Asheville, North Carolina
EXPLORE FAITH. EMBRACE COMMUNITY. MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
60 Church Street, Asheville, NC 28801 | info@trinityasheville.org | Tel: 828-253-9361
TRINITY CHURCH
ANNUAL REPORT - 2025
VESTRY NOMINEES : CLASS OF 2028
Avery Jones
Avery has been a member of Trinity since 2021. She is a North Carolina native who grew up in the Episcopal Church, where early experiences of worship, community and service shaped her faith journey. After graduating from Salem College, she attended churches of different denominations, with each one helping to enrich her understanding, deepen her faith and guide her journey. When she and her family returned to the Episcopal denomination, it was abundantly clear that Trinity Episcopal Church was home.Avery values Trinity’s rich traditions, its reverence for liturgy, its willingness to ask curious questions, and its commitment to inclusion and service.
She believes we are called to love God and neighbor fully, living out a faith that seeks to care for the whole community. Whether through acts of service or simply offering a listening ear, Avery strives to embody Christ’s love in daily life. She believes faith is most fully expressed when it draws people together and nurtures a sense of belonging for all.
Avery and her husband Bobby lived in five states before returning to NC and making Asheville their home in 2005. They have two sons: Thompson, a sophomore at NC State, and William, a sophomore at IC Imagine Public Charter School. Avery is currently the Operations and Finance Director at IC Imagine. She loves the outdoors, cooking, flowers, reading, and sports. You are most likely to find Avery and her family at the 8 am service followed by breakfast.
David Manly
A Raleigh native, David grew up attending the Presbyterian church. He met Dillon—his wife of 45 years—while at UNC–Chapel Hill and found his spiritual home when he wasconfirmed in the Episcopal Church at the Chapel of the Cross. After completing his internship and residency in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry in Greenville, NC, David practiced there for ten years. In 2000, David and Dillon moved their three children and labrador retriever to the Asheville area and joined Trinity. He spent 14 years at Park Ridge /AdventHealth, serving as Medical Director of the Medical-Psychiatry Unit. He became deeply interested in improving end-of-life care, and in 2012, David was board certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
He went on to serve our veterans for ten years at the Asheville VA Medical Center, first in Mental
Health and later in Geriatrics and Extended Care. His retirement from the VA coincided with the arrival of Hurricane Helene—not exactly the quiet transition he’d envisioned! Retirement affords David more time with their three children and four young grandchildren, to travel, to enjoy the outdoors and to nurture friendships old and new. Throughout his career and his years at Trinity, David has exemplified a tireless spirit of service and leadership. He served as department chief at both Park Ridge and the VA, as Chief of Staff at Park Ridge, and as a volunteer board member for Four Seasons Hospice and Park Ridge. For many years, he was a volunteer physician with the Free Clinics of Henderson County. At Trinity, David has been a longtime minister of service. David would be deeply honored to join the vestry to serve and support the faith community that has meant so much to him and Dillon for so many years.
John Kramp
John and his wife, Lynn Marie, began attending Trinity in the fall of 2022 after moving from Nashville, Tennessee. They found a new church home as the Trinity community warmly welcomed and guided them as new Episcopalians. John was raised by loving parents who believed that if the church doors were open, their family of five should be there. He was baptized on his seventh birthday at First Baptist Church of Garland, Texas. He earned a B.A. in Sociology from Baylor University, a Master of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
John served as Youth Pastor and Associate Pastor in Garland, Texas, for ten years before he and Lynn Marie moved to Portland, Oregon, to start a new church. After five years there, they moved to Nashville, where John began a 30-year career in Christian publishing—first with LifeWay Christian Resources and for the last eleven years with HarperCollins Christian Publishing. John is the author of four books—Out of Their Faces and Into Their Shoes, Getting Ahead by Staying Behind, OnTrack Leadership, and The Psalm 119 Experience. His newest book, Praying the Alphabet: Connecting with God from A to Z, will release in 2026. He has also written several songs, including “The Touch of the Master’s Hand,” based on the poem by Myra Brooks Welch. At Trinity, John and Lynn Marie serve with Church of the Advocate, and John has served on a Lay Parish Discernment Committee. They have two daughters, both married to pastors, and six grandchildren. As he approaches retirement at the end of 2025, John is excited about new opportunities to serve the people of Trinity and the broader community.
Monte Gaillard
Monte was born and raised in a small rural town in South Carolina, Darlington. Monte is a lifelong Episcopalian. She graduated from St. Mary’s School, an Episcopal college preparatory school for girls in Raleigh, North Carolina. Following St. Mary’s, Monte enrolled at the University of South Carolina where she graduated with a BA, majoring in Political Science. Monte enjoys gardening and hiking. She is a Master Gardener, designated by Clemson University, as well as a Master Naturalist. Monte’s serious career began when she was hired by The Nature Conservancy, an international conservation organization. For Monte, TNC was the perfect fit for her interests and passion for the natural world. She served as Director of Philanthropy for the state of South Carolina.
When her only son, Will Heinitsh, and his wife, Susie, had their first child, William, Monte longed to give her grandchildren the gift of living close by that her grandparents gave her. When their second child, Tommy, was born in 2017, Monte and her husband, Palmer Gaillard, moved to Asheville from Charleston, South Carolina. Monte, and a group of other members of Trinity, began the Creation Care Committee with the mission of incorporating an appreciation for the natural world into the life of the church through actions, education, and field trips. Through her years as an Episcopalian, Monte has served on flower guild, altar guild, taught Sunday School, and served as a Vestry Member.
Nancy Coffman
Nancy is a cradle Episcopalian, baptized at Trinity Church, Florence, Alabama as an infant. Nancy’s family was very involved in their parish, which felt like a second home. After graduating from Sewanee (Yea, Sewanee’s Right!) with a degree in psychology, she earned a graduate degree in special education from Pebody College at Vanderbilt University. She was led to Western North Carolina by the Sewanee canoe team and secured a job in Asheville right out of graduate school. During her one year in Asheville, Nancy attended Trinity. During the forty years after leaving Asheville, Nancy married and was blessed with three amazing children, two of whom live with their families in Asheville.
She moved to Dallas, Texas and attended St. Michael’s and All Angels. After a divorce, Nancy focused on her children and her work with students with dyslexia and the teachers that serve them. In 2000, Nancy married Steve Coffman and in 2018 they moved to Asheville and to Trinity. Nancy currently serves on the Linen, Altar, and Art Guilds, participates in Godly Play, and regularly attends the Women’s Bible Study and Second Chapter Book Club. She also had the privilege of participating in a Discernment for Ministry committee. Last year she and Steve served as Stewardship Captains. Trinity is Nancy’s “church home” and she is excited about this opportunity to know and serve Trinity more deeply.
Nominees to the Diocesan Convention
Connie
Wilson
