To contact any staff member type their first name then @raleighmoravian.org. For example: jan@raleighmoravian.org
Rev. Rebecca Kuiken - Interim Pastor
Rebecca Kuiken, an ordained Presbyterian minister, began her interim ministry at Raleigh Moravian Church in July 2022. She looks forward to assisting this congregation to discern its future ministry.
Rebecca comes from a long line of Dutch Reform missionaries who worked in India, China and Iraq building agricultural colleges and hospitals. Their legacy of witnessing to the Gospel through public service has strongly shaped her ministry.
She attended Harvard Divinity School and San Francisco Theological Seminary, where she received her Master of Divinity degree.
For the next few decades, she served in urban and suburban churches and non-profit organizations in the San Francisco Bay area. She worked as the Director of Communications for San Francisco Theological Seminary, as a staff consultant for a Human Resource firm and as the Director of the Interfaith Council on Economic Justice in Silicon Valley working on behalf of low-wage workers.
In 2011, Rebecca left California to become a pastor in the French Reformed Church, first in the historically Protestant region in Southern France, and then in Reims where her parish included “champagne Protestants” as well as African immigrants. Fluent in French, she learned the art of preaching and pastoral care in a new culture. When she returned to the United States she became pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Elkhart, Indiana.
Rebecca moved to Raleigh in 2019 to be near Marika, her eldest daughter and granddaughter Maevis. Her youngest daughter, Janna, lives in Philadelphia where she is in her third year of residency at UPenn.
Rebecca Kuiken, an ordained Presbyterian minister, began her interim ministry at Raleigh Moravian Church in July 2022. She looks forward to assisting this congregation to discern its future ministry.
Rebecca comes from a long line of Dutch Reform missionaries who worked in India, China and Iraq building agricultural colleges and hospitals. Their legacy of witnessing to the Gospel through public service has strongly shaped her ministry.
She attended Harvard Divinity School and San Francisco Theological Seminary, where she received her Master of Divinity degree.
For the next few decades, she served in urban and suburban churches and non-profit organizations in the San Francisco Bay area. She worked as the Director of Communications for San Francisco Theological Seminary, as a staff consultant for a Human Resource firm and as the Director of the Interfaith Council on Economic Justice in Silicon Valley working on behalf of low-wage workers.
In 2011, Rebecca left California to become a pastor in the French Reformed Church, first in the historically Protestant region in Southern France, and then in Reims where her parish included “champagne Protestants” as well as African immigrants. Fluent in French, she learned the art of preaching and pastoral care in a new culture. When she returned to the United States she became pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Elkhart, Indiana.
Rebecca moved to Raleigh in 2019 to be near Marika, her eldest daughter and granddaughter Maevis. Her youngest daughter, Janna, lives in Philadelphia where she is in her third year of residency at UPenn.
Jami Vandock -
Director of Christian Education for Children and Youth
In her position as DCE, Jami has a special concentration on programs for children, youth, and their families. She brings lifelong experience with the Moravian Church plus training and experience in music education to her work at Raleigh Moravian. Jami grew up in Ohio as a member of Dover First Moravian Church. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Bowling Green State University. Additionally, she completed a Master’s in Music Education from Kent State University with a focus on accommodating students with special needs in the elementary classroom. She previously taught k-12 music in public education and served as Director of Church Music.
Jami became a member of Raleigh Moravian shortly after moving to North Carolina in 2013. The prominence and preservation of music traditions is one of the most important reasons Jami feels drawn to the Moravian Church. Jami and her husband, Kurt, enjoy singing in the church choir and traveling, gardening, and cooking with their two children.
Director of Christian Education for Children and Youth
In her position as DCE, Jami has a special concentration on programs for children, youth, and their families. She brings lifelong experience with the Moravian Church plus training and experience in music education to her work at Raleigh Moravian. Jami grew up in Ohio as a member of Dover First Moravian Church. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Bowling Green State University. Additionally, she completed a Master’s in Music Education from Kent State University with a focus on accommodating students with special needs in the elementary classroom. She previously taught k-12 music in public education and served as Director of Church Music.
Jami became a member of Raleigh Moravian shortly after moving to North Carolina in 2013. The prominence and preservation of music traditions is one of the most important reasons Jami feels drawn to the Moravian Church. Jami and her husband, Kurt, enjoy singing in the church choir and traveling, gardening, and cooking with their two children.
Sara Montgomery - Director of Music/Organist
Sara loves serving our Lord through music. She has a music degree from Capital University and has been playing organ since high school. Her love of music began at a young age when she would draw pictures of her own church organist. She recently moved to North Carolina, and is loving meeting new people here at church as well as thoroughly enjoying the mild weather! When not at the piano or organ, she enjoys bike riding, cooking, cross-stitching, reading and spending time with her family. She has one son Tommy who is an eight and is such a blessing. She is thankful for the Lord's work in her life and others.
Jim White - Choir Director
Jim grew up in Toms River, New Jersey, and got involved in the music ministry and youth programs at the Presbyterian Church. He holds a BM degree in Church Music from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and a MM degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Jim has served in UCC, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Methodist churches. His work in ministry has taken him to Pennsylvania, California, Ohio, Alabama, and North Carolina. He enjoys being with his wife Elizabeth and son Marshall, as well as their two beagles, Sylvie and Chipper. Hobbies and activities include reading, playing guitar, whitewater canoeing, Crossfit, biking, running, and being outdoors. His passion is to get to know people and help them grow as singers and people of faith. Jim also directs the Chorus at Exploris Middle School.
Jim grew up in Toms River, New Jersey, and got involved in the music ministry and youth programs at the Presbyterian Church. He holds a BM degree in Church Music from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey, and a MM degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Jim has served in UCC, Presbyterian, Lutheran, and Methodist churches. His work in ministry has taken him to Pennsylvania, California, Ohio, Alabama, and North Carolina. He enjoys being with his wife Elizabeth and son Marshall, as well as their two beagles, Sylvie and Chipper. Hobbies and activities include reading, playing guitar, whitewater canoeing, Crossfit, biking, running, and being outdoors. His passion is to get to know people and help them grow as singers and people of faith. Jim also directs the Chorus at Exploris Middle School.
Geoffrey Simon - Organ Curator
Geoffrey Simon is Organ Curator for Raleigh Moravian Church’s 1902 Adam Stein organ, tuning and doing basic maintenance for this historic instrument.
His experience with Stein organs began some years ago when he played the rededicatory recital on that builder’s Opus #1, built in 1897. A Fellow of the College of Church Musicians at Washington National Cathedral, where he studied with Leo Sowerby and Paul Callaway, he holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. He was Director of University Choirs at The American University in Washington, DC before becoming Professor of Church Music at Wesley Seminary. He has played or conducted in twenty US states and Canada, and in European capitals including Berlin, Copenhagen, and Warsaw. He is one of few Americans to play a recital at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Germany, where J.S. Bach served as Cantor. Also a harpsichordist, he has performed at the Smithsonian Institution (Bach’s D-minor concerto), the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress, and the National Cathedral (the 5th Brandenburg Concerto, under conductor Alexander Schneider).
Dr. Simon is a contributing music critic for the Cultural Voice of North Carolina, that state’s online arts site. He lives in Raleigh with his wife, Sarah Morgan; their home features a concert hall seating 70, where they regularly host solo and chamber music programs.
Geoffrey Simon is Organ Curator for Raleigh Moravian Church’s 1902 Adam Stein organ, tuning and doing basic maintenance for this historic instrument.
His experience with Stein organs began some years ago when he played the rededicatory recital on that builder’s Opus #1, built in 1897. A Fellow of the College of Church Musicians at Washington National Cathedral, where he studied with Leo Sowerby and Paul Callaway, he holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University. He was Director of University Choirs at The American University in Washington, DC before becoming Professor of Church Music at Wesley Seminary. He has played or conducted in twenty US states and Canada, and in European capitals including Berlin, Copenhagen, and Warsaw. He is one of few Americans to play a recital at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Germany, where J.S. Bach served as Cantor. Also a harpsichordist, he has performed at the Smithsonian Institution (Bach’s D-minor concerto), the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress, and the National Cathedral (the 5th Brandenburg Concerto, under conductor Alexander Schneider).
Dr. Simon is a contributing music critic for the Cultural Voice of North Carolina, that state’s online arts site. He lives in Raleigh with his wife, Sarah Morgan; their home features a concert hall seating 70, where they regularly host solo and chamber music programs.
Mary Frances Shore - Administrative Assistant
