Staff
Pastor: Betty Connette was ordained as Pastor at Western Boulevard Presbyterian Church in February, 2005. She grew up in Wilmington, NC, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. She received her Master of Religious Education from Union/PSCE and Master of Divinity from San Francisco Theological Seminary. Betty has served four other Presbyterian churches in the Raleigh area in various capacities: Christian education, youth ministry, mission development and pastoral ministry. She is married to Walt Clapp, a former member and elder of WBPC. Walt and Betty are blessed with a delightful nine-year-old daughter, Katherine Anh.
email: pastor@wbpresbyterian.org
Associate Minister: Dr. Bruce T. Grady is a native of Wilmington, North Carolina. He is married to the lovely Michele Moore and they have two children- Isaiah and Alexa. After serving as a pastor and professor in New York City for the past nine years, he has returned to the Tarheel State. He is the Assistant Professor of Religious Education at Shaw University Divinity School and he serves as part-time Associate Minister at Western Boulevard Presbyterian Church. His ministry at WBPC includes leading the contemporary worship service (@ The Table), and pastoral care.
email: associatepastor@wbpresbyterian.org
Organist: Janet Cherry directs the adult vocal and handbell choirs, assists with the children’s choir, and plays organ and piano for worship services. A native North Carolinian, she is a graduate of Meredith College in Raleigh, NC, with Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees. She believes that a wide variety of music enriches worship, and draws on her experiences with churches of different denominations for inspiration. To that end she seeks to expand the musical expressions of WBPC — keeping favorite traditional music while encouraging more ways for participation, and incorporating more contemporary and world music styles. In addition to her work at WBPC, she teaches piano and organ students through her music studio and also as a part-time faculty member of Meredith College.
email: music@wbpresbyterian.org
Van-Anthoney Hall, tenor, holds a Master of Music in voice/opera performance from Southern Methodist University as a Bruce Foote scholar and a Bachelor of Arts degree in vocal performance from North Carolina A&T State University. He has had the pleasure of working with Dallas Opera, Utah Festival Opera and Houston Ebony Opera companies and Virgina Tech Theatre. His vocal credits include opera/theatre performances in the Marriage of Figaro, Tosca, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Porgy and Bess, Black Nativity, The Consul and the Merry Widow. His concert credits include faculty and regional recitals of Spirituals and Art Songs. Currently, Van is an applied voice professor at North Carolina A&T State University
email: v.hall@wbpresbyterian.org
Preschool Director: Dawn Spano has almost 20 years of experience in Early Childhood Education. currently holds a B.A. in psychology from North Carolina State University. Her many experiences include working with typically developing preschoolers as well as those with special needs–particularly Behaviorally Emotionally Handicapped (BEH) children. Dawn has served as director of Western Boulevard Presbyterian Preschool since 1997.
email: preschool@wbpresbyterian.org
Church Administrative Assistant: Santi Matthews is involved in many areas of the life of Western Boulevard Presbyterian Church. She is the financial secretary, the gatekeeper for the calendar for the many activities of the church, and the publisher of information that is distributed to the congregation. Santi is married and has two teenage sons.
email: office@wbpresbyterian.org