2026 Bible & Church Music Conference Spotlight

Family camp meets continuing education at this conference for all ages. Whether you are ordained or a lay leader, staff, volunteer, choir member, or congregant, we invite you to take part in plenty of opportunities to learn, practice, and worship together.

Speakman Chair of Preaching

We are excited to announce Rev. Dr. Aqueelah Ligonde as our 30th Speakman Chair of Preaching! Aqueelah is the Director of Coaching at Ministry Architects. She is an enthusiastic speaker and leader with a passion for today’s generation of youth and women. Aqueelah holds an MDiv from McCormick Theological Seminary and DMin and a certificate in Black Church Studies from Louisville Seminary. She is a member of the Presbytery of New York City, ordained in 2011 as the Associate Pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Jamaica, Queens, NY. Since then, she has served and partnered with many organizations, including Institute for Youth Ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary, Leadership Education at Duke Divinity, Fuller Youth Institute, Urban Youth Workers Institute, Youth Specialties, Holmes Presbyterian Camp, PC(USA) Young Adult Volunteer Program, and GenOn/Logos Ministries. International Coaching Federation (ICF)-certified coach through the Coach Approach Skills Training program. Aqueelah is excited for the opportunity to worship and learn with us here at Massanetta!

Worship Leader

• Rev. Dr. Marcus A. Hong

  Marcus Hong is a cultivator of worship who has served in congregations, chapels, and youth groups for twenty years. He's also the Associate Professor of Practical Theology, Director of Life-Long Learning, and Project Director for the Sun-Walking Fellowship at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. His research explores the Psalms in art, worship, and education, and intergenerational and intercultural worship. He has written liturgies for the Connections Worship Companion (WJKPress), UWorship, and the Call to Worship Journal, and has served as leadership for Montreat Youth and College Conferences, the Arts, Recreation and Worship conference, and the Worship and Music Conference. Marcus loves watercolor painting, superhero movies, fantasy literature, poetry and songwriting, and, alongside his brilliant wife Sarah, has his hands blessedly full raising two precocious children.

  Rev. Dr. Hong will be our liturgist, writing and gathering liturgy and leading in worship.

Conference and Chamber Choirs

• Emily Floyd

  Emily is the director for traditional music at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Charlotte, NC, where she directs choirs of all ages. She has served as a church musician in Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist churches in Florida, Illinois, and Georgia. Her music career began in public education teaching high school chorus in Florida and Georgia. She is passionate about congregational song and adventurous worship, excellence and artistry in singing, high quality music experiences for all ages, and creative repertoire for adult choirs and orchestras.

  She holds a music education degree (voice and piano) from Florida State University and earned certifications from the Presbyterian Association of Musicians and the Choristers Guild. Emily is the co-director of the Choristers Guild Institute, a three-year summer program that certifies church musicians for music ministry with children and youth. Active in leadership roles for professional organizations, she is the president of the Presbyterian Association of Musicians and serves as the Repertoire and Resources Chair for Music in Worship for the Southern Division of ACDA.

Bible Study

• Rev. Dr. Rachel Wrenn

  The Rev. Dr. Rachel Wrenn is Interim Dean at Trinity Lutheran Seminary, Capital University, as well as an ordained Lutheran (ELCA) pastor. She received her Ph.D. in Religion from Emory University in 2021, with an emphasis on Hebrew Bible (the Psalms and biblical emotions) and a certificate in Religious Practices. Dr. Wrenn has published multiple articles in her field and received multiple grants. A sought-after presenter, she often speaks at pastoral gatherings and lay church conferences. She is the co-host of the podcast "First Reading," an Old Testament lectionary podcast for preachers and teachers of the Bible (https://firstreadingpodcast.com/). Rachel and her family are good friends of Massanetta, having attended our clergy couples retreat for many years with her husband, Rev. Tim Wrenn, and their son and daughter.

  Rev. Dr. Wrenn will lead us though a Bible Study on the Psalms. More information coming!

Handbells

• Professor Carlos Rivera-Aponte

  We are pleased to welcome Carlos Rivera-Aponte back for another year of handbell leadership! Regarded as one of Puerto Rico’s foremost handbell masters, Carlos has had a fruitful career of more than thirty years as director of various handbell programs in Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and Colombia.

  Carlos received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in education and music from the University of Puerto Rico. He later received his masters degree in music education with an emphasis on choral music at Florida State University’s College of Music in Tallahassee, Florida.

  He served two years as an at-large member of HMA National Board and now is the HMA Area 4 Chair-Elect which serves Georgia, South Carolina, Florida in the USA, The Bahamas, Puerto Rico and de USA Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. Carlos currently works as Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, music professor and choral conductor at the University of Puerto Rico-Carolina.