Vestry

Amy Robinson
Senior Warden

I have been a part of the Grace family my entire life. My parent's, Jean and Bill Chatterton, were longtime members of Grace and now lie in the columbarium. I was Baptized here in 1960, attended Sunday school and was confirmed at Grace.My husband Scott and I were married here in 1984. Following our marriage, we and eventually our two boys (James and Quentin) began a 35 year, around the world odyssey with the US Navy but I always stayed close to Grace Church. When we visited my parents, we often attended services and of course heard all about the "goings on" from my mother. During our 35-year hiatus away from Madison we were active in various church communities, including at St. Francis Episcopal church in College Station, Texas where I was an active volunteer on several committees and a member of the Vestry just prior to moving back to Madison.

We always wanted to return to Madison following Scott's retirement and in 2019 I had the opportunity to transfer with my employer to a position here in Madison. After we arrived, I started attending services and joined a Bible study group during Lent in 2020. I thought, hooray, now I'm really going to get to meet new people. But not so fast and hello pandemic! Thankfully we are coming out of that and returning to a semblance of normal where we can work, play, and worship together. I have been on the Vestry for two years and the Junior Warden this past year. I am also the chairman of the Development Trust Fund and a member of the Parish Life committee.

Professionally, I am the Director of Manufacturing Science and Technology at Fujifilm CDI here in Madison where we develop and manufacture cell therapies for immune oncology and regenerative medicine indications. I enjoy swimming and rediscovered tennis during the pandemic. Our first grandchild (Henry) turned two this summer and he will be joined by a baby sister this winter. They live way too far away in Seattle so lots of travel is in our future.

Jeremy Schuurmans
Member, I of I

My family and I moved to Madison from the Pacific Northwest in 2020. Formerly Eastern Orthodox, we found our spiritual home in the Episcopal Church in early 2022x, and have been active members of the Grace community ever since.

I enjoy serving in a variety of ways at Grace, and try to lend a hand wherever needed. I am an acolyte, lector, and eucharistic minister. I am also actively involved with the Pride Committee, the Altar Guild, and the Healing Prayer Team, among other committees. As a member of the vestry, I look forward to bringing my energy, creativity, and leadership experience to serve the community and help further the mission of Grace Church.

Shelley Hansen-Blake
Member, I of III

My wife, Olwen, and I joined Grace Church in 2019 because we were looking for a welcoming faith community with a strong social justice mission. We certainly found it here. After retiring from a 35 year career in human services 4 years ago, supporting people with developmental and other disabilities, I was looking forward to finding new purpose and passion. I have since become a volunteer guardian for a woman with developmental disabilities, donate platelets and plasma regularly at the Red Cross, and co-chair the LGBTQ 50+ Alliance at the OutReach Community Center. Family is also a very important part of our lives, and we love spending time with our 5 grandchildren, as well as traveling when we can.

At Grace I have become an active member. I usher at the Sunday services, am on the Leadership team of Rector’s Guild, and most recently became co-leader of the Grace Church Pride Committee with Olwen This newly formed group has active membership from both people identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community and Allies, with many creative ideas coming from those who identify as Allies.

Having grown up Roman Catholic, I appreciate the familiarity of the Sunday services, while welcoming the progressive attitudes and values of the congregation and clergy. The music is beautiful and the historic building is iconic. My wife and I have found our home at Grace Episcopal. It is my honor to serve on the Vestry and contribute my unique perspective to the leadership team.

Mary Schlaefer
Junior Warden

Steve Langlie
Member, III of III

Suzy Buenger
Member, II of III

I initially joined Grace in 2017 for its choir and music. I was quickly won over by its beauty, excellent services, progressive outreach and good works, and welcoming contacts made through choir, Foyer groups, and book, forum, and coffee hour discussions.

James Waldo
Member, II of III

Cellist James Waldo serves as Lecturer in Cello for the Mead Witter School of Music at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also Director of the Grace Presents concert series and Cello Instructor for the Madison Country Day School. James performs regularly as a chamber musician with Midsummer’s Music in Door County and can be heard regularly in concert with the Edgewood Chamber Orchestra and the Madison Bach Musicians.

Before moving to Madison in 2017, James lived and worked in New York City, where he received a Master of Music degree and a Professional Studies Diploma from Mannes College, the New School for Music. While in New York, James served as principal cellist of the Cecilia Chorus of NY from 2015-2019, performed with the New York Pops Orchestra, and co-founded the Listen Closely Chamber Music Initiative, a collective of locally based musicians giving free live chamber music performances in the public gathering spaces of uptown Manhattan.

Rob Lemanske
Member, I of III

I am currently a tenured professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine within the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, where I served as a tenured faculty member for over 35 years. Pertinent to this position I have served in various leadership positions including being the head of the Division of Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Rheumatology within the Medical School; Chair of the American Board of Allergy and Immunology; President of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology; President of the Friends of the Overture Concert Organ (affiliate of the Madison Symphony Orchestra); Chair of the Welcoming Committee of Grace Episcopal Church (Madison); an Usher for Grace Church; and a member of the Grace Choir.

Tom Felhofer
Treasurer

John Andrews
Clerk of the Vestry

Bess Malson-Huddle
Member, III of III

Paul Quinn
Member, I of II

I began attending Grace in 2017 following a fifty-year estrangement from religion.

It has greatly enhanced my efforts to experience spirituality and to better understand who Christ was. But, more than anything, I have simply enjoyed the congeniality of the congregation.

Grace's emphasis on establishing a welcoming community is of central importance to me. My reason for choosing Grace rather than another church had nothing to do with doctrine. Rather, it was a consequence of the fact that Grace, alone among all the churches, had provided a night-time homeless shelter in Madison for over thirty years. The expectation of a charitable and compassionate bunch of people evoked by that fact was completely borne out.

Being an accepted member of the community was everything to 1st-century Jews. God knows we need to restore that sense of belonging and security today.

Hope I can help.

Kenn JeSchonek
Member, I of III

I’ve been attending Grace since 1978. I also met my wife, Gwen, at Grace and we were married in 1978. I’ve been on Vestry several times, I’ve been on the finance committee, the Grace Fund board, and the Development Fund Trust (each several times). I volunteer for the food pantry three times a week. I’ve been an acolyte, an usher, a Sunday school teacher, was Stewardship chair for several years, and take photos for Grace Presents, grant proposals, and the parish website. You might say that I’ve seen it all and done it all… several times. Being on the Vestry is an honor and a privilege, in the making of Grace Church’s past, present and future.