Lay Leadership

James (Jim) Fairburn was born in Washington, D.C., but as a member of a military family (USMC), he moved frequently while growing up, including 2 years in Tokyo, Japan, which influenced him profoundly. He received a BA in Sociology with a minor in Art from Allegheny College in 1972 and then moved to the Philadelphia area in 1973. He took a job as Administrator at Philadelphia Center for Older People (now Philadelphia Senior Center) where he worked from 1974-1985. In 1987, Jim graduated with an M. Ed. from Temple University (Tyler School of Art) and subsequently worked for Norristown Area School District, 1988-2010. He served primarily as a middle school Art Teacher, but also as an elementary classroom teacher for three years. He has been retired since June, 2010.

In the fall of 2016, with the troubling election noise and then the catastrophic outcome, Jim was in search of a new church home. During his residency in Chestnut Hill (1987-97) he had attended St. Martin’s occasionally, but gravitated elsewhere. Then in 2016, unhappy in his church situation, a friend, Judy Howard, strongly urged him to give St. Martin’s another try. The rest, as they say, is history.

Jim says, “The Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields offers a meaningful synergy of spirituality and activism, as a church should but often doesn’t. The clergy, staff, and parishioners have always been welcoming and affirming. It has been a joy to be involved in so many facets of this parish over the past 4 years (SUPPER, lector, Eucharistic ministry, greeter, gardener, POWER LOC, and choir).”

“I look forward to a new chapter in my involvement with The Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields as a member of the Vestry as the parish faces a host of new challenges in the days ahead.”

Carol Horne Penn has attended St. Martin’s since 2010 when she and her family moved from Wyncote to Chestnut Hill. She has been an active member of our Properties Committee and in 2019, agreed to chair the committee. Carol was raised in Englewood, New Jersey. Her love for, and ultimate move to Philadelphia stems from annual Thanksgiving sojourns with her family to celebrate with her beloved favorite uncle and aunt each year. She is currently the Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Relations for Clemens Construction Company. Prior to Clemens, Carol was the Deputy Director with Community Legal Services and held significant senior leadership positions at the University of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Water Department.

Carol resides in Chestnut Hill with her husband of 32 years, Kenn. Together they have two daughters, Jeanne, age 25, a graduate of Hamilton College, currently working and residing in Singapore and Jessie, age 21, a rising senior at the University of Pennsylvania. Carol serves on the Boards of the Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Philadelphia Chapter, the Fairmount Park Conservancy, and Community Design Collaborative. In 2014 she received the Women of Distinction Award from the Barristers Association of Philadelphia. Carol is a graduate of Boston College Law School and Drexel University.

Emily Law moved to Germantown with her husband, Richard, in 1996. Their children are Nigel (22) and Imogen (17). Emily is a freelance editor and was baptized at St. Martin’s in 2005. What drew Emily to St. Martin’s was its warm welcome to her as a stressed mother with young children; singing in the choir has been an ongoing joy. She says, "Serving on the vestry to help St. Martin’s continue as a welcoming, faithful community would be an honor."

Tom Sibson started his career as a CPA working for one of the large public accounting firms. Since then, he has been a financial leader for three different organizations. Currently he is the Chief Financial Officer for LEARN Behavioral. Learn Behavioral is a leading national network of providers serving children with autism and other special needs. Prior to this, he was the Chief Financial Officer for BAYADA Home Health Care.

Tom has been married to Laura Sibson for 26 years. Laura is a writer and author of young adult fiction. Their children are Zach (23) and Mitch (20). Zach is a senior at Eastern University and Mitch just completed his second year at NYU.

When asked why he wants to serve St. Martin’s, Tom wrote, “Since we moved to Chestnut Hill in 2015, joining St. Martin’s shortly thereafter, Laura and I have found the community to be warm, mission-led, and spiritually fulfilling. Having the opportunity to give back to St. Martin’s and help to sustain its mission and place in the community as a safe, open, caring, and active place to worship and serve would be an honor.”

Tom is running for a second 4-year term on Vestry. He was appointed to the vestry in 2018 to fulfill the remaining two years of a resigning vestry member’s term. Tom was appointed to the role of Accounting Warden by the Finance Committee in April, 2020 and is currently working alongside outgoing Accounting Warden, Bob Allen.

David Dieck is standing for a return term of vestry service having rotated off in 2007 after eight years of service, five as Rector’s Warden. David and his wife Eugenie have been members of St. Martin’s since 1989, enjoying decades of engagement in various ministries of the parish. They live in Lafayette Hill and maintain an apartment in Washington, DC, where Eugenie is on the leadership team of Georgetown University. Their two sons were fixtures at St. Martin’s during their time in the undercroft (for Church School). Now grown, Andrew lives in Mt. Airy and is pursuing a career in energy management. Brendan is a middle-school teacher in a charter school in Boston. David just retired from a long career in railroad management and is enjoying the pursuit of many interests close to his heart.

Rob Jennings is a deep-sea evolutionary biologist, and a professor at Temple University. A life-long Episcopalian, Rob has from a young age valued the Church’s invitation to conversation about the complexities and challenges of living into our calling as Christians, and how the Church doesn’t just accept questions and dialogue, but actively encourages them. The intersection of his professional and spiritual lives has made him passionate about the ways in which science and religion can each deepen our understanding of the other. Having sung for almost as long as he could talk, Rob loves singing in the St. Martin’s choir and the ways in which making music together deepens our participation in and understanding of worship. He also loves cooking for crowds large and small, and has made several pots of soup for the SUPPER ministry. He is honored to have been nominated to serve on the vestry.

With her earliest years of church being in Barbara Baumgartner’s Sunday morning class, Sophie has been connected with St. Martin’s her whole life. Through her years in children’s choir, as acolyte, and member a of the high school youth, she’s always enjoyed St. Martin's lively community and loving spirit. Outside of church, Sophie is a rising Junior at Abington Friends School and loves monopoly, dark chocolate, and her cat, Charlie.

Paula and her husband, John, joined St. Martin’s thirty years ago when their son was a toddler. Paula enjoys the reverent liturgy, transcendent music, and the mission of our church to “strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being.” Over the years, Paula has served on the Altar Guild, as a lector, and most recently as a member of the advisory committee for our new director of music. In 2008 and 2009, she participated in medical mission trips to our companion parish in Guatemala, which was an eye-opening experience.

Paula practiced as a physician for 26 years, and then worked for 10 years on behalf of hospitals appealing medical claims that were denied payment. In 2019 she retired, but hopes that her time and talents will be of service to the St. Martin’s community.

Katie Borgstrom has been attending St. Martin's for more than seven years with her husband, Eric. Katie and Eric regularly attend the LIFT service with their son, Griffin. She is also involved in youth group and is a member of the Guatemala Companion Parish Committee, inspired by a truly meaningful experience traveling to Guatemala with the youth group in 2019. She was drawn to St. Martin's because of its inclusiveness and its youth programs. Aside from her commitment to St. Martin's, Katie is passionate about her work in the veterinary industry, her family, and her pets.

(Kimberly) Del Bright is a relative newcomer to Philadelphia and to St. Martin’s. The clergy, staff, and congregation drew her in with their unconditional welcome and inclusion and their actions that spoke to their commitment to social justice and community engagement. One sweltering June day last year with temperatures above 90 degrees, she found herself marching for Fair Funding in Education with members of St. Martin’s and POWER Interfaith. She knew she had found a new spiritual home. She joined the Climate Action Group, the Community Engagement Committee, the Local Organizing Committee, and became an usher. She is humbled and aware of the responsibility in accepting the call to join the vestry; she asks for your prayers to help guide her.

As a daughter of a military family, she is used to the upheaval that comes with change. She attended fifteen schools in twelve years prior to her post-graduate and graduate work. Preparation for her career began at the University of Pittsburgh for both her undergraduate degree in English and Economics and her Master of Arts in Teaching. She also completed a Master of Science in Forestry from Penn State. She spent over twenty-five years in academia, most recently as a writer-in-residence at Penn State. She left her position in 2021 to pursue opportunities to write and work for justice.

Del and her husband Dan are the parents of three grown children and the grandparents of five amazing little people. When Del and Dan are not working, you can find them running or biking the hills of the Wissahickon with their lovable mutt, Millie. They love to cook and have recently developed new vegan cooking skills that they are happy to share.

Carolyn Green is founder and Managing Partner of EnerGreen Capital Management, LLC, an investment firm focusing on late venture and growth stage companies in the energy and environmental industries. Prior to founding EnerGreen, Ms. Green was Vice President - Health, Environment, and Safety for Sunoco, Inc. She has over 35 years of environmental and energy experience and has been a passionate advocate for ensuring that low income and ethnic communities have a seat at the table when energy and environmental decisions are made.

Carolyn and her husband, Michael Blakeney, have been members of St. Martin’s since 2002. She served on St. Martin’s Vestry from 2005-2008 and chaired the Outreach Committee. Most Sundays Carolyn can be found singing in St. Martin’s choir and occasionally playing the recorder. She currently is a member of the Chapter for the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, where she serves on the Finance Committee. Carolyn says that participating in diocesan events on behalf of the Chapter has made her increasingly aware of how decisions made at diocesan levels directly affect individual parishes. She looks forward to again representing St. Martin’s at the Diocesan Convention.

Lydia Ogden and her husband, Jim Buehler, have been members of St. Martin’s since 2013, when they relocated to Philadelphia from Atlanta with their two youngest children, Branch and Guthrie. Lydia is a cradle Episcopalian and brought Jim into the fold when they married. Both were active in their Atlanta parish, with successive terms on the vestry and various committees. Lydia looks forward to re-engaging at St. Martin’s as the pandemic recedes and learning how she can support our beloved community in living into and up to the Gospel. Lydia had a long career with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), subsequently led the global expansion of Merck vaccines, and now leads R&D policy and engagement for Johnson & Johnson’s Global Public Health division. She and Jim are newly empty-nesters and welcomed their first granddaughter in April 2021. They are avid gardeners (and may have the best okra patch in West Mt. Airy), hikers, bikers, and tennis players. Lydia is also the chair of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra Music Institute, one of the nation’s premier youth music organizations.