ABOUT US
OUR VISION
Trinity is a family of faith, trusting and following Jesus Christ, welcoming and nurturing all people, reaching out to serve the needs of our communities near and far, and doing these things humbly and joyfully, believing that the greatest commandment is LOVE.
In 2006, in celebration of Trinity's 40th anniversary, we established a partnership with our sister church, Fuente de Vida in Suchitepeque, Guatemala, to provide yearly scholarships for children and young adults in the congregation.
OUR PARTNERS
MEET THE STAFF
Rev. David Garnett
Transitional Pastor
David Garnett grew up Methodist and Baptist but became Presbyterian in college.
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He met his wife Molly in the Seattle area when she was doing her Christian Education internship at his home church in Bellevue, Washington. They have two grown married sons.
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He attended Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California, and then served Powell Presbyterian Church near Knoxville as a solo pastor for 20 years.
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He has been a transitional (interim) pastor since 2008 and has pastored nine other churches in transition throughout the Southeast U.S, including three in North Carolina.
Rev. Dwight Christenbury
Associate Pastor
Dwight Christenbury grew up in the Presbyterian Church in various cities, towns, and campsites throughout Virginia. His faith was shaped not only by the local congregation but in the church-without-walls of Camp Hat Creek, the outdoor ministry center of the Presbytery of the Peaks (Lynchburg, Va.).
Dwight met his wife, Carol Steele, when they were both on the staff of Camp Hat Creek. They found themselves called to professional ministry in the church through their camp and conference experiences and, later, through their membership and involvement in the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C.
Following their time in Washington, Carol and Dwight attended Union Theological Seminary and the Presbyterian School of Christian Education (Richmond, Va.), from which they graduated in 2005. They moved to western North Carolina when Carol was called to the position of Senior Associate Director of the Center for Youth and Young Adult Ministry, Montreat Conference Center.
In addition to his work at Trinity, Dwight is a writer of Christian Education curriculum for youth for the
We Believe series, published by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
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Sally Beghtol, CP
Minister of Visitation
Sally Hetland Beghtol was born, raised, educated and married in Wisconsin. Her career took her to Iowa in 1970.
Sally’s 33 year career included teaching all levels of Special Education, liaison for Title 1 Reading and coordination of Exceptional Education. She also has a degree in counseling.
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After retirement she and her husband Roger moved to North Carolina in 1998.
After she was widowed the second time she went back to school and became a Presbyterian Lay Pastor. She has been a member of Trinity for 21 years.
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Sally has a daughter Kim, son in law Russ and a grandson Jack.
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Sally is a recent cancer survivor and has cold caps, ice boots, ice mittens and prayer shawls for anyone who would benefit from them.​
Lesley Bush
Music Director & Organist
Lesley M. Bush, a native of Polk County, North Carolina, graduated from Mars Hill College (now Mars Hill University) in 1988 with a bachelor’s degree in religion with an emphasis in church music. He continued his education at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, and was ordained in 1989.
He began his formal music education at age six, studying with his first piano teacher, Charlene Means; became a church pianist at age 11, and has been continuously involved in church music since that time.
Bush is a former member of the North Carolina Baptist Singers and has been the accompanist for the Third Century Singers (Community Chorus of Goldsboro, North Carolina). Bush has been the director/accompanist of the Community Chorus, in Tryon, North Carolina on twelve occasions. He is an officer of the Rutherford County Historical Society. He has served as photographer and research assistant for 40 historical publications. His landscape and interior photographs have been published in the United States and England. In 2018, he served as one of the principal photographers for the book, “Southern Splendor: Saving Architectural Treasures of the Old South” which was published by The University Press of Mississippi. He also participated as a re-enactor in the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary “Gold Fever and the Bechtler Mint,” produced by UNC-TV in 2012, and released to national television audiences in 2013. He enjoys doing research on his family genealogy.
He is a certified piano technician and has been tuning pianos since 2019. He currently tunes for Tryon Fine Arts Center, The Laurel Lake Music Society Concert Series at Tryon Estates Retirement Community, The Foundation Performing Arts Center of Rutherford County, The Symphony of Rutherford County and for several churches and musicians. He has taught piano for over 40 years and currently is a member of the teaching faculty at The Wild Roots Fine Arts Center in Forest City, NC.
Katie Cilluffo
Church Administrator
& Soprano Section Leader
Katie studied music at Interlochen Arts Academy, Indiana University and the University of Michigan. Originally from Michigan, she has lived in WNC for over a decade and can be found around town performing anything from jazz to opera to progressive rock.
Katie has been singing at Trinity for over a decade and loves being an active part of her church family.
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In addition to her activities at Trinity, Katie is an adjunct professor of voice at Warren WIlson College in Swannanoa, NC.
Jim Kisner
Maintenance Facilitator
Jim and his wife Nancy have been members of Trinity for over 50 years. They moved to Hendersonville in 1970 when Jim accepted a job with DuPont as a chemical engineer, he retired after 32 years as a production manager. After retiring he has worked for the school system as a substitute teacher and bus driver. They have two children and four grandchildren.
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Jim has served as Elder chairing Fellowship, Personnel and Stewardship Ministries. Jim has been a member of the Building and Grounds Ministry for 12 years.
Claire Crook
Alto Section Leader
Eric McAnallen
Tenor Section Leader
Eric grew up in Thailand with missionary parents, Victor and Marian McAnallen, who were very active members of the Trinity family. He studied Music Business and Vocal Performance at Geneva College where he was also involved in numerous instrumental and vocal ensembles. In 1988 and 1989 he toured with The Continental Brass & Singers to Colombia, Brazil, Tahiti, Fiji, Australia and the US.
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Following college Eric spent 10 years in Pittsburgh and another 14 years in Houston participating in numerous ensembles before making the move to WNC in 2014 to care for his aging parents. He has been very active in the area music scene and has sung the Asheville Symphony Chorus, Asheville Symphony Chamber Chorus, Blue Ridge Sacred Chorale, Cantaria Men’s Chorus, the Asheville Choral Society and Tempus.
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In addition to serving as Tenor Lead at Trinity, Eric is an Implementation Specialist & Operations Analyst for the UnitedHealthcare/Optum Health.
MEET OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM
Presbyterians are led by a "Session", a group of church members who are ordained to help guide the church.
They are also the volunteers who make Trinity go!
Elders
Diane Bowers
Julie Carter
Kris Grasse
Duane Johnson
Tom Karvonen
Angela Kuykendoll
Eric McAnallen
Leslie Nissen
Enrique Sánchez
Jim Smelker
Barry Stokes
Lorraine Talbot
Bud Weeks
Wayne Youngdahl
Deacons
Chris Becker
Molly Garnett
Vickie Hugger
Charles Keefer
Andy Nissen
Harry Petersen
Norie Sánchez
Patti Shannon
Nancy Sheffield
Cindy Stanfield
Kathy Steinbaugh
Debbie Stephens
Sandy Weeks
Diocles Wells
Doris Youngdahl
Annual Reports
Learn about our current and past projects, plans, and passions below
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for reports prior to 2020, please contact office@trinitypresnc.org