Stephen loves the outdoors, history, trout fishing, and baseball.
“The only people I’ve met that are bigger Chicago Cubs fans than I am are
Prescott and Louisa Lunt,” said Stephen. In years past, he was extremely active in
the Episcopal Church as a Sunday school teacher; lay rector at Cursillo;
and completed the process of Holy Orders, the step before attending seminary.  
He was one of two lay pastoral assistants in the diocese of East Carolina.
“I got burnt out on church but decided to give it one more shot when I came to
Waynesville,” Stephen said. “I came to Grace, and Joslyn really jazzed me up.
Grace Church has been such a blessing to me. It’s off the charts.”

Darryl and June Bollinger say this area felt like home long
before they decided to move here. After visiting the mountains
for the past 15 years because of its scenic beauty and their love of the
outdoors, the couple decided to move here from Tallahassee,
Florida in 2018. Neither Darryl nor June considers themselves retired.

Darryl worked for twenty-eight years in the finance area of health care
but found his true vocation about ten years ago.  He has written six novels,
medical thrillers, and is working on the seventh. His sixth, titled “The Cure,”
takes place in Western North Carolina. June was employed full-time as an
administrator for a retinal surgery practice in Tallahassee and now does
consulting work, recently working for five months in Richmond, Virginia.
Darryl and June both started their careers in accounting, and both
gravitated to the health care field. June is a graduate of Florida State University
and was certified as a CPA. Darryl got his undergraduate degree in accounting at
Georgia Southwestern, and his master’s degree in Health Care Administration from Trinity
College in San Antonio, Texas. “When I graduated from Georgia Southwestern in
Americus, Georgia, Governor Jimmy Carter was the commencement speaker and handed
me my diploma,” Darryl said.  The couple have grown children in Florida, Georgia, and Colorado and two granddaughters: One a college student attending FSU; the other an eleven-year-old
growing up in Colorado.  June grew up in the Methodist Church and Darryl in the Baptist.
They were both confirmed in 2003 at St. John’s Episcopal in Tallahassee.
They both agree that they were attracted to the Episcopal faith because of the
liturgy and the inclusive nature of the church. They visited Grace numerous times
before deciding to join. The couple relates to the first missional priority “to steward God’s
creation faithfully.” When hiking, Darryl said “I know that I’m just a speck in God’s creation,
and I find comfort in that.” June is passionate about environmental stewardship and is
pursing the chance to work on meaningful projects.  “Now that I’m not working 60-70 hour weeks,
I’d like to devote my energy to environmental issues,” June said. “I’m comfortable here,
quite content. I’m a native Floridian, but I don’t miss it.”