 Lee Chiaramonte, Senior Minister
Lee Chiaramonte was born in Salina, Kansas, and grew up in the Kansas City area, Paola and Topeka. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in English from the City University of New York, a Masters of Divinity from Drew Theological School, and a Masters of Philosophy from Drew University. She is presently completing her PhD in Theology, which centers on a historical analysis and feminist theoethical reconstruction of the virtue of courage.
Rev. Chiaramonte has been an ordained United Church of Christ minister for the last 16 years. Her pastoral specializations are constructing urban-suburban partnerships, urban core ministry and Christian character formation. Rev. Chiaramonte has been the field supervisor for more than thirty seminarians from two local seminaries while pastoring at IBCC; she is regionally active in both denominations she serves.
For a year and a half full time, she taught Sociology of Religion at Saint Paul School of Theology as the interim faculty replacement for Dr. Tex Sample and was an interim minister in south Kansas City. She presently teaches a class called "Ministry in Context" at Saint Paul. She's also taught Ethics and Urban Mission at Central Baptist Theological Seminary, and for more than nine years taught American Church History and both New and Old Testament studies at Avila University.
For five years Rev. Chiaramonte was the Chaplain for NewHouse, Kansas City’s largest shelter for battered and poor women and their children, located close to the church. In September of 2005, the Missouri Bar Association conferred their "Liberty Bell" Award upon Rev. Chiaramonte for significant public service contributions by a non-lawyer made to the wider community. In 2003, the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office and COMBAT named her a “Community Mother” of the year.
Prior to entering the ministry, she was a property-casualty insurance broker/agent. She became Liberty Mutual's first woman agent in New York City in 1972. During the 1980s, she was also CBS News Correspondent Walter Cronkite's chief of staff and, later, journalist Gloria Steinem's manager.
She has served congregations in New York, New Jersey, Washington and Missouri. Pastor Lee is the 13th Senior Pastor of our church and our first female Senior Pastor.
Her son, York, and his family live outside New York City, along with Pastor Lee's four young grandchildren. Pastor Lee and her younger son and daughter share their home with Miniature Schnauzers and an Irish Terrier.
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 Naomi Boyle, Music Director
Naomi started playing the organ at age fourteen after seven years of piano studies. Her first organist position was in her senior year of high school. After attending two years at the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam, she completed her Bachelors degree in Music Education with a choral emphasis at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. She has taught public school music in Colquitt County (Moultrie) Georgia, and has served churches as an organist, choir director, and handbell director in New York, Georgia, and Florida.
Ms. Boyle hails from Florida. She has a Juris Doctorate from the University of Miami, Florida, and was a practicing insurance defense attorney in Florida. She is still a member of the Florida Bar.
 Kathleen Gold, Director of Christian Nurture
Kate Gold has been our Director of Christian Nurture and head of Children's Ministry at the Micah Ministry since 2006. She loves working with children and finds her ministry at IBCC incredibly rewarding.
Kate obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Corporate Management from Austin Peay State University in 2005. She works full time at the Center for Academic Development at the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Kate was born and reared in New Jersey, moving to Kansas City in 2004. She and her husband, Andrew, have been married since 2002 and have one child, Ian, born in 2008. In her free time, Kate loves cooking and gardening, spending time with her husband and her son, traveling back to New Jersey, going to the beach and spending time with friends.
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 Elke Gonzales-Flaharty, Ministry Assistant
Elke Gonzales-Flaharty is our Ministry Assistant; Elke was born and raised in Kansas City and now resides in Raytown, Missouri with her husband Matt, daughter Kemani, their two cats (Catalina and Sky) and two dogs (Samson and Delilah).
Elke attended Park University seeking a Biology degree; she eventually went on to St. Luke’s Hospital to obtain a certification as a Pharmacy Technician. In the spring of 2010 she also received her Insurances license. Her free time consists of reading, sketching and painting, spending time with her family and friends and most of all traveling.
“I grew up in church, my parents were adamant about us knowing the word of God. I accepted the Lord in my life at a very young age and totally understood what was happening. I have been very blessed to have such a full life. I’ve worked in the corporate world for a long time and it is obvious the Lord had other plans for me. When I first came to work at IBCC I instantly felt at home. The people here are extremely dedicated to the various ministries and are truly a blessing to work with. I have volunteered for our Micah Ministry and it was a very rich, yet humbling experience. I look forward to volunteering more of my time.”
Favorite Scripture: Psalm 55:22.
 Victor Snow, Building Manager & Custodian
Our building manager and custodian, Victor, was born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas, where he graduated from Sumner Academy. As a music major in college, he was active in the Jazz Band and was the bugler for the Woodlands Race Track. Since that time he's played in jazz and rock bands and composed music for everything from video games to church musical productions.
In addition to music, Victor also enjoys building and fixing computers in his basement, which he's converted into a computer workshop and music recording studio. His ministry as a deacon, Sunday school teacher, and organist at his Kansas City, Kansas church keeps him busy.
Victor and his wife Lori share their Independence home with five children and four cats.
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