2026 Vestry Slate

Here is the slate of new Vestry candidates to begin serving in 2026. Click the arrow next to their name to read more about each candidate.

  • My lifelong journey as an episcopalian began as an infant when I was baptized at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Sunbury, NC, where my maternal grandmother played the organ on Sundays. Growing up my family and first cousins spent a week in Sunbury and a week at Nags Head every year.

    My two children were active in EYC, scouts, acolytes growing up at St. John’s in Shandon. They now have families of their own. I have three granddaughters who participate in sports and are good scholars at their respective schools, UofSC, Heathwood Hall, and River Bluff.

    After working in a training/consulting firm, I launched The Berkana Company in 1993 to provide consulting and coaching to executives and their teams. For 14 years I served as the Columbia SC chapter chair of the Women Presidents Organization, a membership organization for women owners of multi-million-dollar companies. In 2024 I became certified as a coach for Positive Intelligence (PQ) to help people identify their self-sabotage thinking patterns and rewire their brain to improve performance with less stress/more joy.

    Serving on the St. Martin’s Vestry is an opportunity to participate in the decisions that support the operations and missions of the church. St. Martin’s lives into the words often attributed to St. Francis, “Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”

    I am a relative newcomer to St. Martin’s. After visiting for six months or longer, I joined in 2019. I have participated in Foyer Groups to get to know others in the parish. Currently I serve on the Foundation Board.

    In short, I love that St. Martin’s has ministries that support the community. The Community House, Harvest Hope Food Bank, Crayton backpacks, safe space dinners, sharing garden, and MORE Justice are ones that come to mind. Programs for the children and youth of the parish keep the parish vibrant. The grounds are reflective of the energy and love that is present in the life of St. Martin’s.

  • My wife, Caroline, and I started coming to St. Martin's soon after we moved to Forest Acres in 2018, though we didn't join the church until 2021.  Since then, we've welcomed our daughter, Nichols, into the world in July 2024 and then baptized at St. Martin's in November 2024.  We love the community at St. Martin's - whether at different services (because of our daughter's changing sleep schedules over the first 15 months of her life), foyer group, or the annual Kanuga retreat, we've been met with the same welcoming fellowship at every turn.  Before coming to St. Martin's, we tried several different Episcopal churches around town, but none felt like home the way St. Martin's does.  Outside of St. Martin's, I'm an attorney at Richardson Plowden & Robinson.  

     

  • My name is Erin Koeske, and I have been a member of the parish for about three years with my husband Zak and son Jude (age 4). I am a social worker, and I provide therapy for children and adults at Live Oak Counseling Center, a not-for-profit founded by local churches to provide greater access to mental health care. Jude attends the Preschool at St Martin’s, and I am active with the PTO and serve on the preschool advisory committee. I am a Godly Play volunteer and love the challenge of answering the best and most difficult questions, and I also helped facilitate the church grief group.  There are so many ministries of the church that align with the passions of my work, and I look forward to becoming more involved.

    St Martin’s has been such a tremendous blessing to our family.  We all think of it as home. Jude talks about our “church friends” and cries when we have to leave on Sundays.  The people, ministries, and welcoming environment are a wonderful way to introduce him to God’s love.  Zak and I have found a place where we are both fed and challenged.  I will lovingly serve on the vestry to give back to this community and further the mission of the church.

  • My name is Richard Smith.  I grew up in Forest Acres attending Bradley, then - at the time - Crayton Elementary and Junior High School and then graduated from A. C. Flora High School.  I attended Mars Hill University with a major in Business Administration.  After some years working for my father, I felt called to attend Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  I obtained a Master of Arts in Religious Education with a minor in Communications.  While a Southern Baptist I served in educational positions at churches in Atlanta and Columbia.

     After being confirmed as an Episcopalian in 2000, I attended Southern Seminary and obtained a Master of Sacred Theology at Southern Seminary in Columbia.  I transferred to St. Martin’s in 2013.  I will never forget my first visit one Sunday morning.  I had not been here for 10 minutes, and the love and acceptance were so palpable in the air from the priests and the congregation, I knew this was where God wanted me to attend.  I have served as Eucharistic Minister, Lector, Adult Sunday School teacher, and served on the Foundation Board, the Search Committee that called Mitch, and more recently a delegate to the Diocesan Convention representing St. Martin’s.  I also have thoroughly enjoyed inhabiting the roles of St. Martin in November and St. Nicholas at Christmas.  I retired this year after working as an accountant for the past 20 years.

    St. Martin’s is a special place where truly everyone is welcomed as a child of God, and all are welcomed to the Eucharist table.  Also, because of the way in which St. Martin’s is very, very outreach oriented being the hands and feet of Christ in so many ways to the community and the larger world, I would consider it to be a great honor to serve on the Vestry.