Our Vestry
In this time in the life of the Church, when laity and clergy are recognizing the benefits of shared leadership, a call to serve on the Vestry means working collaboratively with fellow vestry members and the rector in order to create a vision and plan or action that reflects God’s dream for the congregation. Vestry members cultivate congregation-wide conversations about where God is calling our faith community. This service requires balancing the Vestry role with the sound stewardship of its property and resources.
Vestry meetings are open to congregational attendance. Meetings are generally held the 4th Monday of the month, with some exceptions for holidays or scheduling needs. For further information, please contact the office at: office@steamboatstpauls.org.
Bruce Givnish, Sr. Warden
bgivnish@jkj.com
Vestry member beg 2023
I was born and raised in Philadelphia area, attended parochial school, a Christian Brothers high school, and then Penn State. I was an architecture student for one year, until I figured out that I would starve in that profession, and switched to accounting . . . so exciting! I’ve had three different careers, all with a common thread of being a professional sales person – importer of floral supplies, Xerox Corporation, and a partner in a large regional insurance brokerage.
I met Karen my last week of my senior year of college and was totally in love. We got married two years later in her Episcopal Church outside of Philadelphia – the Church of the Messiah. We raised two terrific children who are now adults, each married and each has one child. They all live in Steamboat. Yes, two grandchildren in Steamboat! That certainly made the decision to move to this amazing valley pretty simple. We built a house on the way to Fish Creek Falls and have been here since last December.
My spiritual journey made a hard turn when I was introduced to the episcopal church. Everything made much more sense to me. One aspect of our faith tradition is the welcoming for all to receive communion. I was raised in a tradition to put up restrictions and barriers to receiving communion. This made a deep impression on me at age 24 and still today.
We were quickly incorporated into the Messiah community – Teen Youth Group leaders, Usher, Reader and Stewardship Committee. Our children were baptized and confirmed, attended youth programs, and participated in mission trips. I served on the Vestry two different times and was a Rector’s Warden for nine years, supporting two rectors as well as an interim rector during a search. Karen was equally active including multiple Vestry terms. Our move to Colorado mean saying goodbye to the Messiah community and very dear friends. We are now loving the Yampa Valley and St. Paul’s has been especially welcoming! As a Vestry member at Saint Paul’s, I will bring my faith, energy, passion and experience to help the parish continue to grow and thrive as a Christ – centered community.
Lisa Schmierer, Treasurer
lisaschmierer189@gmail.com
516-698-1052
I moved to Steamboat Springs from Long Island New York in August 2016. I joined St Paul’s the first Sunday I was here. That Sunday, I remember Father Scott calling on me in the back of the church. I introduced myself and mentioned that Steamboat will be my forever home. In the time we have lived here, I have only increased in my commitment to St Paul’s and Steamboat. I have so enjoyed St Paul’s. The congregation has been so welcoming. I have immediately felt part of the church and I enjoy participating when and where I can. You have seen me in the kitchen during coffee hour and I have committed to the Daughters of the King.
I have been a rolling stone before my husband Eric and I retired to Steamboat. Some of my previous activities include: I studied Asian history and politics. in college and graduate school. I have lived in Japan and Taiwan as part of my studies. I moved to Washington DC where I worked at the Library of Congress in research in Asian politics.
I met Eric on a backpacking trip in DC and we soon moved to Aurora CO. Our children were born in Aurora and I changed my studies to accounting to have a more functional skill. Eric’s job took us back East to Long Island. We had a comfortable life on Long Island but I always wanted to return to Colorado.
While we lived on Long Island I specialized in tax accounting and I discovered that I love it. I still work part time as I discovered I fail at retirement each time I try. Also, on Long Island I became active in Trinity Episcopal church after many years of spiritual drifting. Trinity was also a very welcoming church and set the stage for me to come to St Paul’s as soon as we moved to Steamboat.
God Bless from a rolling stone!
Duane Erwin
duanerw@gmail.com
We first came to Steamboat Easter weekend of 2016 and were in love with it by the end of our first day here. St. Paul’s and that first Easter service here was a big part of what we fell in love with. Ken and I have lived here permanently since 2018 when I retired from the National Park Service. I have been surrounded by music and parks my whole life.
I was raised in the United Methodist Church (where my dad was a minister) and began attending the Episcopal Church when I started College in 1977. I have been in the choir at every church we have been members of since then. While I was living in DC I was also a member of the Altar Guild and the Gardening Guild. I enjoy sing with the choir here at St. Paul’s and look forward to when we can sing together in person post-pandemic.
Michael Gould, Jr. Warden
cahoon@sbcglobal.net
Michael Gould is grateful for the opportunity to serve as Junior Warden at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. He brings a practical, hands-on perspective shaped by his work in residential construction and project supervision, along with a deep respect for the church’s buildings as sacred spaces that support worship, hospitality, fellowship, and outreach in the Steamboat community.
Michael’s connection to St. Paul’s spans more than 20 years. He and his wife met at St. Paul’s, were married in the sanctuary, and later baptized their children there. The parish has been a constant spiritual home through many seasons of their family’s life, grounding them in faith and community.
Michael and his family are active members of St. Paul’s, and he is thankful for the trust of the parish and the opportunity to serve God and the community in this way.
Jim De Francia
jdefrancia@lowe-re.com
4th generation Colorado native (family arrived in the 1870s).
Graduate of the US Naval Academy. Navy service in Vietnam, San Diego (aide to an Admiral), Washington DC (language and diplomatic training), and US Embassy, Caracas Venezuela.
Fluent in Spanish. Successful career in real estate development in South America, Caribbean, China, Canada, and 16 US States.
Government experience with service on several DOD/Pentagon Panels and Commissions. Also local and State government experience on various boards and commissions in CT, VA, and CO.
Married to Cynthia Johnson De Francia with a large blended family of 7 children and 7 grandchildren.
Resident member of St Paul’s since 2014.
Prior member at Christ Church in Aspen (Vestry and Lay Ministry), Christ Church in Alexandria, VA, and St James in Leesburg, VA.
Jim Ferguson
jjfergus@swbell.net
Alisa and I fell in love with Steamboat Springs 30 years ago when we started visiting for annual ski vacations with her Oklahoma-based family. We began to attend St. Paul’s as part-time residents in 2012. We have been more-time residents since I retired in March 2023.
Growing up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge in Virginia, my family attended an active Southern Baptist church, where the youth choirs and ministry were an important part of my life. My mother made sure that my brother and I prepared for Sunday school each Saturday night by quizzing us on the next day’s lessons. I began attending 8:00 am services in the Episcopal church when I started dating Alisa Hurley while in law school in Virginia.
We started our family while living in northern Virginia, where Alisa practiced. I worked as a tax lawyer in the Washington, DC, office of a Wall Street firm. Daughters Katie and Abby were both born and baptized in the Episcopal church there. We thought we would never leave. Shortly after I joined my client, Mobil Corporation, as an executive and in-house counsel, they merged with Exxon and we moved to Houston, where we were active at St. John the Divine. I was confirmed there. As oil and gas executives tend to be somewhat itinerant, we moved our family to Dallas, where we attended St. Michael and All Angels. We then moved back to Houston and attended Palmer Memorial.
After retiring last year as a senior financial executive and tax counsel at ExxonMobil, Alisa and I (and our daughters, now in Washington, DC, and Chicago), agreed that Steamboat Springs will always be an anchor for our family. St. Paul’s has been open and welcoming to us since we started attending only a few weeks a year more than a decade ago. We believe in St. Paul’s mission and ministries, and particularly activities that include the whole Steamboat Springs community.
We recently decided to move our membership from Palmer Episcopal in Houston to St. Paul’s. Alisa and I look forward to more opportunities to serve this church and its community.
