OUR TEAM: PASTOR & STAFF
Advent is blessed with a wonderful staff.
All of them work together as a team
and strive to support the members of our congregation in their daily ministry
through worship, faith formation, pastoral care, service, outreach, and fellowship.
We are here to help and support you.
TBD Interim Pastor
After the recent resignation of Advent's previous pastor, the pastor position at Advent is vacant, beginning on February 1. For a few weeks, the congregation will rely on pulpit supply pastors. We hope that by mid-March 2026, an interim pastor will be in place. The church council will appoint a call committee. Collaborating with the interim pastor and staff at the Sierra Pacific Synod's Office of the Bishop, the call committee will work on assessing the congregation's needs and vision for their next pastor. Typically, it takes a year until a call to a new pastor is extended.
Nancy King Office Manager
Nancy came to Advent in early 1984. For over 26 years she served as Youth Director, Family Ministry Director, Congregational Life Director, and part-time secretary. In 2000, Nancy took a job outside of the church, but remained an active member of Advent. In 2024, when Advent was trying to fill a vacancy in the secretary position, Nancy felt called to return to ministry and applied for the position. She is so grateful to work alongside the many wonderful people at Advent in her daily tasks!
Nancy is also a mobile Notary Public. She and her husband, David, have raised three amazing children – Evan, Dylan and Maddie. During her free time Nancy enjoys taking trips to the beach, spending time in her yard, working puzzles and reading.
Jamal Karamatov Organist
Jamal inherited his passion for music from his father, who had been evacuated as a child during WWII from Saint Petersburg to Uzbekistan. Eventually, Jamal's father taught musicology at the university in Tashkent.
From an early age on, Jamal was taught violin at home, to which piano lessons got added later. Eventually, Jamal studied piano at universities in Uzbekistan and Russia. After graduating from the State Conservatory of Uzbekistan, Jamal held a variety of jobs in the larger field of music. He taught music at the primary and secondary school levels, gave piano lessons, created a Jazz book, and performed at international music festivals in Western Europe and Asia.
In the early 2000s, Jamal and his family emigrated to the US. Since 2007, Jamal, his wife Nasiba, and their two daughters Betty and Nargis have been living in California. After working odds jobs for several years to make ends meet, Jamal was eventually able to return to being a music teacher and performing musician.
He also passed his passion for music and musical talent to his two daughters. Between Jamal and his daughters Betty and Nargis, the family is serving in music ministry at three different churches in the Sacramento area.
In 2022, Jamal and Nasiba were blessed with the birth of their first grandchild.
David Wammer Music Director
Born in Northern Minnesota, Dave moved to the Sacramento area in 1986 as part of his last assignment in a 24-year Air Force career. Once he and his wife Barbara discovered Advent, they joined the choir, and 2 years later Dave "temporarily" became its director. With Advent's growth, the choir director position eventually got expanded into that of Music Director.
Directing choirs has been an important expression of Dave’s faith. Ever since his college days at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, he has had the opportunity to direct choirs – first, while still a student, a men's chorus at St. Olaf and later throughout his Air Force travels. While the job of a Church Music Director has many facets, Dave believes that his mission is actually very simple and can be summed up as “facilitate the song of the Church.”
Dave and Barbara love to ski and have shared their love for snowy slopes with their three sons and six grandchildren.
