KNOX - Key Persons
Angela Sparks, prior to coming to Knox, was the Office Manager and Sales Manager for a national franchise company in Lebanon, OH for five years. She has worked as an office manager, administrative assistant, and executive assistant for several different companies over the past thirty-five years.
Angela graduated from Council Rock High School in Newtown, PA and attended the University of Pennsylvania.
In her free time, Angela enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking. She enjoys reading a wide genre of books and has a secret yarn stash for her knitting projects. She shares her home with brother and sister Cody and Cassie, four-year old Shih Tzus.
Christina Miller brings to Knox strong experience in church service, having served in a variety of roles for nine years at College Hill Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati including Director of Community Outreach, Worship & Arts Coordinator and Communications Manager. She also served at River of Life Church in downtown Cincinnati as their Worship and Arts Director. Immediately prior to joining Knox, she provided senior support at the Roberts Academy within the Cincinnati Public School system. A talented graphic designer, Christina has a BFA in Graphic Design Communications and a BS in Religion from Liberty University.
Christina originally came to Knox as the Office Manager and Graphic Design Support for communications. In that role, she managed Knox's Servant Keeper database, maintained office equipment, led IT and was the purchaser. She also created the Annual Report, Touchpoint magazine and provided design work for other communications work.
She now comes to the Communication Manager position with many years of communications work that supported her other work roles.
Christina has two grown children and five grandchildren, and she lives in Kennedy Heights.
Job Titles:
- Community Nurse
- in 2021 As Faith Community Nurse
Cindy Hamad joined Knox in 2021 as Faith Community Nurse. Cindy advocates for the health and well-being of Knox members. provides information on health issues to the congregation, and helps with healthcare appointments, transportation, and other services.
Previously Cindy worked at Episcopal Retirement Services in its parish health ministry, the Mercy Health System, and as a private-duty nurse.
Cindy is married with five children and two grandchildren.
Job Titles:
- Coach at Miami University of Ohio
- Organist
Christina Haan, Knox Organist, is originally from Portland, Oregon. She there received her undergraduate degree in piano performance, before moving to Cincinnati for her graduate degrees at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, including a doctorate in organ performance.
Dr. Haan is also a vocal coach at Miami University of Ohio, and an opera coach at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria.
As a "Preacher's Kid", she is a life-long church musician, playing for church services since the age of nine.
Earl Rivers, Knox Director of Music since 1974, is Professor Emeritus of Conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). Over a 47-year career at CCM, he conducted staged productions of J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion and St. John Passion and Honegger's Joan of Arc at the Stake, and acclaimed regional premieres of John Adams's On the Transmigration of Souls and El Niño, Tan Dun's Water Passion after St. Matthew, Philip Glass's Symphony No. 5 -Requiem, Bardo and Nirmanakaya, and Krzysztof Penderecki's Credo. For 20 seasons (1998-2008),
Rivers was music director and conductor of Cincinnati's Vocal Arts Ensemble. He leads the 50-voice Knox Choir that has premiered 15 newly commissioned works and offered Cincinnati premieres on the Knox Music Series of J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Berlioz's L'enfance du Christ, and Vaughan Williams' Hodie. International guest conducting this season includes J.S. Bach's Mass in B Minor with South Korea's National Chorus and Orchestra. Rivers has received Choral America's Michael Korn Founders Award for Development of the Choral Art, honoring a lifetime of significant contributions to the professional choral art.
Job Titles:
- Maintenance and Facilities
Kevin Leary is a skilled handyman. Prior to coming to Knox in 2019, he was in maintenance management at a large apartment complex.
Kevin is a native of Cincinnati and presently lives on the West Side.
Lisa Cummings started with the Knox Preschool as a teacher in 2001 and, after a short break when her daughter was born, became the Assistant Director and toddler teacher in 2016. Lisa loves that she can still work in the classroom as a teacher and with families as the Assistant Director. She states, "I get the best of both worlds."
Job Titles:
- Director of Administration
- Finance
Job Titles:
- Director of Handbells / Assistant Choir Director
- Director of the Handbell Choir
Matthew Swope serves as Director of the Handbell Choir and Assistant Director of the Knox Choir. He is a doctoral student in choral conducting at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Previously, Matthew served as the Director of Choral Activities and Performing Arts Department Chair at Winter Park High School, on the voice faculty of Rollins College, and as the May Festival Choral Conducting Fellow.
Matthew received his M.M. in Voice Performance & Pedagogy and B.A. degrees in Music and Classics & Ancient Mediterranean Studies from The Pennsylvania State University. Ensembles under his direction have performed for the American Choral Directors Association, Florida Music Education Association, and National A Cappella Convention.
Pam Savage, prior to being named the Director of the Knox Preschool in 2016, was a teacher at the school for seven years and the Assistant Director for one year. She also taught middle school art for the Norwood City Schools and at Sycamore. Pam has strong roots in the Hyde Park area, attending both Kilgour Elementary and Walnut Hills High School. Today she lives in Anderson Township with her husband, John, and their three children, Nick, Maggie and Annie. When her children were young, she was very involved in their preschool education and volunteered in their classrooms, teaching about artists and doing art activities with them. She enjoys developing a warm, nurturing and creative environment where children can grow, play, explore and learn! Pam graduated from Miami University with a degree in Art Education.
Rev. Adam Fronczek has been the Pastor of Knox Presbyterian Church for eight years. He is passionate about understanding the changing role of religion in our culture; he is also convinced that there is still a place for an active neighborhood church, where generations gather together to figure out life, where people greet you by name and know your story, and where we consider together how we can leave the world a little better than we found it.
Adam is the child of two public school music teachers; he found his way to Knox through its commitment to great music, and is deeply committed to growing the transformative justice work we share with urban congregations in Cincinnati. When Adam isn't working, he adds to his theological insights by reading things he doesn't agree with, watching Ted Lasso, listening to Bach and Radiohead, riding his bike, and slowing down as much as possible while he does yard work with his children. Adam is married to Anna, and is father to Charlie, Mack, Teddy, and Sam. He is a recent co-moderator of the NEXT Church Strategy Team and a recent Moderator of the Presbytery of Cincinnati. Adam is a graduate of Wabash College and Vanderbilt Divinity School.
Adam Fronczek was installed as Knox Church's sixteenth pastor in 2014. Prior to his appointment at Knox, Adam served for eight years at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, as well as Second Presbyterian, Indianapolis, and the Center for Congregations. Originally from Indianapolis, he is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Wabash College, and received his Master of Divinity from Vanderbilt Divinity School. Adam is currently the Moderator of the Presbytery of Cincinnati, co-chair of NEXT Church, and in 2018 he took part in the Common Good Fellowship in Cincinnati. He is married to Anna Warner and they have four children: Charlie, Mack, Teddy and Samuel.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director of Fresh Spirit Worship
- Youth Pastor and Fresh Spirit Director
David Annett is the Director of Youth Ministries and Director of Fresh Spirit Worship at Knox. In youth ministry, he is privileged to work with youth from eighth grade through college. As Fresh Spirit Worship Director, he oversees our contemporary worship service and serves as a staff contact for the various teams who make the service each week. David has been at Knox for almost twenty years, and he feels just as blessed to be here as the day he started.
David is ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), and earned a Masters of Divinity from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. In addition to his work at Knox, David serves as the Pastor at Cranston Presbyterian Church in New Richmond, OH.
He resides in Hyde Park with wife Kristen and their three kids, Jacob, Lily and Annie. When not doing church work, you will likely find him making music, taking pictures, or going to Bengals and Reds games with his kids.
Rev. Jana Reister was installed as Knox's associate pastor in October, 2009. Prior to being called to Knox, Jana served and was ordained at First Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor MI.
As a Minister of Word and Sacrament, Jana's ministry at Knox includes leading Sunday worship, including preaching and presiding over the sacraments; leading special services for wholeness and healing; faith formation such as a Lord's Table Retreat for our young people, bible studies and spiritual practices classes for adults, and leading spiritual pilgrimages (e.g. Israel and Palestine; Iona, Scotland) and humanitarian relief trips; pastoral care and spiritual direction; walking alongside members of the Knox community during times of grief and loss, offering care and helping to plan and funerals and memorial services; officiating at funerals/memorial services and weddings. Her ministry also includes serving in the wider Church community of the Presbytery of Cincinnati and currently Jana serves as moderator of the Session of Third Presbyterian Church.
Jana received a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary in 2006 and was ordained in 2007 at First Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she served as a resident ministry. At the conclusion of that 2-year call in 2009, Jana received a call from Knox to serve as associate pastor.
Prior to receiving a call to pastoral ministry, she had a variety of jobs but no sense of "career." While serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uganda (1996-1998), Jana drew closer to God through the people of faith she lived among and returned to the US with a stronger commitment to the Way of Christ. Jana states, "When I became a pastor, I finally felt like I was doing what God had equipped me for!"
Aside from pastoring, Jana's other great joys include visiting her family in her home state of Michigan, visiting friends around the globe, bicycling and paddle boarding, hiking in the majesty of nature, and traveling the world - exploring cultures, cuisines, and spiritualities of other people and nations.
Job Titles:
- Parish Associate for Mission and Racial Justice
Maggie Shreve comes back to Knox from Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago where she was their Parish Associate for Jail Ministry. In the Presbyterian Church (USA), a "parish associate" is usually someone who is retired or semi-retired but still feels called by God to engage in ministry. When a Presbyterian Church decided to bring in a Parish Associate, they are generally unpaid or receive a small stipend.
Maggie grew up in Knox in the 1950s and 1960s. She holds a Bachelors' Degree in American History with Honors from the University of Cincinnati and a Master's of Divinity Degree from McCormick Theological Seminary. Her professional career has been largely consumed with disability rights and racial justice advocacy, management of non-profit organizations, and eventually organization development consulting. Her consulting partnership in Chicago, Kenfield/Shreve, led or facilitated multiple organizational change efforts over the last two decades.
Moving back to Cincinnati was a direct result of the COVID pandemic. Pastor Adam invited Maggie to become the Knox Parish Associate for Mission and Racial Justice at the end of 2022. This was always her call! She now lives in a lovely new building for people over 55 years of age in Northside. She has a car again after 15 years without one. And her two cats are thrilled to be living in this new place with lots of windows!
Job Titles:
- Director of Faith Formation
Tina Hubert leads Christian Education at Knox, where she serves as Director of Faith Formation. Tina oversees our Children's Ministry (birth through seventh grade) as well as Adult Faith Formation. She is passionate about connecting people to God and to one another and she loves helping people find ways to plug in at Knox.
Tina joined the staff of Knox in 2017. She has a Masters of Divinity from Duke Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina, and was ordained in the American Baptist Church in October 2008. Tina and her husband Josh served on staff for six years at Wildwood United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas. Prior to Knox, she directed the Ozanam Center for Service Learning at the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in the West End neighborhood of Cincinnati
Tina and her husband live in Oakley with their two young daughters, Hannah and Caroline. Tina's favorite things to do are anything outdoors (especially skiing and hiking), baking, rollercoasters, and planning the next social get-together.