Vestry

Alec Farr

Senior Warden

Alec Farr is a lawyer and a lifelong Episcopalian. Alec’s service to the community includes litigating voting rights, veteran’s affairs and prisoner’s rights cases in courts across the country. Alec began his St. John’s journey in 2018 and has volunteered as a Shepherd, a Reader, a Counter, and a participant in Grate Patrol.

Patti Thorp

Junior Warden

Patti Thorp has served as head of our Altar Guild and has been a member of the Vestry since March of 2022. During her time in other parishes, she has served in a variety of positions including choir member, Sunday school teacher, Vacation Church School committee, Fellowship Chair, Altar Guild Chair, Capital Campaign steering committee member as well as other jobs whenever something needed to be done. Since arriving at St John’s, she has volunteered to serve as “Sarah’s little helper” with the Tuesday Centering Prayer group and as the head of the altar guild. Again, she would never have said yes to serving on the vestry if she hadn’t just said a prayer stating, “God, I need help feeling as though I’m a part of this new parish. Help me to know where I need to be” quite literally ten-minutes before being called by a current Vestry member. Just another reminder to “Be careful what you pray for.”

Chelsea Overton

TREASURER

Chelsea Overton has been a member of the STJ community since she stumbled upon the church in 2012 with her now husband, Andrew. Since then, she has gotten married and baptized her son Henry at St John’s. She is honored to serve as St. John’s current Treasurer. In her professional life, she is a technical accountant at General Motors Defense and has over 12 years experience in accounting and business. In her spare time, she volunteers on the board of Accountability Lab and fosters any number of cats in her home with the help of resident cats Sprout and Elvis.

Alison Bates

Alison is an event planner with Relish Catering. She discovered her love for the Episcopal church at Saint Mary’s School (then College) in Raleigh, NC where she graduated high school and received her Associate of Arts degree. She earned her B.S. in International Relations / History from Meredith College, and later her M.A. in Liberal Studies from Georgetown University. A resident of DC since 1993, Alison lives in Friendship Heights with her daughter Fiona and partner Jared C. Dawson (a graduate of Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg, VA).

She began attending St. John’s on Easter Sunday of 2014, where she knew she’d found a home after Gini’s sermon that had been inspired by her son when he asked why Jesus was not a zombie if he rose from the dead. She has volunteered with the Georgetown House Tour, first in marketing & outreach, then as a house docent with her daughter Fiona, and for the past three years as Chair of the Tea. She was a Sunday school teacher and now serves on the Flower Guild. One of her favorite things about St. John’s is the congregation’s pursuit of social justice and encouragement of activism.

Carolyn Carson

Carolyn has been a member of St. John’s for 5+ years. Throughout that time, she has been humbled by St. John’s sense of fellowship and its commitment to spreading love in a damaged world. She is honored to serve on the vestry for this incredible community!

Carolyn grew up in the Episcopal Church, singing in treble choirs and arranging donut holes for coffee hour. At St. John’s, she sings in the choir at the 11 am service and serves on the Care for Creation (C4C) committee, which is charged with ensuring that our parish is a responsible steward of the environment and our resources. Carolyn lives in Tenleytown and works as a consultant. Her main hobbies are reading, cooking, and playing video games. A two-time graduate of Georgetown University, she is involved with the school’s undergrad and MBA mentorship programs. Her household is maintained for the comfort and convenience of her cat, Turtle.

Rachel Carter

Rachel Carter is a Spanish Teacher at Richard Montgomery High School in Montgomery County. She has grown up in the Episcopal Church and enjoyed serving in various ways such as: serving in the Young Adult Service Corps in Panama City, Panama, serving as a Chaplain’s Assistant for Episcopal Cam- pus Ministry in Raleigh, NC, and being a summer camp coun- selor during college at Camp Trinity in Emerald Isle, NC.

Carol Dawson

Carol Dawson grew up in Cleveland and was raised in the Lutheran Church by a family with deep faith. She was taught to love my neighbor as myself and give back to the community. She moved to Georgetown to work for the federal government and begin graduate work at Georgetown University. She searched for an inclusive church with a strong preacher/teacher and found St. John’s. Since then, STJ’s has played an important part in the life of her family. It is where she was married, her two sons were baptized and confirmed, and two of her five grandchildren were baptized. She has always been active at St. John’s, even as she taught at Dunbar High School, worked at Accounting Firms and at the Virginia Theological Seminary as Director of Financial Aid. She have previously served on the Vestry, the Finance Committee, Rector Search Committees, Discernment Committees, Outreach programs, and been involved in Christian Education both for K-12 and adults. As she continues her work with the Altar Guild, Refugee Program, Grate Patrol, and other Outreach initiatives, she is honored to be invited to serve on the Vestry once again.

Tyler Metteer

Tyler Metteer has been attending St John’s for four years as regularly as he has been able to. Like many in the D.C. area he is a transplant, hailing from Oregon originally but having spent time in various cities up and down the East Coast since leaving home for college. He is an active member of the choir, and has been a chorister of one kind or another for nearly his whole life. Until very recently he worked for Arlington County as a Staff Coordinator for the COVID-19 vaccination clinics, an experience he will never forget; before that he was a bona fide Theatre Person. He has volunteered for Grate Patrol, the annual Angel Tree, and assorted other Outreach efforts, as a reflection of his strong belief that one of the church’s (and The Church’s) most important responsibilities is to be out in the world, walking the walk and Being With those least fortunate among our many, many neighbors in every way we can. Like many, he came to St John’s intending to “shop around” for the church that fit best but immediately knew that no more shopping was necessary. He is proud to be a part of such a small but mighty community and is honored to serve on the Vestry.

Anthony Vernon

Anthony Vernon is an 8th-grade ELA/Humanities teacher at Capital City Public Charter School in DC. He is originally from Gastonia, NC, about half an hour from Charlotte. He graduated from Lee University in Cleveland, TN, with his Bachelor of Arts degree in Intercultural Studies in July 2016, and then attended and graduated from the Pentecostal Theological Seminary in Cleveland, TN, with a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in May 2019. He is currently working on obtaining my Master’s degree in Teaching from American University this May as part of the City Teaching Alliance teaching residency program. He is passionate about social justice and learning about the world around him through written or spoken words. He enjoys coffee with lots of flavored creamer, reading, listening to music, and conversing with people individually.

Bob Wallace

Robert “Bob” Wallace is currently a senior trial attorney at the Department of Justice in the National Security Division. Prior to that, he served in the U.S. Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He was born and raised in Massachusetts and graduated from the College of the Holy Cross. He moved to Washington for law school and graduated from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, where he also met my wife, Eileen. They have resided in Washington or Northern Virginia for many years and currently reside in Alexandria.

They have a son, Matthew, who lives in New York, and a daughter Ashlyn who is also a member of this parish. His family has members of St John’s for almost five years and regularly attend the 9 am service. They have felt quite welcome at the parish and have seen its many efforts at social outreach. He believes that he has found the perfect community to deepen his faith. He currently serves on Grate Patrol, Lectors, Ushers, and Counters. He and Eileen have also served as house captains for the Georgetown House Tour. He looks forward to becoming even more involved in the parish community through continued service on the vestry.