Unity of Wimberley Board Members and Monthly Board Meeting Reports

Michael Finn,  Board President

Michael Finn grew up in the Hill Country.  Upon graduating college with a degree in advertising, Finn headed to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. He achieved moderate success, but his greatest gig was landing his wife, Leah.   After the birth of their first son, they decided to come back home and now reside in Dripping Springs with their two boys and corgi, Hank.  Finn runs the family farming business as well as a local rental corporation that he and Leah founded a few years ago.  

Finding Unity of Wimberley has been huge boon to his spiritual growth, and recently becoming a prayer chaplain has deepened his faith as well as his connection to the church.

 Andrea Ballentine, Vice-President

The best way to describe Andrea is as the 1.0 version and 2.0 reboot.  She spent the first half of her adult life as a wife, mother, early-childhood development specialist, kindergarten teacher and Austin suburbanite. She came to Wimberley 11 years ago ready to reinvent herself and quickly found the means to do so at Unity of Wimberley through New Thought principles, prosperity consciousness, Grief Recovery, prayer and meditation, enthusiastic volunteering and a stint on the board of trustees. This all lead to a new and very satisfying career as a chemical dependency education teacher and direct care manager at a local rehab and a wonderful relationship of 7 years with Brad McClusky. For the last year and a half Andrea has been on a spiritual sabbatical awaiting "guidance" for her next move. The nudge to rejoin the board started as a whisper in June and by November became an unavoidable shout. She is feeling an amazing amount of energy, creativity and enthusiasm to be part of the effort to rejuvenate our beloved church after the long period away from each other. Her pet project is stewardship of this property, to inspire a strong grounds committee and to encourage every member of the congregation to take the opportunity to experience the magic  of this incredible hill. 

Susan Winkler, Treasurer

Susan grew up in Central Texas, graduating from UT Austin, with a BBA in Marketing and Management. Her working career started in property management. Prior to retiring in 2022, she was self-employed for 30 years as a Benefits and Financial Consultant for Texas school districts. She now loves spending her time gardening, enjoying nature, playing pickleball and volunteering. Susan has been married to Tom Diehl for 40 years. They have a blended family with 3 daughters, one son and 6 fantastic grandchildren. She has been enjoying New Thought churches for over 40 years. She began coming to Unity of Wimberley off and on back in the early days when Mindy Audlin was the minister but only became a member 7 years ago. Susan volunteers at the church as the "Bird Lady", overseeing and coordinating wonderful volunteers for the bird box program, a part of our wildlife exemption, and until May 2024 was the "Note Angel", writing welcoming letters to visitors and notes of support to members going through challenges. She loves being part of this special community, saying it feels like a loving home.

Linda McQuinn, Secretary

Linda was born into a Career Army Officer home at Ft. McClellan, Alabama – but Texas has always been home as both her parents and extended families were from Texas. Linda started kindergarten in Japan and graduated high school in Pakistan; the years in between were spent at numerous different posts in the US.

After graduating from Texas State with a degree in Sociology Linda worked for Children’s Protective Services, then the State Licensing Division for Foster and Group Homes and Adoption Agencies. Her last employment was with an adoption agency in Houston where she worked with adoptive families.

Linda and her husband Pat have been married for 45 years; they have two grown children, a son-in-law and two teenage grandchildren. They moved To Canyon Lake in 2017after Pat’s retirement and Hurricane Harvey – they plan to stay.

Linda’s interests include volunteering at Unity of Wimberley, cooking for others, reading and gardening. 

Nick Giovacchini, Member at Large

Nick grew up in Trenton, NJ and attended college in Ohio, where he met his wife, Abby.  After graduating, he went back to NJ to attend Princeton Seminary, married and moved to Austin. There, he ventured into the tech industry. Eventually, Nick and Abby moved to Wimberley, where they joined Unity of Wimberley in 2020, a time of spiritual awakening.

In Wimberley, he’s started a marketing and sales business and welcomed his first child, Enso in 2022. Nick serves as a prayer chaplain and served on the Ministerial Search Committee. With another baby boy on the way (and two dogs), his family continues to grow and thrive. Nick and Abby consider themselves blessed to call Unity of Wimberley home.

Mike Kemp, Member at Large

Born on Caddo Lake in Marshall with the curiosity he inherited from his marine biologist father,  Mike grew up near lakes and the Texas Gulf Coast, with swimming being his refuge and passion — earning All-State swimming honors in high school. His high school years brought him to Austin and UT Austin, where, after changing majors several times, he ultimately graduated with a BBA in Management from the McCombs School of Business. The best part of that education was a three-year interruption as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal, West Africa.

Having waited tables and bartended through college, his love of the hospitality industry drew him to a career in the luxury hotel and resort industry. He was part of opening four hotels, including three Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton resorts in Hawaii. After 14 years in paradise, and an additional two years at the famous Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, he returned to Texas, finally retiring in Wimberley in 2013 — where he discovered Unity!

Nomination Board 
For Information, please email nominations@unityofwimberley.com

Unity of Wimberley Staff Members

Aida Pierson
Office Manager 
office@unityofwimberley.com

Sue Witt
Communications Coordinator
communication@unityofwimberley.com

Mimi Curry
Youth & Family Ministry Director
yfm@unityofwimberley.com

Julie Ragins and Curtis Brengle
Music Directors
music@unityofwimberley.com

Jason Marion
Sound Engineer
sound@unityofwimberley.com

Amy Whiteland
Volunteer Coordinator
volunteer@unityofwimberley.com