Staff and Volunteers

Beverly Chavez,
Church Secretary
email: office@secondpresabq.org

Beverly has been a member of Second Church for about 44 years. She served as the organist for almost forty years, playing for the English service and sometimes the Spanish service. When the church combined two services into one bilingual service, Beverly plays the organ to accompany the hymns while Karmen plays the piano. Her other duties are to select the hymns for the worship service and play the piano for sectionals during choir practice.

Karmen Van Dyke,
Music Director
email: choirdirector@secondpresabq.org

Karmen Van Dyke has served each level of the denomination. She is especially invested in the potential of worship for small and medium-sized congregations and is frequently involved in worship planning and musical leadership, as well as teaching workshops for the Presbytery of Santa Fe and Synod of the Southwest.

Susie and Francis Chang, Youth Directors

There is nothing more challenging or rewarding than being involved with Youth Ministry! This is a fact that Francis and Susie Chang have discovered during their two years as Coordinators of Youth Ministry at Second Church. In the past, the duo have devoted their energies to Children's Ministry but when the opportunity presented itself to shift their emphasis from preschool and elementary kids to midschool and high schoolers they took the bait and the rest is history.

( Youth Covenant form )

Lynn Gatewood,
Paying Treasurer

Lynn assumed the responsibility of Paying Treasurer in the spring of 2018, and quickly and seamlessly learned how to do the work! Nothing was missed or dropped. The Paying Treasurer ensures our employees and bills are paid, promptly and correctly.

John Van Dyke, Bookkeeper

John jokingly refers to himself as Karmen's husband, however he also does so much in keeping this little church humming. John served for many years as a Session member. In that capacity, he was our Stewardship and Finance Chair, as well as our Bookkeeper. Serving in those positions he is intimately familiar with the accounting and the monetary needs of the church. With a short interim, he has returned to serve on Session, and continues to serve as our Bookkeeper, which is no easy task. He keeps detailed books and has an open door policy on discussing the financial nuances of the church.

Joe and Priscilla Candelaria,
Newsletter Editors, Emeritus!

Joe and Priscilla Candelaria have a long tradition at Second Presbyterian Church. Joe's father was Reverend Jose I. Candelaria, who served as a minister at our church for many years. The west wing of our building is named for him.

Joe and Priscilla have worked tirelessly putting together our newsletter, every month, for over 20 years!

They retired in September, 2016. We remain greatly in their debt for their selfless and untiring contribution.

Lauren LaMonica - Young Adult Volunteer (YAV)
2018 thru Jul 2019

Lauren is the Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) assigned to Second, thru July 2019.  Stop by her office in the old choir room!  Lauren’s hometown is Denton, TX, where she attended Billy Ryan High School. She later studied at North Central Texas College in Gainesville, TX.  Last year she completed her first YAV year in Chinnok, MT.

You can email Lauren at:  lauren@secondpresabq.org
Read Lauren’s blog at:  newadventuresinnewmexico.wordpress.com