Rev. Carter Via, Minister
Carter was born in North Carolina and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia. He attended Wake Forest University for his undergraduate studies and Princeton Theological Seminary for his Masters of Divinity. From 1987-92, he served as the associate pastor at The Reformed Church in Bronxville, NY; then from 2004-08, he was the senior pastor at The White Plains Presbyterian Church.
Between his service at these two churches, Carter founded and served as the Executive Director of Bridges to Community, a non-profit organization with a mission to provide relief and development work in Nicaragua. In 2009, Carter founded Crossing Thresholds, an organization building schools in the Kibera slum of Nairobi, Kenya.
Rev. Cheryl L. Bundy, Minister
cherylbundy@me.com
Cheryl Bundy is the Chaplain and Spiritual Counselor at Silver Hill Hospital where she has worked since 2017. She also served as a chaplain at Norwalk Hospital where she completed 1600 hours of Clinical Pastoral Education. She is a Board Certified Chaplain and she was ordained as an interfaith minister by NYC based All Faiths Seminary International. Cheryl came to chaplaincy and ministry after an early career on Wall Street and as a non-profit Development Director. She is a graduate of Yale Divinity School, The Wagner School of Public Service at New York University and Smith College. She is currently a candidate for a Doctor in Ministry in Integrated Mental Health Chaplaincy at Vanderbilt Divinity School.
Rob Silvan, Director of Music
Rob was born in New York City and raised in New Rochelle, NY. He received undergraduate degrees in English Literature from Iona College and in music from Mercy College. For forty years he has been teaching piano lessons to young people and adults covering styles from classical and blues to popular and improvisational. He has made seven cd’s as a leader including Beneath It All and The Breathing of the World. In 2004 he founded Kids Empowered By Your Support (KEYS) which provides piano, violin, cello, guitar, winds and brass lessons to Bridgeport school children who cannot afford them.
He has been Director of Music and a member of Talmadge Hill Church since 1995. Echoing Talmadge Hill’s worship style, Rob offers music that is inclusive, personal and expansive and features both traditional church hymns as well as music sung to the words of artists such as Rumi, T.S. Elliot, Robert Frost, Pablo Neruda, Emily Dickinson and W.B. Yeats.
Dorothy McClure, Sunday School Teacher
Dorothy McClure received her Bachelor’s degree in Art Education from McGill University, and an MS in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education. She taught preschool for many years before becoming a middle school art teacher. Dorothy was drawn to the Godly Play curriculum because of its individualized instruction methods, the encouragement of open-ended conversations, and ‘wondering’ about God and the meaning of life.
Juliana McKenna, Church Administrator
Juliana was born and raised in New Canaan. After graduating from Hobart and William Smith she went to work on the Commodities Floor for 25 years. Upon retiring from the Trading Floor, Juliana opened her own accounting firm, and still runs it. Throughout her life, Juliana has participated in Bible Studies, and her faith has always sustained her. Juliana re-joined the Talmadge Hill Community in 2022 with her husband.