Get to Know Your Vestry!

Stephen Palfrey, Senior Warden - Stephen and his wife, Teresa McRoberts, and their two children, Jessica (23) and Ian (20), have been active at Christ Church for the past 15 years. Steve has served on the Vestry since 2012 and is a member of the Finance and Endowment Investment Committees. He has served on the Music Committee, co-chaired the All-Member Stewardship Canvass, and he sings in the Christ Church Choir. Steve is a high school science teacher at the Horace Mann School, and enjoys gardening, golf, and traveling.

Owen Thomas, Junior Warden - Owen and his wife, Jennifer, and their three children have been active members of CCBNY for 15+ years. Owen is a proud cradle Episcopalian! Hank, a senior at Bronxville High School is a leader in EYC and has traveled to both Taizé and Cuba with the youth group. Martha is a freshman this year at Bronxville and is thrilled to join EYC. Their youngest daughter, Mae, is a participant in Godly Dialogue as a 5th grader. Owen currently serves on the Finance Committee and is the Endowment Investment Committee Chair.

Owen is the CEO of Boston Properties and when not working he spends time running long distance and hiking or skiing with his family.

Jim Rooney, Treasurer - Jim, Sue and their children, Kate and Ted moved to Bronxville in 1995 and joined Christ Church the following year. Jim has served as Treasurer of Christ Church since 2008 and also serves as Treasurer of the Christ Church Men’s Group. Outside of church, Jim has coached softball, baseball, basketball and soccer; he served as President of Eastchester Youth Soccer Association. Jim is an independent oil and gas producer and provides related consulting services; he maintains an office in Houston.

Carla Countryman, Assistant Treasurer - Carla is the Assistant Treasurer of Christ Church, and along with her family has been a member of the congregation since 2007. She has served on the Music and Finance Committees since 2012, and has taught Church School at CCBNY for the past three years.

Carla works at J.P. Morgan, and lives in Bronxville with her husband Tom Nichols and daughters Katie and Maggie.

Georgeann Delli Venneri - Georgeann A. Delli Venneri was married at Christ Church, and she and her husband became parishioners in 1989. She was elected to the Vestry in 2012 and has served on numerous committees as well as an usher for many years.

As a community volunteer, she mentors children (pre-K through 8th grades) at the Yonkers Public Library in the summer reading SMART program and in an after-school program to enhance reading skills and learning experiences especially for the Latino/Hispanic community under the auspices of JCY-Westchester Community Partners and The City of Yonkers. She also participates in fundraising events for JCY, the largest volunteer literacy mentoring program in Westchester County. Other pursuits: music, the ballet, opera, poetry, tennis, and golf.

Andrea Bates - Andrea and her family moved to Bronxville in 1999 and joined Christ Church in 2002. She has helped with the Fessenden House quilting project, serves on the Eliza Corwin Frost Steering Committee, is head of the Altar Guild, chaired the Hospitality Committee, co-chaired the Christian Formation Committee and volunteers as a lay reader.

Outside of church, Andrea is currently on the board of the Community Fund and has served as President of the Junior League of Bronxville, a board member of Citizens’ Committee for Children, a member of the Alumni Board of The Madeira School, and a reading tutor at a school in Harlem. When not volunteering, she enjoys playing tennis and golf, cooking and hanging out with her husband, Bill, and daughter, Mallory.

Lianne de Serres McKhann - Lianne moved to Bronxville in 1998 from Seattle, Washington where she and and husband Guy McKhann completed their medical training. Lianne (de Serres MD) is a Pediatric ENT surgeon in Westchester. The McKhanns have been members of Christ Church since 2000. They have 3 sons in Bronxville School- Guy 17, Cameron 15, and Casey 11. The boys were baptized in April, 2003 in a 3 for 1 ceremony. Lianne has enjoyed being involved in the Working Women’s Fellowship. Besides taking care of her kids and attending lots of soccer games, she enjoys cooking, gardening, yoga, tennis, and walking the family dog, Pierre.

Jennifer Romano Redman, Clerk - Jennifer joined Christ Church in the fall of 2011 shortly after moving to Bronxville with her husband Mark and their two sons, Luke and William. Since then, Jenn has been an active member of the Outreach Committee, coordinating the Breakfast Runs for the Confirmands and the annual Christmas party. She particularly loves her work financing affordable housing and when not crunching numbers or volunteering, she plays tennis and skis.

Tim Donahue - Tim has been a resident of Bronxville since 1999 and a parishioner at CCBNY since 2005, when he and his wife, Catherine Needham, enrolled their daughter Emma in Church School.

Tim began serving on the Human Resources Committee at CCBNY in 2012 and was elected to the Vestry in 2013. He taught Church School at Christ Church for eight years. Earlier this year, Tim served as Chairman of the search committee for the new Director of Eliza Corwin Frost, which Emma attended.

Professionally, Tim is the Principal of Talent Directions, a New York-based consultancy specializing in talent advisory, leadership development and coaching.Tim, Cathy and Emma enjoy spending free time with friends in Bronxville and beyond, as well as music and travel.

Marca Armstrong Ewy - Marca is a native of Bronxville and grew up in Christ Church. She rejoined the congregation in 2005 after moving back to the area with her husband Kevin and daughters Callie (13) and Neely (10). Marca is an active member of Working Mother’s Fellowship and has served as a Church School teacher, canvasser and lector. As a member of the Vestry she leads the Communications Committee. When not traversing the globe as the head of B2B marketing for Panasonic, Marca can be found running in the neighborhood with (or chasing after!) one of the family’s 3 dogs, working in the garden or sitting on the porch with a book.

Gary Hayes - Gary, his wife Maria, and daughter Claire, began attending CCBNY over 12 years ago when they were seeking a home for worship and a place for Claire’s religious education. Over the years Gary has taught Church School and been a canvasser.

Gary has a great interest in modern dance and has served as Chairman of the Board of Jennifer Muller The Works, a modern dance company in NYC. He also particulary admires modern American paintings. Gary also enjoys playing tennis and golf with his family and watching football.

He is a clinically trained psychologist and psychoanalyst, and currently runs a management consulting firm, Hayes, Brunswick & Partners, which focuses on leadership advisory work with CEOs, other C Suite Leaders and Boards of Directors.

Warren Ilchman - Warren Ilchman has been a member of Christ Church since 1981. He lives at present on Tanglewylde Avenue, off Pondfield Road. While he served for many years as a canvasser and as a lector and chalice bearer, he is now associated with the Sunday Short Series. In that capacity, he has been involved in the critical reading of seven books by Christ Church parishioners. His late wife was a member of CCBNY, as were his son and daughter. The latter live now in Boston and New York City respectively. Warren has one grandchild. Having retired three years ago, Warren finds great pleasure in attending courses at the Metropolitan Museum and in reading groups in Bronxville. He is also a dedicated gourmand, trying never to eat at the same restaurant twice.

Nick Visco - Nick and Eileen Visco came to Christ Church in the fall of 2005, with their daughters, Celia and Kayla. They have both been active in the Church School program as teachers and have organized the Christmas Eve Crèche Service for the past three years. Nick joined the Vestry in 2011 and has served as Chair of the Music Committee. Nick works in finance and enjoys coaching soccer and supporting his daughters as they participate in Irish dance competitions and performances.

Arthur Taylor - Arthur has been a member of this Parish since 1970 when he, his wife and their three children moved to Bronxville and transferred their membership from St. Paul’s in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. His family has been continuously active in the parish. Arthur has served as Director of the Church School, was elected to two terms on the Vestry and is the recipient of the Christ Church Medal. He currently is the co-chair of the Facilities Committee overseeing the renovation and repair of the Church’s infrastructure. When not involved with improvements and repairs to the Church, his two daughters, five grandchildren and two dogs (all CCBNY members), manage to consume a great deal of his time.

Jim Shanahan - Jim, a Yonkers resident, has been attending services at Christ Church Bronxville since November 2010 and was received by Bishop Donovan in May 2011. Jim has been an active member of the church’s LGBT & Friends group since its inception in July 2011 and an usher at the 10am service. Jim is an active member of the New York City Police Department as a detective in the Bronx Gang Squad.

Tom Nichols - Carla, Tom and daughters Katie and Maggie (ages 9 and 7, respectively) moved from Wilmette, IL to Bronxville in November 2007. Their family’s first experience at Christ Church was Maggie’s baptism in January 2008; the family has become more involved at CCBNY over the last several years. Tom joined the Vestry in 2013; he is currently the Christian Formation Committee chair and Facilities Committee co-chair. Professionally, Tom is starting up the East Coast division of Michels Foundations, a deep foundation specialty subcontractor.

Joanne Jones - Joanne joined Christ Church in 1997 after moving from Manhattan to Bronxville with her husband, Stephen, and children. Owen (18), Ansley (16) and Avery (10) have all grown up in Christ Church from baptism through Church School, Confirmation and EYC. Joanne has served as a Church School teacher for kindergarten and first grade and has been on Christ Church’s Facilities Committee for two terms. A former management consultant, Joanne likes building spreadsheets for grocery and Christmas shopping and also loves spending time with her family, traveling, cooking and gardening.