Due to the fact that the Episcopal Diocese of Florida’s Annual Diocesan Convention was postponed from January 2024 to September 21, 2024, we were unable to post St. John’s slate of convention delegate nominees. During worship on Sunday, September 22, Fr. Lonnie and our current delegates will share news about the convention, which will have been held the day before. Following this update, we will open voting for our new convention delegates who will attend the 2025 and 2026 Annual Diocesan Conventions.
Below is the slate of parishioners prepared by your vestry nominating committee in the fall of 2024. We appreciate these individuals’ ongoing commitment to St. John’s and the time and talent they share through parish ministry.
Stay tuned! St. John’s will still hold a parish meeting in February to elect new church vestry members, and we will most likely elect additional delegates to attend the 2026 and 2027 Annual Diocesan Conventions. That slate of nominees will be published in December.
CONVENTION DELEGATE VOTING:
This fall, you will be asked to vote for two candidates. The two individuals who receive the most votes will be our new convention delegates, and the two nominees who receives the second most votes will serve as alternates. ONE BALLOT will be accepted per email address. Remember, only “members in good standing” (see definition below) are invited to vote on this slate.
2024 SLATE OF CANDIDATES:
Gene Adams
I am currently an attorney with Pennington P.A., Attorneys, in Tallahassee. I am married to Susan Adams.
I currently serve as an usher at St. Johns. I also serve on the Property Committee and also served on the Search Committee to Select Father Lonnie as the new priest after the resignation of Father Killeen. I formerly served on St. John’s Vestry, a two-year term as Junior Warden, and with Susan as Stewardship Committee Chair. I have previously served as a member of the Finance Committee of St. John’s and as Chair of the Discernment Committee for Gray Hodsdon seeking Diocesan sponsorship to attend seminary and become a priest. Susan and I have attended St. John’s for over 24 years. I am a Past Board Chair of Ronald McDonald House Charities in Tallahassee and enjoy reading history and biographies.
Kristina Nilsson
A lifelong Episcopalian, previous to my St. John’s membership (as of 2021; my grandchildren were baptized here the following year), I have been a member of parishes in Minnesota and Massachusetts. Glad always to serve the Church in whatever capacity I’m called to do so, I have enjoyed the camaraderie, education and service opportunities that have come of my involvement at St. John’s, as part of the tower bell-ringing crew, as a member of the altar guild, as a Eucharistic Minister and lay reader, and as a violinist — when instrumental music is needed. I have garnered spiritual enrichment from the Sunday adult education offerings, from the Friday noon book discussions (zoom) — most recently, of C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, and from participation in one of the parish’s “small groups” (ours is dubbed “The Shepherds”) dinner/discussion gatherings. I’ve appreciated expanding my acquaintance with other members of every generation, through SPUDS and other social occasions at St. John’s, and I am in awe of the “something-for-everybody” nature of the many activities available at this parish. I feel strongly that God destined me to be here, and I embrace St. John’s as my Christian home.
Mary Byrd Sims
I am from a multi-generation St. John’s family, and was baptized and confirmed here before attending Sewanee with my husband, Ramsay. We returned to Tallahassee and rejoined this parish in 2004 with our daughters, Melissa and Holly (former choristers, acolytes and Quito team members). Since that time I have served twice on the Vestry, and found myself involved as Youth Director Search Committee Chair, Nominating Chair, the original Youth BEAT Co-chair, Parish Retreat Co-chair and the HVAC Fundraising Committee Co-chair. I have enjoyed serving alongside many of you at the Lively Café, Sunday School, VBS, Parish Life events, various Youth activities, as well as Adult Formation. It is truly a privilege to be able to faithfully serve and worship among family and friends at St. John’s.
Greg Springer
I love St. John’s. I was confirmed in the Episcopal Church in 2009 at St. Andrew’s Cathedral (Jackson, Mississippi), and I joined St. John’s when I moved to Tallahassee in 2018 with my partner Jonathan Jackson. I remain active at St. John’s through music and worship, singing with the Adult Choir on Sunday mornings and the Compline Choir on Sunday evenings. I also participate in various ministries and programs throughout the year (e.g., the Greeter Ministry, Invite Welcome Connect Ministry, Men’s Bible Study, Integrity Tallahassee, St. John’s Choir School Advisory Board, Growing in Grace class discussion leader, Education for Ministry program), and I completed a term on the Vestry in 2023. It would be an honor to represent St. John’s as a delegate at Diocesan Convention during this important time in the Diocese of Florida.
Voting is now closed!
