BOARD OF TRUSTEES CANDIDATE SLATE 2025
Candidate for Vice President/President/Past President, Three-Year Term
WILL HOYE:
It is a true honor to be asked to consider serving our church to support the work of Rev. Thom and our amazing Community Church team.
My (now husband) Jonathan and I started attending services at the Community Church in 2019 and then got busy with wedding plans before finding our way back and choosing Membership in 2022. The church has become central to our lives, and I’ve enjoyed wonderful experiences such as being a member of the ensemble of The SpongeBob Musical and participating in Rev. Thom’s Preaching Practicum this past summer.
I’m a native Californian and my mother, five siblings, and 14 nieces and nephews still live in San Diego -- where I visit often! In 2005, I relocated to North Carolina to accept a position as Dean of Admission and Student Affairs at Duke Law School. I previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Law School Admission Council, Inc., and the Santa Cruz (California) AIDS Project, a small non-profit that did important work in the 1980s and 90s.
Jonathan and I live in West Cary, with little Schroeder, "THE BEST DOG EVER" (borrowing a lyric from SpongeBob).
WILL HOYE:
It is a true honor to be asked to consider serving our church to support the work of Rev. Thom and our amazing Community Church team.
My (now husband) Jonathan and I started attending services at the Community Church in 2019 and then got busy with wedding plans before finding our way back and choosing Membership in 2022. The church has become central to our lives, and I’ve enjoyed wonderful experiences such as being a member of the ensemble of The SpongeBob Musical and participating in Rev. Thom’s Preaching Practicum this past summer.
I’m a native Californian and my mother, five siblings, and 14 nieces and nephews still live in San Diego -- where I visit often! In 2005, I relocated to North Carolina to accept a position as Dean of Admission and Student Affairs at Duke Law School. I previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Law School Admission Council, Inc., and the Santa Cruz (California) AIDS Project, a small non-profit that did important work in the 1980s and 90s.
Jonathan and I live in West Cary, with little Schroeder, "THE BEST DOG EVER" (borrowing a lyric from SpongeBob).
Candidate for At-Large Position, Three-Year Term
VIRGINA (GINGER) GUIDRY:
Dr. Virginia (Ginger) Guidry has been a Member of The Community Church since 2005. She
is also the head of the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch at the North Carolina
Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), where she leads a multidisciplinary public health
team responding to occupational and environmental concerns such as extreme heat and flooding,
private well testing and treatment, and contamination from PFAS compounds. Her team also monitors
COVID-19, flu, and RSV using wastewater surveillance and uses innovative tools to provide
environmental health data to the public and partners across the state.
Ginger is the Co-Chair of the Governor’s Environmental Justice Advisory Council and received the Ronald H. Levine Legacy Award in 2024 for her contributions to public health in North Carolina. She has a PhD in Epidemiology and a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health, both from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as a BS in Medical Technology from the University of Delaware.
Ginger and her husband, Chris, are raising three boys on an urban farm on the edge of Carrboro. The Community Church is an important source of inspiration and spiritual growth for their whole family.
VIRGINA (GINGER) GUIDRY:
Dr. Virginia (Ginger) Guidry has been a Member of The Community Church since 2005. She
is also the head of the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch at the North Carolina
Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS), where she leads a multidisciplinary public health
team responding to occupational and environmental concerns such as extreme heat and flooding,
private well testing and treatment, and contamination from PFAS compounds. Her team also monitors
COVID-19, flu, and RSV using wastewater surveillance and uses innovative tools to provide
environmental health data to the public and partners across the state.
Ginger is the Co-Chair of the Governor’s Environmental Justice Advisory Council and received the Ronald H. Levine Legacy Award in 2024 for her contributions to public health in North Carolina. She has a PhD in Epidemiology and a Master of Public Health in Maternal and Child Health, both from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as a BS in Medical Technology from the University of Delaware.
Ginger and her husband, Chris, are raising three boys on an urban farm on the edge of Carrboro. The Community Church is an important source of inspiration and spiritual growth for their whole family.
Candidate for At-Large Position, Three-Year Term
CATHERINE GRODENSKY:
I have been a Member of this beloved community for more than 20 years. I joined as a childless 20-something and became involved in the choir, musicals, 20s-and-30s group, and Ministerial Search Committee. After my children, Charlie and Jamie, were born, my time shifted to supporting them with Religious Education (RE), Our Whole Lives (OWL), and Coming of Age. A great joy throughout has been sharing music with my band, The Bluegrass Battleship.
My ex-husband Joel and I joined the church together after he attended the Community Church Concert Series. He now leads the Concert Series and our children and I volunteer. This church has always supported us and provides countless ways for us to still come together as a family.
My career is dedicated to improving conditions for vulnerable groups, particularly those impacted by the criminal legal system. The church has sustained me as I completed an Masters in Public Health and a PhD in Public Policy, and currently as I lead research at RTI International on mass incarceration.
While chaperoning Charlie’s Coming of Age trip, I fully recognized how much we have received from the church. I see the Board as an opportunity to give back to the church, learn from our amazing leadership, and deepen my connection with all of you.
CATHERINE GRODENSKY:
I have been a Member of this beloved community for more than 20 years. I joined as a childless 20-something and became involved in the choir, musicals, 20s-and-30s group, and Ministerial Search Committee. After my children, Charlie and Jamie, were born, my time shifted to supporting them with Religious Education (RE), Our Whole Lives (OWL), and Coming of Age. A great joy throughout has been sharing music with my band, The Bluegrass Battleship.
My ex-husband Joel and I joined the church together after he attended the Community Church Concert Series. He now leads the Concert Series and our children and I volunteer. This church has always supported us and provides countless ways for us to still come together as a family.
My career is dedicated to improving conditions for vulnerable groups, particularly those impacted by the criminal legal system. The church has sustained me as I completed an Masters in Public Health and a PhD in Public Policy, and currently as I lead research at RTI International on mass incarceration.
While chaperoning Charlie’s Coming of Age trip, I fully recognized how much we have received from the church. I see the Board as an opportunity to give back to the church, learn from our amazing leadership, and deepen my connection with all of you.