Clergy, Staff, & Vestry
The Reverend Canon Jonathan Huyck, Rector
Canon Huyck became the 21st Rector of Grace Church on August 1, 2010. He holds degrees from Brown University, the University of Chicago Divinity School and the General Theological Seminary and is an honorary canon of the American Cathedral in Paris, where he served as canon pastor for six years before coming to Grace. He was born in New York City and raised in New York and Connecticut. Before his ordination to the priesthood in 2004, he was a comedy writer in New York and is still loyal to the American League baseball team of that city which shall remain nameless. He also loves the Beatles, cooking (Georgian food, especially), singing, and old buildings (Providence does very well on that score). Jonathan is married to Ann, who teaches ballet at Providence College, and they are parents of two boys and one chocolate Labrador retriever.
The Reverend Hartwell Hylton, Associate Rector
Hartwell has been at Grace Church since 2018. He served as Pastoral Associate at Grace before his ordination to the transitional diaconate and then to the priesthood by Bishop Knisely in 2021. Prior to joining the Grace community, Hartwell served as a parish intern and pastoral assistant at The Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York City. Hartwell was born and raised in Virginia and is a graduate of the College of William & Mary, the University of Virginia Law School, and Berkeley Divinity School, Yale University. Hartwell and his wife, Elissa, live in Darien, CT; Sarah, their daughter, is a lawyer who lives and works in New York City. In June 2021, he had the joy of baptizing his first grandchild on the Feast of Pentecost.
The Reverend Jennifer West,
Priest Associate
The Reverend Michael Coburn,
Priest Associate
Lay Staff
Vince Edwards, Organist & Director of Music
Vincent Edwards became Organist and Director of Music at Grace Church in September 2015. Vince has served parishes in Connecticut and New York, most recently St. Paul’s-on-the-Green in Norwalk, CT and St. Bartholomew’s Church in NYC. His choirs have performed and sung services in New York City and throughout England and Scotland. Former choristers and organ scholars who have worked with Vince have gone on to have successful professional careers in music themselves.
In addition to directing the Grace Church Choir, Vince founded both the Grace Church Choristers and Grace’s professional choral ensemble-in-residence, Collegium Ancora, upon his arrival in Providence. This choir, for boys and girls from grades 2 through 12, is based on the Royal School of Church Music training scheme. The Choristers sing regularly for services at Grace both alone and with the Adult Choir. Vince holds degrees from Bethel College (Music and Religion) and Yale University (Choral Conducting and Organ Performance).
Dāvids (David) Heinze, Associate Director of Music
Latvian-American organist, David Heinze earned a Master of Music degree from the University of Cambridge where he was Graduate Organ Scholar at Selwyn College under Sarah MacDonald as well as Organist for St. John’s Voices at St. John’s College. A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, he is an alumnus of Interlochen Arts Academy and Hope College and has studied with Thomas Bara, Huw Lewis, Margaret Phillips, and Jeremy Tarrant. David won First Prize and Audience Prize in the L. Cameron Johnson Young Organists Competition and First Prize in the Annamae Rotman Organ Competition. During his time at Hope, he served as Organ Scholar at Trinity United Methodist Church in Grand Rapids and then as Edwards Organ Scholar at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Detroit, and Organ Scholar for The Grand Rapids Choir of Men and Boys. As a recitalist and accompanist, he has performed throughout the US, UK, and Europe, and holds the Associate Diploma of the Royal College of Organists. In January 2022, David won First Prize in The National Competition for Organ Accompaniment, co-sponsored by Schoenstein & Co. Organ Builders and the American Guild of Organists, Washington, D.C. Chapter. He was a featured solo performer at the American Guild of Organists’ 2019 Great Lakes Regional Convention.
To listen and/or watch David play, visit his YouTube Channel and/ or SoundCloud Profile by clicking the following links: YouTube SoundCloud
Vivian Blais, Director of Youth & Newcomer Ministries
Vivian Blais (née Trutzl) is a graduate of Ha
rvard Divinity School where she studied religion, literature, and culture, with a focus on interfaith religious literacy and creative writing. Prior to her arrival at Grace, Vivian worked as a newspaper journalist covering the Blackstone Valley, solidly carving out Rhode Island as her home. Originally from DeWitt, Michigan (the middle of the Mitten, close to Lansing!), she holds a degree in History from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where she minored in religion and museum studies. Growing up, Vivian was taught catechism by her mother, a master kindergarten teacher, whose educational philosophy is rooted in a love of God and our neighbors. Vivian has planted her own pedagogy in the same soil while prioritizing compassion, vulnerability, and accountability. She believes that there is always room at the table and considers it a privilege to help someone find a place to sit.
Sara Quinn, Parish Administrator
Sara started here at Grace Church in March of 2023. A native Rhode Islander, she graduated from the Community College of Rhode Island. Sara has a love of traveling and experiencing new places and spent a lot of her early adulthood doing so. Sara likes to create art, cook for friends, have outdoor adventures (especially the beach), and spend time with her family. She and her partner currently live just outside of the city with their daughter. You can find her in the Parish Office on Mondays from 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM.
John Carbone, Sexton
Pedro Quinilla, Assistant Sexton
Selemani Mayundo, Assistant Sexton
Vestry
A church’s Vestry functions as an “executive board” of sorts and is made up of lay (non-ordained) parishioners elected by the members of the congregation. They meet monthly with the Rector and clergy to help advise and make decisions on financial, legal, and other matters as related to the functioning of the church as an institution.
Current members of
the Grace Church Vestry are:
- Joseph Berryhill (Class of 2024)
- Lori Brown (Class of 2025)
- Michael D’Alesandre (Class of 2024)
- Laurie DiBattista (Treasurer, Class of 2026)
- Joel Goloskie (Clerk of the Vestry, Class of 2025)
- Nicholas Halar (Class of 2025)
- Carissa Mills (Senior Warden, Class of 2025)
- Anaezi Modu (Class of 2024)
- Diane Stamp (Junior Warden, Class of 2024)
- Pat Trosclair (Class of 2026)
- Frank Ward (Class of 2026)
- Jeff Williams (Class of 2026)
