Board Governance at TSP

Board of Trustees

David Craig – Chair

Lorna Niebergall – Treasurer

Ashwin Ranjit – Secretary

Cheri DiNovo – Minister

Bob Savaria – Congregational Treasurer

Bob Fugere

Andrew McElheran

Avil Beckford

Alison Mackay

 

Building Management Board

Lorna Niebergall – Chair

Lorna Niebergall has served on the Building/Property committee(s) since 1981, and the Board of Trustees since 1984. With a BA major in Mathematics and an MBA in Finance, Lorna brings expertise from her 35-year career in banking and finance that was particularly focused on mortgage and construction lending.

Bob Fugere

Bob Fugere has been a member of Trinity St. Paul’s Board of Trustees since 2005 and is co-chair (with Jim Lewis) of the Future Directions Group of the Building Management Board.

Bob has been a member of TSP from 2003, following his biweekly volunteering in TSP’s “Out of the Cold” outreach program from 1996 to 2004. He served on the TSP Property Committee from 2008 to 2011.  As Treasurer of TSP from 2007 to 2011, he was also on the Stewardship Committee and Church Board. Bob was instrumental in setting up the Building Management Board and served as its Chair from 2012 until 2019.

Professionally, Bob taught at York University and Seneca College before becoming ED of the Inter-Church Fund for International Development (ICFID) in 1980, where he worked for 17 years.  He has taught courses at U of T and the Coady International Institute.

Andrew Hellebust

Andrew Hellebust joined the Building Management Board in 2022. Andrew has been involved with music at the church since the late 1990’s, occasionally singing tenor and contributing on the piano, organ and accordion. He is a founding board member of Viva Singers Toronto, which is based at the centre.

Andrew is President of Rivercourt Engineering, which designs distributed water and wastewater systems. Andrew teaches a capstone design course in water in civil engineering at the University of Toronto. He has a strong interest in building science and low carbon emission communities. With Maria Riedstra, their deep energy retrofit won the residential project award for Canada in 2015.

Don Willms

Don Willms has been attending TSP since 2002, serving on the BMB since 2017. After earning a BFA and B’Arch degree, Don ran his own design/build home renovation business until 2004, then taught Technological Design for 14 years at the TDSB. Don brings to the Board an appreciation of the role of historic architecture in the life of the community.

Bill Fallis

Doug Snyder

Church Board

Ashwin Ranjit – Chair

In his role as Board Chair, Ashwin leads and facilitates the Board’s deliberations and policy decisions that direct the spiritual and pastoral life and the stewardship and social responsibilities of TSP. Prior to this role, Ashwin served as Vice-Chair and also on the Board of Trustees and the Worship and Faith Formation Circle.

Bob Savaria – Treasurer

Bob prepares all the financial reports for: internal use; preparation of the annual audited financial statements; and filing of government charity documents. He oversees the donation system and prepares the income tax receipts as well as managing the cash flow in these uncertain times. He is supported by a dedicated group of people for payroll, bookkeeping, donation management and many other administrative tasks.

Linda Padfield – Secretary
Linda has been the secretary of the Church Board for the past 5 years. She prepares the Board meeting agendas, records the minutes, and keeps track of amendments to our governance. 

Doug Snyder – Member at Large
Doug has been a member of the Church Board for this past year. At the Board, he represents the Building Management Board (BMB), which maintains the building property. As well, two years ago the BMB, with the approval of the Church Board and Trustees, established a Future Directions Sub-Group to which Doug belongs. It is to consider the future use and needs of our building, and to map out the major governance and operational issues emergent over the coming ten years and beyond.

Mary Simpson & Betsy Anderson – Co-Chairs of the Ministry and Personnel Committee
M&P is a committee mandated by the United Church manual. Its role is to provide support and consultation to ministerial and congregational staff and encourage healthy relationships among the staff and with congregational members. It also supervises staff and makes recommendations to the board to ensure appropriate working conditions and compensation.

Lina Medaglia – Member at Large
Lina has been a member of the Church Board for about three years. Her role is keeper of the Holy Manners document, which was developed by and for board members and serves as a reminder of
respectful engagement. She develops grounding exercises for the start of board meetings.

Jim Lewis – Member at Large
Jim has no duties unless assigned by the Chair. A great role! Past experience includes chairing the Board in the 1990s and again in the mid 2010s. He’s inspired by saints, past and present, who have and are
working together in support our collective vision of being an inclusive centre for faith, justice and the arts now and into the future.

Sarah Williams – is one of two representatives to Shining Waters Regional Council. She ensures communication to and from the Church Board and the Council.

Colin Phillips – Past Chair of the Board
Colin will spend the next year supporting Ashwin and the Board in any way they can. Colin capably led us through the covid shut down. Away from TSP, Colin teaches social work at two universities.

Joanne Clarke – Chair of the Children’s Church Circle

Janet Haddock – Chair of the Public Witness Circle
Janet works with a small Service and Solidarity Committee to recommend the choice of organizations TSP supports with our annual $8,000 fund. She keeps the Board advised of the advocacy and education activities of the four justice workgroups: Climate Justice, Indigenous Rights Solidarity Group (IRSG), Middle East Work Group, Anti-racism Work Group and periodically requests Board action on advocacy.

James Holzbauer – Nurturing Community and Discipleship Circle Lead
James and his teams prepare snacks and meals for the various TSP services and Events. He finds prayers, readers and greeters for Sunday services. He is also the Circle lead for the LGBTQ2+ Circle. He keeps members abreast of issues within the UCC, Affirm United and TSP as they relate to members of the community. He helps plan the Pride Sunday service, PIE week and facilitates cooperation between the Rainbow Railroad and UCC/TSP for refugee sponsorships.

Lois Kunkel – Chair of the Communications Circle
Lois began her participation in the life and work of TSP as a member and later, the Chair of the Ministry and Personnel Committee. She served as Chair of the Church Board in 2016 starting as the vice-chair for Jim Lewis and the past chair for Del Doucette, also working with two Board secretaries, Linda Huestis
and then Linda Padfield. Lois serves as Chair of the Communications Circle since 2018 (co-chaired with Lyn Gaetz). Lois serves with Carol Gallagher as the co-chairs of Pastoral Care. She is an enthusiastic member of the Church choir. Lois is a testimony to the wonderful mentorship of many members who have helped her learn our governance structure and how to participate in the various roles she has served.