OUR STAFF & LEADERSHIP

Since 2010 Dr. Craig Wansink has been Senior Pastor at Second Presbyterian. A native of Iowa, he studied at universities in Japan, Jordan, Germany, and Israel, received his M.Div from McCormick Theological Seminary, was ordained in 1987, and graduated with a Ph.D.—in New Testament and Ancient Christianity—from Yale University. From 1994 to 2005 Pastor Craig was Parish Associate Minister at SPC, before he served from 2006 to 2010 at Squires Memorial Presbyterian Church. Craig came to Virginia in 1993 to teach at Virginia Wesleyan University. He serves as the Batten Professor of Religious Studies and Leadership and as the Chair of the Department of Religious Studies. He also serves as the Joan P. and Macon F. Brock, Jr. Director of the Robert Nusbaum Center, a center that focuses on issues relating to diversity, dialogue, faith, and freedom. He is one of the leading scholars on ancient Roman prisons (where the apostle Paul spent a great deal of time) and has translated and edited ancient Christian documents that had been preserved in the Coptic language. Craig speaks frequently throughout Coastal Virginia. He enjoys languages, vocabulary development, and word etymologies. As an Associate of the Harvard University Pluralism Project, he is very familiar with the religions of Hampton Roads. Craig and his wife, Nancy Chapman, have two adult children, Katrina and Teddy. On relaxing evenings, they enjoy live music and reading (she mysteries, he nonfiction), although generally they don’t do both at the same time.

The Reverend Catherine Hart Monroe received her Master of Divinity from Union Presbyterian Seminary in 2016. Catherine has served SPC in many different roles since relocating to Norfolk in 2012. She has served in her current role as our Covenant Associate Pastor for Discipleship & Spiritual Formation since September 2016. Catherine enjoys preaching, teaching, pastoral care, and planning special events at the church. Catherine is a native of Wilmington, North Carolina, and she received her Associate of Arts degree from Peace College in 1990, and her Bachelor of Arts in English and Communications from Meredith College in 1991. Catherine is married to Chuck Monroe, and they have three children, Whitley, Hart, and Alden. In her spare time, Catherine enjoys spending time with her family, playing with her three dogs (who she thinks are people), exercising, and working in her yard (although she struggles to keep anything green alive.)

As the Director of Music at SPC since 2020, Bob plans and leads music for all worship services at the church throughout the year. He works in close collaboration with the pastoral staff to create worship experiences that are focused and meaningful, and leads the Adult Choir and Worship Band as pianist and organist. He engages guest musicians and creates and organizes special musical events as diverse as outdoor blues concerts, “Prayers Without Words,” and the church’s annual Dixieland band Pentecost worship. Bob's production of weekly worship bulletins is an extension of his work as a worship planner in collaboration with staff leadership. In addition, Bob engages in outreach for SPC through the “Let’s Talk About Music” series at Harbor’s Edge, a local senior residence facility. An experienced leader of church music programs, Mr. Bob has served in a variety of denominations from Western Pennsylvania to southeastern Virginia for nearly forty years. A graduate of Duquesne and Carnegie Mellon Universities in Pittsburgh, PA, he also serves as Chorus Master/Conductor of the Virginia Symphony Orchestra and is the founding Artistic Director of the Norfolk Street Choir Project, a non-profit that serves the needs of individuals affected by homelessness. He also teaches voice privately in his home studio. Bob is an enthusiastic Pittsburgh Pirates baseball fan, keeps a large tank of Cichlid fish from Lake Malawi as a reminder of life-changing experiences in that African nation, and treasures time spend with his children Benjamin and Ali. He was a charter Board member of the National Alliance for Music in Vulnerable Communities (NAMVC) and is a frequent guest speaker throughout the region.

Jo Ridout Kolb serves as the Director of Administration and Family Ministries at Second Presbyterian. Jo has been at SPC since 2022 and is responsible for managing and coordinating the multiple tasks of running the church office. In that role, she is involved with coordinating volunteers and activities that support the intergenerational family at SPC, and that support individual families and our youngest disciples as well. Jo is a lifelong Presbyterian. She and Reverend Catherine Hart Monroe graduated from Peace College, a small Presbyterian Women’s College in Raleigh, North Carolina. Jo is also a graduate of Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. She and her husband, Steve, have three sons and live in Norfolk. When she’s not enjoying her time at Second, she can be found at her son’s baseball games, hiking and camping with her family, or burning dinner.