Staff

Prior to his call to Second, Ben served as the Pastor of Howard Memorial Presbyterian Church in Tarboro, NC (often called “the crossroads of Western Civilization”) for nine years and as Associate Pastor for Youth, Young Adults, and Mission at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Nashville, TN.  Ben received his undergraduate degree from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA, his Masters of Divinity from Vanderbilt Divinity School, and his Doctorate of Ministry from Columbia Theological Seminary.

Ben is married to Lydia Wingo Kane, an Arkansas native, and they have two daughters, Margot and Phoebe who keep them busy with dance classes, searching for the best ice cream, and enjoying all that Arkansas has to offer. You will often find Ben with his nose in a book (biographies and memoirs are his favorites), cheering on Duke basketball, running (slowly), or searching for the closest bookstore.

After years of non-credit seminary courses, she heard God’s call to vocational ministry. She wanted to nurture persons to live fully into the persons God created them to be. She began a community ministry, working with families touched by disability.

She joined the staff of Westlake Hills Presbyterian in Austin in 2004.  In 2008, she earned a Master of Divinity from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.  She served as chaplain in Austin hospitals and pastoral intern with University Presbyterian in Austin. She later trained as a coach with Auburn Seminary. She served as solo pastor for a Colorado church and associate pastor for a Chicago-suburban church before moving to Little Rock to join the pastoral staff of Second Presbyterian.  Alisa is married to Larry Secrest, a native of Fort Smith, and has three young adult sons:  Will, Ellis, and Bennett.

He is excited to join the Second Pres staff team, leading programs for our littlest through fifth grade and their families such as Sunday school, family retreats, milestone ministries, Vacation Bible School, and more.

Members of all our ensembles have the opportunity to tour internationally. Recent tours include the British Isles, Canada, Germany, France and Hungary.

Dr. Keating is also the founding director of Praeclara, a professional performance company supported by Second Presbyterian Church of Little Rock and building on Second Presbyterian’s long tradition of contributions to the arts. Praeclara unifies Second Presbyterian’s diverse range of offerings under a single umbrella and elevates them still further, strengthening our artistic ties with the community.

Originally from Canada, he earned bachelor of education and bachelor of music degrees from the University of Western Ontario. He went on to earn a master’s degree and then a doctorate in Conducting from The Ohio State University. Dr. Keating is also the Executive Director of Wildwood Park for the Arts in west Little Rock. He and his wife Kira Keating, who is the Music Director at St. James Methodist Church, Little Rock, have two children, twins Brock and Blythe Keating, and live in west Little Rock.

Over the past three years, Maggie has worked with Children and Youth at Second in interim roles as youth director and director of children and families ministry.  She has enjoyed building relationships with youth and children at Second and watching them grow in their faith and friendships through ministry.  She is excited about new ministry opportunities like a girls’ bible study and a boys’ bible study as well a once-a-month youth worship service as well as continuing youth ministry traditions at Second like attending Montreat Youth Conference and building mission experiences for middle and high school SPY.

Prior to her ministry at Second, Maggie taught 7th and 8th Grade English at eStem Downtown Junior High School for 10 years. She enjoyed being in the classroom, and especially loved classroom discussions about whole class novels and matching study interest with their independent reading books.  Maggie loves walking and hiking, especially with her sweet doodle, Bartlet,  reading, cooking, and maintaining a streak of Wordle wins.

Aileen is a graduate of Duke University (MBA) and Centre College of Kentucky (BS). In 2018, Aileen earned the designation as a Certified Church Administrator (CCA) through Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, VA and The Church Network. She is the daughter of Park and Betty Jean Moore. Her extended Little Rock family include sister Janie Rash, niece Lucy Vitela and nephew Michael Vitela.

Malinda is married to Larry, an architect, and they are the proud parents to two adult sons. Malinda earned a bachelor’s of science degree from the University of Arkansas, College of Business Administration. Prior to joining the church staff, she worked at Wright, Lindsey & Jennings, Attorneys at Law as a paralegal in securities law. She enjoys swimming, yoga and biking for fitness and playing bridge, cooking, and traveling for fun. She is also a dog lover.

Karin is administrative support for Contributions, Property Ministry, Adult Education Ministry, Fellowship Ministry, and Environmental Stewardship. Before that, Karin was in banking for 12 years. She is married to Guy Howze and they have 6 children and several grandchildren. Karin brings a friendly, outgoing personality and top-notch organizational skills to the position of Administrative Associate and Childcare Coordinator and enjoys working with all of the members and parents of Second Presbyterian Church.

As an ordained elder, Carrie has served on the Session, Children’s Ministry and Belonging Ministry. She has taught Sunday school at every level, including Confirmation. Carrie’s background is in Teaching English as Second Language education where she has worked as both an instructor and administrator. At Second, Carrie is administrative support for Worship Ministry, Youth and Young Adult Ministry, Children and Families Ministry and Presbyterian Women. She also coordinates all forms of communication.

Carrie’s husband, Michael,  is a Senior Sales Representative for IBM. Maggie serves as Associate Pastor for Young Adults and Worship Arts at Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, KS. Nora is a graduate of The University of Arkansas and has recently moved from the North Dallas area to NW Arkansas. Cade attends The University of Georgia in Athens.  Carrie enjoys all kinds of music; she has played in the Second Presbyterian Flute Ensemble and has rung bells in several ensembles at Second. She enjoys cooking, traveling and spending as much time with her grown up children as she can.

In addition, she served on the Junior League Riverfest Committee responsible for food vendors and services from 1993-2015. Brenda has two daughters, a granddaughter and and two grandsons.

 He grew up in North Little Rock and has worked in the retail industry for 4 years. He has a huge passion for weather watching and also enjoys playing video games and spending time with friends and family. He has attended Park Hill Christian Church in NLR for years and remains committed to growing his faith in the Lord.

She is a medical student at UAMS and enjoys spending time outdoors with her husband, Houston. Her hobbies include puttering around in her pollinator garden, eating chocolate, and savoring Little Rock’s finest lattes.

Meet Emily Cox, the founder of Comm-Unity Solutions LLC. With over a decade of church service and a communication degree from the University of Tulsa, Emily seamlessly integrates professional expertise with a passion for supporting churches. In the post-pandemic world, Emily saw a need to support ministry leaders in the ever-changing communication landscape. 

Her mission was clear: empower faith-based organizations to navigate the evolving landscape of communication effectively and help ministry leaders get back to the work they love. She established Comm-Unity Solutions to offer tailored communication solutions from someone who understands church language and organizational needs. She is delighted to partner with Second Presbyterian Church and support their communication and marketing.

They are the proud parents of two adult children, both married to wonderful people whom Stacey also deeply loves.

Since 2016, Stacey has served as the full-time chaplain at Presbyterian Village—a role she cherishes. She considers it a privilege to walk alongside the residents, their families, and the dedicated staff, offering spiritual care, presence, and encouragement to the whole community.

In her free time, Stacey enjoys reading, playing board games, riding her electric bike, spending time with friends and family, and doing just about anything that brings laughter.