), is on the Altar Guild, participates in the Church Service League (CSL) and Women’s and Sunday morning Bible studies. She has also co-led the Redeemer’s Christmas Market and accompanied teens on mission trips to New Orleans and Uganda. Debby was a commercial banker for almost 20 years in Boston and Sydney, Australia, before working with several non-profits and at Apple. In addition, she has served as PTO President and a board member at two of her children’s schools.

Lucinda Doran joined The Redeemer in 1990 when she moved to Brookline/Chestnut Hill from NYC.  She immediately became active in parish life as Lay Minister, Lector, Choir, Bible Study and Stewardship Committee Member.  She later served as Clerk of the Vestry and then Junior Warden, on the search committees calling two rectors and two directors of music, was Head of the Altar Guild, former Diocesan Delegate and current lay leader of the Daily Office Online Ministry.  Professionally, Lucinda was a CEO, interim executive and board member helping CEOs, boards and their companies through complex, difficult and pivotal transitions.  She has deep expertise in governance, leadership and organization.  Lucinda, who hails from Oregon, earned her Ph.D. from NYU in Strategy, Management & Organizational Behavior and Psychology and is a licensed Industrial/Organizational Psychologist.  In addition to her volunteer work, she happily spends her retirement playing tennis, bridge, music and in book clubs with friends, traveling and appreciating concerts and the fine and performing arts.

Ming-Hui Chen with her husband, Chris and their 2 children joined the Redeemer 12 years ago when their youngest child was confirmed. Since that time, she is grateful to call the Redeemer their church home, and for the important fellowship of this community over the last decade.   During Covid, Ming-Hui was honored to partake in the Church’s spiritual formation conversations on Faith, Race, and Medicine.

By profession, Ming-Hui Chen is a cardiologist and physician-investigator at Harvard Medical School, and has worked to improve the lives of women and childhood cancer survivors in keeping their hearts healthy. She is part of the leadership council of the American College of Cardiology in Cardio-Oncology and also part of the Sandra J. Lewis Leadership Institute for Female Cardiologists.  She also serves as the Co-President of the Asian-American Pacific Islander Collaborative Employee Resource Group at Boston Children’s Hospital.  As a child of immigrants, she has been passionate about giving back and serving those with limited English proficiency.  She has been a previous Board of Trustee member at the Park School and the Winsor School Corporation.  Dr. Chen’s work in the past had been recognized by the Boston Business Journal’s ”40 individuals under 40” who have shaped Boston’s Health Care community. She is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Medical School.

A life-long Episcopalian, Velura has been a member of the Redeemer for just over 70 years.  All three of her children attended Sunday School here; one was married here, and two of her grandchildren were baptized and now attend Sunday School at the Redeemer.  A Lay Eucharistic Minister and Lector, Velura has served on the Vestry and Altar Guild and as Church School Administrator and Junior Warden.  For many years before retiring, she worked at independent schools in the area in administration and financial aid. Currently coordinator of the FUEL program, she looks forward to raising greater awareness in the Deanery of food insecurity in the suburbs.

I have been attending the Redeemer since moving to Chestnut Hill in 2004.  My son Leo was christened at Redeemer in 2005. I have enjoyed watching Leo involve himself in Sunday school, confirmation, and youth group.  Leo has served as an acolyte through middle school and as a server in high school as well as assisting me with outreach, such as fuel, Common Cathedral, St. Stephens and the Christmas market. I enjoy being part of such a caring church community.  I care deeply for the Redeemer and enjoy being involved with Common Cathedral, St. Stephen’s Holiday parties, the annual Christmas market as well as assisting with the grounds and building committee.

Starr has been a member of the Redeemer for 14 years. She has been involved with many of the ministries of the Redeemer and currently serves on the Sunday School Committee. After working in nonprofits and schools for 20 years, she now spends her time running after her three kids and driving them around metro west. Starr, Josh, Findlay, Winslow, Davis and Foxy Peteet live in Weston. 

Originally from Washington state, Torrance and his wife, Nola, moved up to Massachusetts in 2004, settling in Milton.  He founded Cold Fusion Gelato that year and was the owner and President until selling the business in 2016.  At present, he acts as an Uber driver for their two daughters ages 10 and 13, and he tries to sneak away to the golf course whenever possible where he works very hard to remain a very mediocre golfer. 

Cara joined the Church of the Redeemer in 2013. Since joining the parish she was immediately recruited to join the Church Service League, currently serving as its president. She has enjoyed helping to lead the Christmas Market annual fundraising effort every year since joining the parish. Additionally, she has taught Sunday school.

Her son, Bear, was baptized at the Redeemer, and her two dogs; Chopper & Murphis, have attended the Blessing of the Animals on a few occasions.  

Professionally, she spent nearly a decade strategically aligning the institutional ambitions and interdisciplinary initiatives at Northeastern University.

During her tenure in varied roles, she worked across the institution with faculty, students, parents, and administrators to help implement the strategic plan of the university.

She spearheaded a number of special projects including the faculty/staff giving campaign, speaker forums showcasing industry CEO’s and national and international dignitaries, and worked to build the board pipeline.

In addition to her various volunteer roles; leading fundraising aspirations at her son’s former preschool and service roles at his elementary school, Cara serves on the Advisory Council of MSPCA-Angell, where she is thrilled to serve as an advocate for our furry friends who cannot speak for themselves.

Cara holds a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Norwich University and a master’s degree in Public Administration from Northeastern University.

She currently lives in Needham with her son Bear, and two rescue dogs, Chopper and Murphis.