2023 Vestry Nominations Named
The Vestry Nominating Committee is excited to announce this year’s slate of nominees for election to the Vestry. They are Morris Friedman, Keith Googe, Jack Scruggs, and Kathryn Vernon.
Morris Friedman
I am a native of Newport News, Virginia, and moved to Winston Salem in 1995 after finishing residency training at Duke. I am a urologist at Novant Health. My wife, Colleen and I are the parents of two daughters, Virginia and Margaret. I have been a member of St. Paul’s since 1998. My interest in becoming more involved at St. Paul’s was sparked in 2010, when I went on a church mission trip to Haiti following the earthquake there. I currently participate in St. Paul’s Prison and Jail Ministry and have served as an usher and lector. Colleen and I co-chaired the 2012 Annual Giving campaign. I served on the vestry from 2013 to 2016 and was on several committees, including Finance, HR, Outreach, and Music. Following my vestry service, I served a three-year term on Diocesan Council.
In the community, I have been a board member of the Trellis Foundation and have served as president of the medical staff and chairman of the board of trustees of Medical Park Hospital.
St. Paul’s is a warm and welcoming community of believers and has become an integral part of our family’s life. I enjoy the fellowship and the Christian formation guided by our caring and dedicated clergy. As a lifelong Episcopalian, I particularly enjoy our liturgies and the beautiful music that adds so much to our worship. To me, the engraving chiseled in stone above the church entrance says it all: A House of Prayer for ALL People!
Keith Googe
For the past 27 years, I have been a commercial property and casualty insurance agent with Ketner Insurance Agency. My wife, Karen and I were married at St. Paul’s on April 21st, 2001. We have three daughters, Brittanie, Victoria, and Elizabeth. Brittanie lives in Pinehurst and is engaged to be married in September 2023. Victoria is a pediatric dentist in Winston Salem and is expecting her first child. Our youngest, Elizabeth is a Junior at Reynolds High School. We are proud to call St. Paul’s home, where I became a member in 1996, and Karen in 2001. Our children grew up at St. Paul’s, were members of the choir, served as acolytes, and were confirmed.
I have been a youth acolyte leader for 10 years, serve as a lay reader, am a member of the parament guild, and the finance committee. I served on the board of directors for Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina from 2003-2006.
Reflecting on my time at St. Paul’s, some of my favorite events include the baptisms of my children and watching them participate in the choir and acolyte. But my favorite event at St. Paul’s has been being the thurifer in the 11:00 pm Christmas Eve service.
St. Paul’s provides an environment where I can serve God, grow spiritually, and serve our community of faith and the local community. I am blessed to call St. Paul’s home.
Jack Scruggs
I have been an Employee Assistance Counselor for Atrium Health/Wake Forest Baptist and for Wake Forest University for almost 30 years. I enjoy helping employees and their families find counseling resources, and assisting them with short term problem solving.
I’m an only child, and my parents have been gone for many years. I’m lucky to have a large and close-knit extended family. My partner, William Durham (also a member of St. Paul’s) and I have been together for 36 years, and look forward to many happy years to come.
I’ve been a member of St. Paul’s since I was 22 (43 years), and came at the invitation of a close friend and parishioner who suggested that I consider joining the choir. The first time I set foot in the church, I knew I was home, and have always been thankful that she invited me. I was confirmed a year later.
I’m currently a member of the choir and Chamber Choir, chair of the Outreach Funding Committee, a Lay Eucharistic Visitor, serve on a discernment committee, and belong to a small group.
In the past, I have served on the Vestry, the Human Resources Committee, the Recovery Committee, the Music Committee, was a Stephen Ministry leader for many years, and have been on several search and discernment committees. I completed the Education for Ministry course several years ago.
I volunteer at Samaritan Ministries, sing in the Winston-Salem Symphony Chorus, and in the past, served on the boards of two local non-profits.
My favorite event at St. Paul’s would have to be the Lessons and Carols service at Christmas.
St. Paul’s is a community that has shaped me throughout my adult life, with music, classes, sermons, discussions, volunteer work, and warm and inspiring mentors and friends.
Kathryn Vernon
I am honored to be nominated for a position on the Vestry.
I joined St. Paul’s with my family (parents Ann and Tom Vernon and brother Matthew) when I was four years old. I grew up participating in St. Paul’s Youth Choir, first singing as a preschooler and continuing to sing and learn under Barbara Beattie’s direction until I graduated from Reynolds High School. As a teenager I also served as an acolyte and was confirmed at St. Paul’s.
More recently, I have been an active member of the Young Adults group and regularly participate in the Young Adults Small Group. I traveled to Greece on a mission trip with the church in 2017. The previous year I helped organize St. Ruth’s Circle for young women in the church and have served as the Service Chair for the past three years, helping to create our fall parish-wide service project, Socktober. I have served on the ECW Discernment Committee and on the Stewardship Committee. I have also assisted and participated with the choristers as part of the Schola.
Outside of church I have been a member of the Junior League of Winston-Salem, holding various positions in leading some of the League’s many community initiatives and currently serving on the Board of Directors. I am employed as the Marketing Director at Daggett Shuler, Attorneys at Law, handling all marketing, communications, and non-profit initiatives for the firm.
A Choir Kid through and through, my favorite part of church has always been the music. The swell of the organ, the many voices joining as one, the creation of community through song are all foundational to my love of this church. My personal understanding of the liturgy began though my education in the Royal School of Church Music while a chorister. I imagine my learning and understanding will continue to grow as I faithfully serve this special place called St. Paul’s.