vestry

Sarah lives in Stamford, CT with her husband, Jay, an attorney; son, Basil, a senior at UConn/Storrs; and daughter, Cecelia, a sophomore at Smith College. A familiar face from concerts at St. Barnabas, she joined the St. Barnabas Choir full time as a professional alto sectional leader in 2014 and has served on the vestry. Born in the Naval Hospital in Oakland, CA while her father was in service during the Vietnam War, Sarah holds cum laude and magna cum laude degrees from Yale University and the University of Arizona.

A lifelong Episcopalian, she has been a professional church and temple musician for more than thirty years, singing with the ensembles of many religious institutions, including Trinity Wall Street and Temple Emanu-El in New York City, the Diocese of Bridgeport in Connecticut, St. Tikhon's Monastery in Pennsylvania, and Temple Shaaray Tefila in Bedford. Sarah performed as Madame Giry with the German company of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera, and maintains an active performing career in opera, operetta, and chamber music.

She is a board member of Music on the Hill in Wilton, CT, and holds membership in multiple lineage societies, serving as the Vice-President for the CT Society USD of 1812, Chaplain for both the CT Society DCW and the CT Court of AHAC. She is the Registrar for the Hannah Benedict Carter Chapter NSDAR, as well as the Connecticut State Registrar for NSDAR, and is an executive officer on the CTDAR Board. Sarah is a proud member of the National Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi and the American Guild of Musical Artists.

Susan, along with her husband Brett and three grown-up children, Luke, Will and Blair have been members of St. Barnabas since 1999. Susan has previously served as a Warden and Clerk as well as Vestry member at St. Barnabas. After a 10 year stint as a producer with NBC News Susan took time off to raise the children. She now works full time at Sotheby's International Realty and is honored to be a part of this very special community at St. Barnabas.

Lori Samuel became a member of St. Barnabas when her family moved to Greenwich in 1975. Her father, the Rev. Richard Van Wely, served as rector of St. Barnabas for twenty-seven years. Among her many roles at St. Barnabas, Lori served as a warden as well as clerk of the vestry, taught church school for many years, and served as a delegate to the diocesan convention in Hartford. She remains active in the outreach, parish life, and buildings & grounds committees. She and her husband, Mark, have two daughters, Nicole and Rachel, both of whom were baptized at St. Barnabas and have served as acolytes.

Bob joined St. Barnabas when he and his wife, Virginia, moved to Greenwich in the late '70s. All three of their children-Elliot, Catherine, and Lillian-were baptized at our church. He served previously on the vestry, Property Committee, and spent innumerable hours in the nursery on Sundays. Bob is terming out of an eleven-year role as Board Treasurer of a public health non-profit on the West Coast and looking forward to investing more time in St. Barnabas.

Phoebe Lawrence Erdman and her husband, John, have been parishioners at St. Barnabas since 1985, having moved to Greenwich in 1983. They are the parents of three children, Anne (Annie), Elizabeth (Ellie) and John III (Johnny), all of whom were baptized and confirmed at St. Barnabas. Ellie was married at St. B to her husband, Chris Davies, and their twin girls were baptized at St. Barnabas in 2024. Phoebe was a church schoolteacher for 10 years while her children were young and then served for two terms on the vestry. In addition, she chaired the Parish Life Committee for 12 years and is still active in contributing to any and all events.

Phoebe was a banker for 10 years at Chemical Bank (now part of JP Morgan) until the birth of their first child. A few years later she began a twenty plus year career as an independent sales consultant in the women's retail clothing and accessories business from which she retired in 2020. John and she now babysit their five grandchildren and enjoy time in Greenwich, Quogue, NY and Mountain Lake, FL.

Caralyn and her husband Doug have been members of St. Barnabas since 1987. She immediately became involved helping with the capital campaign to raise funds for the new organ and add a larger parish hall. She is a former Vestry member and served as Treasurer, Junior Warden and Senior warden. Caralyn is a member of the Altar Guild and serves as a Eucharist Minister. She chaired the Parish Life committee, is a member of the Outreach Committee and co-chairs the Giving Tree. Her daughters Ann and Carrie were married at St. Barnabas and Carrie's twins Tommy and Sam were baptized here.

David and his family have been members of St. Barnabas since the late 80's. David graduated from Harvard College, University of Massachusetts Medical School, and his Radiology residency was at the Harvard Hospitals in Boston. Following a Fellowship in Washington, D.C., he has been a member of the medical staff at Greenwich Hospital for 38+ years, including being elected Chief of the Medical Staff for three years, and also was a Trustee of the hospital. He has been active with various boards and committees in Greenwich and elsewhere. One child was baptized at St. Barnabas, and two married by the minister. He has been the head of the Buildings and Grounds committee of the church for the past year.

Øivind's mother was a founding parishioner of St. Barnabas where he went to church as a child. He served as an acolyte, was confirmed and married to Darrell here. After living abroad, they returned in 1990 to Greenwich and St. Barnabas to raise their five children. Øivind taught Sunday School, and served on the vestry as warden during this period. Particularly noteworthy were the years Darrell and Øivind ran the pageant on Christmas Eve: controlled chaos. Øivind's business background is in international shipping, including participation on the boards of various public and private companies.

Leslie moved to Greenwich with her husband Greg Blank and their daughters Elizabeth (8), Catherine (6), and Charlotte (4) in 2021. She is a Maternal-Fetal Medicine physician at Greenwich Hospital and an Associate Professor at Yale School of Medicine. Originally from Delaware, Leslie grew up attending Christ Church Christiana Hundred. After spending time in Boston, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh for school and medical training, Leslie and Greg started their family in New York City where she was on faculty at Columbia and served as Director of the Mothers Center. Upon relocating to Greenwich, her family immediately felt at home with the St. Barnabas community. Her children especially look forward to Children's Church each week.

Cynthia and her family moved to Greenwich from New York City in 2020. Since 2021, she and Caesar, along with their three children, have loved being part of the St. Barnabas community. Professionally, Cynthia is the Deputy Chief Investment Officer of Trinity Church NYC. Trinity's endowment supports the church's charitable giving across hundreds of New York City nonprofits and the worldwide Anglican communion. Cynthia was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan and grew up attending St. Alban's Anglican-Episcopal Church.

Roddy and his family joined St. Barnabas in 2023 and moved to Greenwich in 2017. Roddy grew up in Bedford, where he was a member of St. Matthew's Episcopal Church. Roddy, along with his wife, Christina who was raised in Greenwich, and their two daughters, Caroline and Louisa, have loved being part of the St. Barnabas community. Their children are active in the children's programming, and Louisa was baptized at St. Barnabas in 2024. Roddy is a Senior Vice President of a Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management Team, The Evergreen 21 Group, and has been active in the community, including REACH Prep.

Brett Wheeler moved to the Westchester area in 2017 from upstate New York, and he and his wife Elizabeth became Greenwich residents in 2022. They joined St. Barnabas that year and enjoy attending regularly with their two sons, Henry and George. Brett is an executive vice president and chief financial officer at USAlliance Federal Credit Union, a retail financial institution based in Rye, New York that was originally chartered to serve IBM employees and expanded to serve people in all states with savings accounts and credit products. He enjoys staying active, cycling the roads of Greenwich and neighboring towns.