Rev. Andries Coetzee, Interim Pastor
Rev. Andries (Dries) Coetzee (he/him/his) serves as Interim Pastor at Talmadge Hill Community Church, bringing a unique perspective as a catalyst for change who prioritizes building transformative communities through deep listening and authentic engagement. Born in South Africa during apartheid, he witnessed the nation's transformation to democracy, learning the power of truth-telling and reconciliation, and what it means to live into the responsibility of correcting historical wrongs through restorative justice and systemic change.
Since immigrating to the United States in 1998, Dries has built a blended multicultural family life with his wife Beth in their mixed-orientation marriage, together raising their five children. He is on a lifelong journey of embracing his authentic self as a gay man who challenges heteronormativity. His lived experience has deepened his commitment to creating brave spaces where vulnerability becomes strength and everyone can live truthfully.
At the heart of his ministry is the conviction that belonging is essential—cultivating community where everyone feels welcomed, worthy, and included. He serves not as a fixer, but as a fellow sojourner alongside congregations in their threshold moments, inviting us all to be part of a larger purpose of community and transformation.
Rev. Dries Coetzee is excited to serve Talmadge Hill Community Church, resonating deeply with their commitment to being an inclusive community. He believes that fostering compassion and vulnerability are key to unlocking understanding and enabling everyone and the whole of creation to flourish. His belief in the transformative nature of the triune God's boundary-crossing, limitless love empowers us to lives of justice and mercy.
Rev. Dr. Cheryl L. Bundy, Associate Minister
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 received her Doctorate in Ministry in Integrated Mental Health Chaplaincy at Vanderbilt Divinity School in May 2024.
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.