Lay Leaders

Rick has been a member of Memorial Episcopal Church since late 2000. Raised in the United Methodist Church in Richmond and Newport News, VA, Rick has taken his father's lead and has served on and chaired the Building & Grounds Committee for (3) years since joining Memorial. Rick also was on The Reverend Rosemary Beales' Parish Lay Committee.

As well as "serving" as a chalicist and as an usher, Rick spent a short period of time on the Vestry and is ready to serve again as his business travel demands have eased. He is honored to have been nominated to serve as a Vestry member again and is excited by the challenges and demands of this growing Memorial community.

Rick and his wife Cyndie reside in Ten Hills with Emma, the greyhound and Sam, the cat.

Jesse Milan, Jr., JD is a lifelong Episcopalian with a record of service to the church at national, diocesan and parish levels. During his seventeen years in the Diocese of Pennsylvania, he was elected twice to represent the diocese as a Deputy to General Convention (1994 and 1997) where he chaired the House of Deputies Committee on the Consecration of Bishops. He served two terms on the Pennsylvania Diocesan Council (1989-94) and on the Council Executive Committee, was elected to two terms as Diocesan Church Advocate (1988-94). He served on the search committees for the Suffragan Diocesan (1987) and the Bishop Coadjutor (1996). At St. Peter's Church in Philadelphia, he was on two rector search committees, served nine years on the Vestry, chaired the grant-making Outreach Committee, and served three years as Rector's Warden. At the national level, he served two terms on the Church Deployment Board and was president of the board of the National Episcopal AIDS Coalition. Since coming to the Diocese of Maryland and Memorial Church in 1998, Jesse has co-chaired Memorial's Rector Search Committee (1999-2000), co-chaired the Capital Needs Committee (2004), served on the Vestry (2001-2004), and was elected to the Diocesan Ecclesiastical Court (2002-2004). He is also and active usher and lector. Memorial knows Jesse especially for his work with Memorial Players as Harold Hill (The Music Man, 2006), as the calypso singing brother (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, 2003), and as choreographer for CATS (2007). A lawyer and global HIV/AIDS thought leader, Jesse is Senior Principal for Health Policy and Promotion at SRA International, Inc. He and his partner, Bill Roberts, live in Ellicott City and will celebrate 20 years together in 2008.

Lynne Durbin became a regular participant in Memorial Episcopal services in the fall of 2007 and was received into the Episcopal church in the spring of 2008. Formerly, she was a Roman Catholic and attended services at the Cathedral. She has found Memorial to be a wonderful spiritual home, filled with very loving and caring people. Lynne serves as an usher and lector and will soon be assisting as an acolyte.

The Memorial Players brought Lynne to the church when her son, Christopher Mergen, wanted to try out for “Cats” and Ann Mladinov made a convincing argument for parents participating in the plays with their children. Since then, she and Christopher have performed in “Mame” and look forward to performing in “The Sound of Music” in the spring.

During the time she does not spend at Memorial, Lynne is Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for Adhesives Research, Inc., a global manufacturer of specialty adhesives and films. She is also active on the boards of The Girl Scouts of Central Maryland, the Parks and People Foundation and Network 2000.

Lynne lives in Ruxton with her husband of 25 years, John-Francis (JF) Mergen, and their son, Christopher. Two cats, Purr and Present, round out the family. Lynne and JF are both pilots and enjoy taking trips in their small plane to interesting places around the mid-Atlantic region.

Louise has been a member of Memorial Church since 1969 when she moved into Bolton Hill and returned to the Church via the Contemporary Eucharist.

She has served in many roles at Memorial Church, including parish librarian; acolyte (1st woman); verger; lay reader/lay chalicist (1st woman); Vestry member; Registrar for Vestry and Parish (parish archives); member or chairperson of various committees such as committees for parish interns or people feeling called to ordained ministry. For several years she has been involved with the Pastoral Care Committee and its varied activities.

Her experience at the diocesan level includes being Memorial’s delegate to the annual Diocesan Convention and, in 2007, becoming a member of the Commission on Ministry of the Diocese of Maryland.
Professionally, Louise spent years in the Baltimore County Public Schools, first as a teacher, later as a Library/Media Department Chairperson. Retiring from the school system, she became involved with Listening Hearts Ministries as a trained discerner, a trainer of trainers, and as Program Coordinator.

Trained at Shalem Institute, Louise offers spiritual direction to accompany people on their spiritual journeys.

Louise’s life experience is that God’s call comes when we least expect it and we often can’t imagine living it out, but we still must pay attention to it. After all, God is full of surprises!

Barbara Cates came to Memorial Church in 1981 after a seventh-month sojourn at the Taizé Community in France, and has been an active member ever since. She and her husband, storyteller Matthew-Daniel Stremba, were married at Memorial in 1986. In 1989 she joined the U.S. Foreign Service as an economics officer, and has been posted to Moscow, USSR; Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; Tashkent, Uzbekistan; and Yekaterinburg, Russia. Barbara recently completed a three-year assignment at the State Department as Deputy Director of the Office of International Religious Freedom. Currently she is assigned to the Bureau of Oceans, Environment and Science, coordinating environmental policy with the Middle East and South and Central Asia.

A trained Listening Hearts discerner, Barbara served on Memorial Church’s Vestry in the late 1990s and again from 2006-2009, and as junior warden this past year. Barbara worships primarily at the early service, which she loves for its creativity, shared reflection time, and supportive community. She also leads the singing at our weekly Taizé prayer service. Barbara and Matthew live with their friend Hadicha in Bolton Hill, a few blocks from church, and an eight-minute walk from the train station. Barbara also maintains an ecumenical connection with Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church across the street, where she is a deacon and sings in the choir.

Mary Goodwin began attending Memorial Episcopal services in the summer of 2005. She was baptized and confirmed into the Episcopal Church in the spring of 2008.  Mary is currently a member of the Sesquicentennial Celebration Committee. She has also previously assisted with the set construction activities to support the performance by The Memorial Players of "Cats", "Mame” and “The Sound of Music.” In her professional life Mary serves as an Associate General Counsel for the business unit of Verizon Communications, a global telecommunications services company. Mary currently lives in Columbia with her partner of 11 years, Nora Adams. Two cats, Sangria and Riesling, round out the family. Mary and Nora find Memorial to be an uplifting spiritual home with a diverse community of supportive and gifted people.  Mary is honored to have been nominated to serve on the Vestry.