Staff

To schedule appointments with Dean Powery, please email the assistant to the dean of Duke Chapel.

To request Dean Powery as a guest preacher or speaker, please fill out this form.

The Rev. Dr. Luke A. Powery is the Dean of Duke University Chapel and Associate Professor of Homiletics at Duke Divinity School. A national leader in the theological study of the art of preaching (homiletics), Powery regularly delivers sermons at Duke Chapel as well as at churches throughout the United States and abroad. He is often a keynote speaker and lecturer at educational institutions, conferences, symposia, and retreats.

His teaching and research interests are located at the intersection of preaching, worship, pneumatology, and culture, particularly expressions of the African diaspora. He is the author of Spirit Speech: Lament and Celebration in Preaching; Dem Dry Bones: Preaching, Death, and Hope; Rise Up, Shepherd! Advent Reflections on the Spirituals; and Were You There? Lenten Reflections on the Spirituals. He has co-authored an introductory textbook on preaching, Ways of the Word: Learning to Preach for Your Time and Place. He is also a general editor of the nine-volume lectionary commentary series for preaching and worship titled Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship.

Powery was ordained by the Progressive National Baptist Convention and has served in an ecumenical capacity in churches throughout Switzerland, Canada and the United States. He is a member of the Academy of Homiletics, for which he has served as Secretary; the American Academy of Religion; and the Society for the Study of Black Religion. Powery served as a member of the executive lectionary team for The African-American Lectionary and is the recipient of numerous scholastic fellowships and awards. In 2008, the African-American Pulpit named him one of twenty outstanding black ministers under the age of 40 who are helping shape the future direction of the church. More recently, in 2014, he was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College for his ethical and spiritual leadership in the academy, church, and broader society.

Prior to his appointment at Duke, he served as the Perry and Georgia Engle Assistant Professor of Homiletics at Princeton Theological Seminary. He received his bachelor of arts in music with a concentration in vocal performance from Stanford University, his master of divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and his doctor of theology from Emmanuel College at the University of Toronto.

He is married to Gail Powery, and the couple has two children.

More information on education and work history can be found in Dean Powery's CV.

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To schedule appointments with Dean Powery, please email the Assistant to the Dean of Duke Chapel.

To request Dean Powery as a guest preacher/speaker, please fill out this form.

Ava West, former Chapter President of Kappa Delta Sorority, graduated Magna cum Laude from Pace University in 2010 with a B.A. in Communication Studies and a minor in Psychology. In 2013, she graduated as a Juris Doctor from the Law School at Campbell University. After working as a case manager in a criminal defense law firm for two years, she realized that a legal career is not the right fit for her. She joined the Duke Chapel in July 2015.

Ava grew up in Boston, MA and went to college in New York City. She moved to North Carolina in 2010, and  now lives in Durham with her husband, Alden, their dog, Captain, and their twins, Owen and Naomi, born in July 2017.

The Rev. Bruce Puckett is an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene. He has been part of the Chapel Staff since 2012. Prior to joining the Chapel staff, he served as the interim pastor for the Congregation at Duke Chapel for two years. He has a master of divinity from Duke Divinity School, and a bachelor of arts in Religion from Olivet Nazarene University. He has enjoyed working on the Chapel staff as the director of community ministry, the director of worship and community ministry, and now as the assistant dean of the Chapel. These various roles have enabled him to engage his passion for connecting people with God and with one another. He is a regular contributor on A Plain Account, an online Wesleyan lectionary commentary resource for preaching and study, and soon he will be contributing to the commentary series titled, Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship.

Bruce and his wife Renee have been married since 2005. Their son Nolan was born in 2011. They love playing games and sports, attending Duke sporting events, and going to Disney World. The newest member of their family is a dog named Winslow. When he has time, Bruce enjoys playing golf, basketball, and volleyball. He also occasionally enjoys running long distances because it allows him to be outside.

As director of Religious Life, the Rev. Kathryn Lester-Bacon is called to care for interfaith religious leaders and worshiping communities by sharing stories, asking questions, strengthening support systems, deepening dialogue, and building collaboration for the nurture of spiritual life on campus.

She joined the staff in the fall of 2019 and is an ordained Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). She graduated from Duke University and Princeton Seminary.  Most recently she served as the associate pastor of Second Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Virginia.

She has served as a chaplain in hospice and pediatric oncology, a director of youth and family ministries, and a moderator for the boards of both Duke and Virginia Commonwealth University Presbyterian campus ministries. She has a certificate in spiritual direction from Richmond Hill in Richmond, Virginia, and a certificate in community organizing and congregational leadership from Johnson C. Smith Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia.

Outside of work, she loves writing, reading, dark chocolate, and long walks. She is married to Michael Bacon, and together they try to keep up with their two young children, Josie and Ben.

The Rev. Joshua Lazard’s engagement with students reflects the Chapel’s commitment to the the life of the mind and Christian discernment mentorship through the Chapel Scholars program. He also leads a yearly retreat during spring break that immerses undergraduate students in spiritual renewal and restorative practices.

Joshua joined the Chapel staff in 2014 and hails from the South Side of Chicago. His undergraduate and graduate pursuits brought him to Dillard University in New Orleans and then to Fisk University in Nashville following Hurricane Katrina in 2006, where he earned a B.S. in Accounting.  Joshua went on to receive a Master of Divinity and a Master of Arts in Church Music in Atlanta from the Johnson C. Smith Seminary at the Interdenominational Theological Center in 2010.  He is an ordained Baptist minister.  His outside pursuits include freelance writing for online publications such as "Religion Dispatches,” photography and music, as well as road trips.

As the Chapel's community minister, the Rev. Breana van Velzen is present at the intersection of faith and justice on behalf of the Chapel. In her role, Breana seeks to create opportunities for growing in faith and knowledge among students, staff, and community members. She often partners alongside non-profits, churches, other faith communities, and local residents of Durham around racism, affordable housing, and prison justice.

Breana is an ordained Baptist minister and holds a Master of Divinity from Duke Divinity School. She also holds a Master of Social Work degree from UNC Chapel Hill and a B.A. in English Education from UNC Wilmington. Her passions include advocacy at the intersections of racial, economic, and environmental justice, and hospitality. These passions led her to work in faith-based advocacy, financial coaching, affordable housing, and immigration reform. When she is not volunteering or traveling, she enjoys slam poetry, science fiction, and nature walks. 

In her role as Staff Assistant for Ministry, Gale provides office support to the Chapel’s Ministry team. She has been working at Duke since 2006 and comes to the Chapel from the department of Romance Studies where she provided financial support for the department's faculty members. She is currently pursuing a paralegal degree at Liberty University. Her passions outside of work include serving her community in the role of planning and zoning commissioner, which she has been doing for almost 16 years. Gale is active in her church serving in the children's ministry. Her other interests include writing, reading, cooking, gardening and DIY projects. Gale also enjoys travel abroad, which includes mission work in Haiti.

A conductor, composer, and scholar of sacred music, Dr. Zebulon Highben serves as director of Chapel Music at Duke University Chapel. He conducts the Chapel Choir and oversees the Chapel’s extensive music program, which connects students, community members, staff singers, instrumentalists, and professional colleagues in myriad worship services and sacred concerts.

Prior to his appointment at the Chapel in 2019, Highben was associate professor of music at Muskingum University and director of music at Trinity United Methodist Church in Columbus, Ohio. Choirs under Highben’s leadership have performed at numerous choral conferences and festivals, and have toured domestically and internationally. In 2015, he won The American Prize in Conducting in the College/University Chorus Division for his work with the Muskingum choirs. In 2016, he was selected as the Central Division Fellow for the American Choral Directors Association’s International Conductors Exchange Program with South Korea.

Highben has taught courses and given lectures on topics such as choral literature, conducting, rehearsal techniques, and the musical heritage of the Reformation. His scholarly output includes two sacred choral anthologies, numerous articles and essays on the practice of church music, and more than fifty published choral and liturgical compositions.

Highben earned an undergraduate degree in music education from Ohio State University, a master of sacred music degree from Luther Seminary with St. Olaf College, and a doctor of musical arts in conducting from Michigan State University. He is an ordained deacon in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Explore Dr. Highben’s work at his website.

Read more about Dr. Highben's appointment as director of Chapel Music.

As associate conductor for chapel Music, Dr. Philip Cave provides musical leadership of the Chapel’s weekly Choral Vespers worship service, and also directs the Chapel’s Bach Cantata Series and serves as a liaison for visiting choirs.

Prior to his appointment as at Duke Chapel, Cave was associate musician at Grace Church in New York City; he was also organist and choirmaster at All Souls Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C., at Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill in Alexandria, Virginia, and at St. James’s Church in West Hartford, Connecticut. He has taught at the University of Oxford, Central Connecticut State University, Grinnell College, and The College of New Jersey, and was Artistic Director of the Oxford Harmonic Society and of Alexandria Choral Society. He is a recipient of the Byrne Award from the London Handel Society and the Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society, and is also an Honorary Fellow of London’s Guild of St. Cecilia.

More information on Dr. Cave and his work can be found in his extended biography.

Christopher Jacobson joined the Chapel staff in July of 2014.  He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, and was formerly Associate Organist and Choirmaster at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, S.C., and Assistant Organist at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.  In his roles at Duke University, Christopher oversees the training of the Duke Organ Scholars, conducts the Duke Evensong Singers in Choral Evensong each Sunday afternoon during the academic year, and is responsible for the organ playing at Duke Chapel and Divinity School worship services.  Christopher is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he studied organ with David Higgs, St. Olaf College, and was a treble chorister under James Litton in the American Boychoir.  He has played organ recitals throughout North America, Europe, and Australia, and performed the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maurice Duruflé several times across the United States. You can also read about his distinction as a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, as well as the Duke Today interview with him. In his spare time he enjoys running marathons, biking, and sailing. More information about Christopher and his work can be found at www.christopher-jacobson.com.

Robert Parkins, University Organist and Professor of the Practice of Music at Duke University, has concertized throughout the United States, in Central America, and in Europe. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati College–Conservatory of Music and the Yale University School of Music, he studied with Gerre Hancock, Charles Krigbaum, Michael Schneider, and Ralph Kirkpatrick. As a Fulbright scholar, he pursued further study with Anton Heiller in Vienna.

His organ and harpsichord recordings have been released under the Calcante, Gothic, Musical Heritage Society, and Naxos labels. His Naxos compact disc recordings include Early Iberian Organ Music and Brahms: Complete Organ Works, both recorded on the Chapel’s Flentrop organ. German Romantic Organ Music (Gothic Records) features both the Flentrop and the Aeolian organs. Iberian and South German Organ Music (Calcante) was the first commercial recording of the new Brombaugh meantone organ, and Dr. Parkins has since released another recording of the Brombaugh, Organ Music of Frescobaldi (Calcante).

A specialist in early Iberian keyboard music, Dr. Parkins contributed the chapter on “Spain and Portugal” to the book Keyboard Music Before 1700 (second edition, Routledge: 2003). Visit Robert Parkins' personal webpage for more information.

John P. Santoianni was named the Ethel Sieck Carrabina Curator of Organs and Harpsichords at Duke University in 2002. Among the instruments under his care are the four pipe organs in Duke Chapel: Aeolian Organ Company (1932), Flentrop Orgelbouw (1976), John Brombaugh and Associates (1997), and a portative by John Bennett (2014). In addition, he maintains the harpsichords and pipe organs in the Department of Music, and in the Divinity School.

Mr. Santoianni is also the proprietor of Advent Pipe Organ Services, and maintains a wide variety of instruments in universities and churches in North Carolinas. He has also worked for the Lauck Pipe Organ Company, Otsego, MI, and the Bishop Organ Company, Boston, MA. While at the latter company, he was involved in projects on such notable instruments in Boston as the organs at Trinity Church (on Copley Square) and the First Church of Christ, Scientist (the Mother Church).

As an organist, Mr. Santoianni holds a performance degree from the Oberlin Conservatory and a Master of Music from the New England Conservatory, where he graduated with Distinction in Performance. His teachers have included Yuko Hayashi, William Porter, Haskell Thomson, and Stefano Innocenti.

Amanda comes to the Chapel from the Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she has been the Director of External Affairs for 11 years. She has served as the museum’s lead development officer and helped to shape the organization’s identity and image. Amanda has a BA in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and an MFA in Art and Religion from Goddard College. She is the author of several books, articles, blogs, and resource materials, including the Ackland’s Five Faiths Project curricular materials and A Place for Meaning: Art, Faith, and Museum Culture. Other publications include: Lost and Found: Adolescence, Parenting, and the Formation of Faith (Cowley Books, 2004) and Five Voices Five Faiths: An Interfaith Primer (Cowley Books, 2005).

Joni Harris is in charge of business and facilities for the Chapel. She comes to the Chapel after twenty-five years at Duke, most currently from the University Budget Office.

As communications manager, James Todd oversees and coordinates communications for the Chapel, including broadcasts, social media, this website, and publications. He came to the Chapel in 2014 from Duke’s University Communications office where he worked as a writer, producer and, then video manager. Before that, he was a production assistant on WUNC Radio’s “The State of Things” show. He went to Duke as an undergraduate, majoring in physics. He is an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church. He lives in Durham with his wife and five children.

Kevin joined Duke Chapel in September of 2018 after working as a graphic designer in Washington, D.C. for the past three years. Prior to that he graduated from American University with a degree in Film & Media Arts. He's a total film nerd, and loves to have conversations about great movies. He lives in Durham with his wife, who is a student at Duke Divinity School. 

Mark, originally a native of Pennsylvania, moved to North Carolina with his wife Sandy in 1987 after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business marketing from the University of Indiana Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the Chapel, Mark was with DukeEngage for four years and the Duke Faculty Club for eight years. Mark comes from a small business background and before joining Duke was previously the owner of both a Domino’s Pizza and Yogurt Pump franchise. Both of Mark’s sons graduated from the University of South Carolina. In his spare time, he enjoys playing tennis, pickleball, reading, and spending time with his wife.

Erica joined the Chapel staff in 2017, after working in the Meredith College Admissions Office. She is also freelance bassoonist, holding degrees in instrumental performance from UNC-Greensboro and the University of Maryland, College Park. No stranger to sacred choral music, she attended the annual month-long Lutheran Summer Music Academy & Festival for five summers. In her free time, she enjoys traveling with her husband, cooking, and spending time with her lab mixes, Luke and Leia.

To the role of wedding coordinator, David-Michael brings thirty-five years of experience in producing special events. He finds working with wedding couples and their families to be a most fulfilling endeavor. His goal is to be with them every step of the way.

In her role as a visitor relations assistant, Caroline Horton greets and assists visitors to the Chapel. She graduated from Furman University with a double major in psychology and religion. She worked for Passion City Church in Atlanta. She enjoys running trails, exploring Bull City and beyond with her husband, and chatting with perfect strangers from around the world.

Blanche Williams works closely with the Chapel's wedding coordinator to help lead the Chapel's skilled team of wedding directors and assistant directors. Since overseeing her first Chapel wedding in 2005, Blanche has watched nearly 500 brides process down the Chapel’s grand fifty-yard-long aisle—including her own daughter, who was married in Duke Chapel in 2010. It’s a career that, after more than a decade, she wouldn’t trade for any other. A lifelong North Carolinian, Blanche graduated from Meredith College in Raleigh with a bachelor of arts in Religion and Sociology. In her free time, she enjoys traveling internationally, dabbling in photography, and spending time with her daughters and grandson.

Ann has worked at the Chapel in volunteer or staff capacities since 1982. As she goes about her responsibilities at the Chapel, she tries to welcome the visitor within the greater context of the Divine. Ann enjoys reading in the fields of Christian theology and spirituality, as well as American History, and can devour a good biography—Ola Winslow's Jonathan Edwards is her all-time favorite. She is a devoted “mom” to Sam, her black lab-spaniel and her two Chapel kittens, Chris and Andy, whom she named after Chapel staff members.

A prayer that is especially significant to Ann’s work at the Chapel comes from St. Stephen's church in London: “O God, make the door of this house wide enough to receive all who need human love and fellowship, narrow enough to shut out all envy, pride and strife. Make its threshold smooth enough to be no stumbling-block to children, nor to straying feet, but rugged and strong enough to turn back the tempter's power. God make the door of this house the gateway to thine eternal kingdom.”

Antoinette L. Bethea (nickname "Nanette”) is a retired social worker. She was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is a graduate of Louisiana State University. She moved to Durham to be closer to her grandchildren and is now a member of the Congregation at Duke Chapel.

Before coming to Duke Chapel, Jane Kelly taught English as a Second Language for 25 years.  Her last seven years of teaching were at Duke University, as part of the Graduate School in Durham and at Duke’s campus in Kunshan, China.   She also taught in Jakarta, Indonesia, Quebec City, Canada, and Mexico City.  Jane has also lived in Mali, Belgium, and the Netherlands.  She enjoys reading, her family & friends, and the international milieu at Duke, where she gets to enjoy the company of foreign students without having to leave town. She moved to Durham in 2008.

Keshia Perry is a criminal justice major, earning a bachelor’s of science degree from Mount Olive College and a master of public administration from Strayer University. She was previously a correctional officer for ten years and is currently working for the court system. Keshia enjoys spending time with her two kids Aijah (18) and Kristopher (15). She also enjoys reading, walking, yoga or anything peaceful!

In her role as a visitor relations assistant, Alexandria Da Ponte greets and assists visitors to the Chapel. She is a graduate of Samford University and Duke Divinity School. She enjoys reading, traveling, road trips, and exploring the downtown Durham food scene.

In his role as a visitor relations assistant, Shawn Proffitt greets and assists visitors to the Chapel. He also works as a chaplain at Central Regional Hospital in Butner, North Carolina. He is a member of the Congregation at Duke Chapel and is an avid reader of history.