As the governing board of our church, the Bishop's Committee is a group of lay people, elected from and by the congregation for a maximum term of 3 years. The group acts as representatives and leaders who oversee and develop strategies for the temporal life of our church. The Bishop’s Committee also guides and coordinates the church committees. The church canons of Diocese of Minnesota that pertain to a vestry also apply to the Bishop's Committee. The Bishop's Committee is elected at the annual parish meeting held during January each year.

Our church is currently designated as a mission church.  As the name suggests, the Bishop's Committee is accountable to the Bishop of Minnesota, the Rt. Reverend Brian N. Prior, who is designated as our Rector.

Our current Bishop's Committee members are listed below:

Senior Warden, Mary Kay Bumblis
Mary Kay has been a member of Ss. Martha and Mary since 1999. Her devoted service includes 3 years as a voting member and 2 years as the clerk. Mary Kay loves assisting with our youth activities and coordinating our Bear & A Prayer program. She is enrolled in the 4th year of the Education for Ministry program, has completed the training needed to be a mentor for the Education for Ministry program, and is also studying Biblical Greek. Mary Kay has been the key liaison with The Rev. Canon Sandra Holmberg, Canon Missioner for Ministry Development, regarding team ministry information and she is currently a member of the Shared Ministry team. She is a retired 3M professional and her experience includes project management and information technology.

Junior Warden, John Waddell and his wife, Debra Waddell, live in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. He's the lucky father to two sons, a step daughter, and a god-daughter and is  grandfather to five wonderful grandsons (number six is due in July of 2010). John's grandfather was a Methodist Circuit Minister and he often accompanied him as he carried out his duties. He served as a youth peer & mentor leaders. His professional career has included military duty, Chief of Police, and nuclear security.  Most recently he was the Corporate Director of Engineering projects, Maintenance, and Nuclear Services for American Electric Power. He has also provided mentoring, career, and life coaching to more than 3000 employees over 26 years. The Junior Warden, often referred to as the "People's Warden," is the congregation's direct representative on the Bishop's Committee and deals with the maintenance, improvement, use, and development of church property.

Clerk,  Jennifer Michelson is the recorder and reporter of the Bishop's Committee decisions and actions. The Clerk, a non-voting member, records the minutes of each Bishop's Committee meeting, ensures they are accurate, then distributes them to all members and posts them for congregation. Jennifer has been attending M&M since the birth of her first child in 1993. She is married to Rob Michelson and they have two daughters, Rhiannon and Tarryn. She graduated from the University of Iowa. Jennifer is a Registered Nurse working at United Hospital in St. Paul. Her career has spanned 29 years with the Allina corporation during which she's been a continuous M.N.A. union steward, served as co-chair of two RN bargaining units, each with over 1,000 members, an association Board member, and 2nd Vice President of the 20,000 member M.N.A.. Much of her union and profession association activity included taking notes and minutes.

Treasurer, Al Campbell, as a non-voting member of the Bishop's Committee, the Treasurer advises the committee regarding church finances, budget and financial responsibilities. Al has been a member of M&M since 1995 and is serving his third term as Treasurer.  He has served on the Finance Committee since 1999, the Church Growth committee from 2005 through 2009, and participates in the Highway Clean- up and the church's annual Twins game outing.  He is employed as a project controller and is married with 4 wonderful daughters.

Member, Connie Sowah has been a member of M&M since 1989 when services were held in Deerwood Elementary School. Her son, Corry grew up at M&M and her late mother, Phyllis also was a member. She has worked in the University of Minnesota Food Services system as Lead Manager and Area Manager of database systems. She also volunteers in the A.A.R.P. Tax-Aide program. Over the years, she's given much to M&M. Her ministries have included:  altar guild, lay ministry, Acolyte Coordinator, teaching 4th-grade Sunday School, lector, chalice bearer and co-coordinator of the Social Life Committee. Her spiritual journey has led her to participate in the Education of Ministry course. She is currently the co-coordinator for both Adult Forum and the Vegetable Garden Committee, a lector, a chalice bearer, a LEV, and a member of the Shared Ministry team.

Member, P.J. Voysey has been a member of M&M since January 2011. P.J. has been very impressed by M&M and feels there is a lot going on at our church. He was warmly received and found M&M to be a caring congregation that does a tremendous amount to help people in our community. He really likes that one of the organizations M&M supports thought our congregation was 4 times our size because of how much we do. P.J. is interested in helping M&M continue to be a vibrant community.

Member, Jeffrey Garrett has been a member of Martha and Mary for four years.  His term on the Bishop's Committee began in 2009. Jeff is married and has a three year old son. Jeff's professional experience is in business systems, and business process analysis and change. While on the Bishop's Committee Jeff's areas of interests have included planning, growth, and finance.

Member, Christina McCann works at Thomson Reuters WEST as a database specialist in the area of tax law and third party legal content.  She has worked for the company for 20 years, starting in a suburb of Chicago and transferring to Eagan in 2002.  She has been a member of Ss. M&M since May of 2002.  Christina was the president of her elementary school Local School Counsel (LSC) in Chicago for 4 years, and was a teacher for 7 years before graduating law school in 1984, with a masters in tax in 1987.  She was on the BC for a 2 year term around 2004 and has been active on the Growth Committee, as well as in lay ministry.  She is also a member of our Shared Ministry team.

Member, Jason Viana works at the Red Cross. He and his wife, Nicola, moved into this area from Alabama and joined M&M in 2008. Jason coordinates and handles the publicity for our Community Food Drop-off Days, working closely with 360 Communities and our outreach coordinator. Jason's wife, Nicola teaches Confirmation Classes and they have facilitated a Marriage Encounter course at M&M. Jason also serves on our Website Committee.

Father Bruce Henne and Father Joseph Hopwood also participate on the Bishop's Committee.
Generally the Bishop's Committee meetings are held on the Third Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m.
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