Leadership

Our Staff

Andrew Colman

bio coming soon!

Pat Mowat

Pat and Ian have been attending sbt for 17 years. Pat loves the liturgy and the contemplative worship time. She and Ian are committed to providing hospitality and encouragement to others and being able share their home.  
Pat has been retired for 9 years from her work for the Province of Manitoba as a social service worker.
Pat has enjoyed helping behind the scenes at sbt during this time and is looking forward to a larger responsibility as a member of the Kitchen Table.

Brad Vrolijk

charles2.jpg

Charles Garinger

Charles Garinger serves as our Music Director. Growing up, he was formally trained in piano, voice and saxophone. As a teenager, he fell in love with the bass guitar and has been a working musician ever since. He has toured with a variety of different groups and performers and has recorded several albums.

Charles started attending saint benedict’s table in 2005, and has participated in the music ministry hundreds of times. He transitioned to the role of Music Director in the summer of 2017, and has been very capably steering us since then. In recent years, he has been making friends with the acoustic guitar, writing songs for the church, and supporting others in leading the music in our worship.

Sarah Hodges-Kolisnyk

Sarah is our Administration and Communications Coordinator. Her wide range of experience helps her foster meaningful connections across the diverse voices of our community while balancing the myriad of tasks that come with daily functions and special events at st bens. Sarah has a Masters of Cultural Studies and a Degree in Communications from the University of Winnipeg and she is a visual artist who has been employed in a range of educational and communications positions in the Arts & Culture sector. She is also currently the Director of MHCGallery at Canadian Mennonite University. 

Sarah and her family have attended st. bens for more than ten years, often at the 4pm family-friendly liturgy. Her and Nick (a talented musician) have been involved in a variety of creative projects at the church over the years. See some of Sarah’s visual art, particularly a creative look at st bens completed for our 10th Anniversary, here: https://www.hodgepodgecreative.com/projects/n2891jiq3phswkdg4ianudpnw493cq

Rod Gray

Rod has been attending sbt since 2014. He is currently retired but has had 3 major employment areas: Canadian Forces (14 years), Winnipeg Transit (8 years) and, finally, RBC Royal Bank (10 years). Rod has a B.A. from the University of Manitoba in Political Science.

Zoe Matties

Paul Peters Derry

Paul wandered and wondered his way into saint benedict’s table in the fall of 2015, later discerning a shift from ordination as a United Church Minister to ordination to the transitional diaconate (2021) and thereafter the priesthood (2022). 

With foundational studies at Vancouver School of Theology, Chicago Theological Seminary – DMin thesis, “‘May I Have a Word?’  Preaching from Points of New Location” – and University of Winnipeg, Paul shared pastorates in Vancouver, BC, Sept-Iles, QC, Norwood-Westwood, ON, and Winnipeg, and from 2007-22, worked Spiritual Health Services at several Winnipeg healthcare facilities, and worked as Certified Supervisor-Educator, Canadian Association for Spiritual Care (CASC).

An “ex officio” member of kitchen table as Honorary Assistant (Priest), in addition to occasional presiding and preaching, Paul compiles and edits our Annual Report and weekly song-sheet, and happily shares creations from WineSense, where he’s engaged front-line retail services for the past couple of years  Embarking on yet another new venture as a real estate agent, Paul wonders where next God will lead: “I’m convinced that She doesn’t know either, even so, I’ll cite verses from a Peter Davidson hymn to capture essential threads of my faith journey” …

When long before time and the worlds were begun, when there was no earth and no sky and no sun, and all was deep silence and night reigned supreme, and even our Maker had only a dream...

To you, God the Singer, our voices we raise; to you, Song Incarnate, we give all our praise; to you, Holy Spirit, our life and our breath, be glory forever, through life and through death.

  • Common Praise, 307

Marvin Kopp

Jonny Moir

Jonny and his wife have been attending sbt since 2010 and can often be found at the 4pm family-friendly service.  Jonny has a BSC in Applied Computer Science and in Business Administration from the University of Winnipeg.  He currently works as a data analyst but prefers his other role in life as a nerdy dad.  He enjoys being a maker and is drawn to all forms of creative expression both for their apparent beauty and for what they reveal about us as people.

Christen Rachul

Christen started attending sbt in 2016 and joined the Kitchen Table in 2022. She lives with her partner in the West Broadway community and believes the church plays a valuable role in the neighbourhood. Christen has a PhD in applied linguistics and discourse studies and is a researcher in the field of medical education, but when she's not at work she enjoys doing pottery, cycling, and gardening. In addition to the Kitchen Table, she serves on the Missions Fund Committee, participates in one of the book clubs, and can often be seen volunteering on Sunday evening either greeting people at the door or making coffee.


Kitchen Table

The Kitchen Table is the saint ben’s version of a church board, so called because our very earliest meetings were held around a big kitchen table in our first church home, the long-closed St Alban’s Anglican Church.

This group currently gathers a half dozen times over the course of the year, to consider not only the usual church board matters such as budgets and staffing, but also to act as something of a discernment group and sounding board for the wider saint benedict's table community.

Kitchen Table Meeting Minutes and Resources:

Curious about the topics on our plate and the discussions ‘round the table? Please feel free to review meeting minutes, below. Should you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact our Wardens for more information.

2024 Kitchen Table Team:

Rob Kwade
Warden

Katharine Langille

Katharine has attended sbt for over 10 years and has served on church vestries since the 1980s. Katharine enjoys taking minutes to feel completely engaged in the meeting, and has completed training in minute taking and meeting management.  Katharine believes in the value of community; serving on the Kitchen Table allows her to make new acquaintances and serve the other members. She is also an active member of sbt Book Club!

Danielle Morton

Rachel Sutton

Beth Downey Sawatzky
Warden

David Lipinski