Candidates for Board Membership 2025

This year our Board of Trustees is seeking to elect one new member for a 3-year term and re-elect one current member for another year. Elections will take place at our Annual Meeting after the service on Sunday November 16. For each candidate, church members will be able to vote yes, no, or abstain (no candidates are running against each other). Here are the candidates:

Chris Heiliger

Chris is our new nominee. He and his family joined Cedar Ridge five years ago, during the pandemic. What made Cedar Ridge stand out was the compassionate leadership and community focus on justice in our world. You’ve probably seen Chris on stage during worship. Outside of church, Chris is an executive at Gartner, a technology advisory company. He leads a part of the company that helps governments around the world use technology to govern well and leaders to lead well. Chris and Corinne will celebrate their 25th anniversary next year. They live in Columbia and have four children, Ella (19), Sadie (15), Greta (8), and Clara, who would be 11 this year.

Ginger Donohue

This vote has two elements:
1. Approval of an amendment to the bylaws (see below).
2. Based on approval of this amendment, election of Ginger Donohue for an additional one-year term. Ginger has served on the Board for the past six years which according to our current bylaws is the maximum consecutive term. However, after considerable deliberation our Board believes it is in the interest of our church community that Ginger remains on the Board for one more year. During her tenure, Ginger has provided vital oversight for the management, upkeep, and development of our property and facilities. We currently have a number of critical facilities projects pending and our Board believes the most responsible way to manage these would necessitate Ginger remaining in role for this slightly extended period. The Board is therefore proposing an amendment to the bylaws in the following way:

• Current text in the bylaws Article IV, Section 2: “Board service for an individual Trustee shall not exceed six consecutive years.”
• Proposed amendment to bylaws Article IV, Section 2: “Board service for an individual Trustee shall not exceed six consecutive years, unless approved for an extension not to exceed one year by a majority vote of the members of Cedar Ridge at a duly called and constituted meeting. The nomination of any Board member to extend beyond six consecutive years shall include a brief description of the extenuating circumstances supporting the additional period of service.”

Both Chris and Ginger will be available for questions or discussion after the service on Sunday November 16, or you can reach out with a questions by emailing questions@crcc.org.