Our Staff

At Auburn Presbyterian Church, we have four staff members. We also have six elders, who oversee up to seven ministry teams, each of those with a team leader. We also have nine deacons providing care to the people of our congregation.

Pastor Ken Winter
Director of Congregational Development Preston Saunders
Office Manager Holly Krakover
Nursery Supervisor Elizabeth Creencia
Elders and Ministry Team Leaders
Deacons
How We Are Organized

The Rev. Ken B. Winter
Pastor

kwinter@auburnpresbyterian.org

Ken Winter, our Pastor, was born and raised in Michigan, and after graduating from the Pastor Ken Winter University of Michigan (“Go Blue!”), made his way to California for seminary (San Francisco Theological Seminary) and a wife—Sharon (Slape) Winter, originally from Napa. Sharon is a seminary graduate, too. The last day of seminary, they both graduated in the morning, went out for greasy hamburgers, then came back and got married in the afternoon, while so many of their friends were still there. Over the years, Sharon secured a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, and has been working as a Staff Psychologist for the California Youth Authority’s Preston School of Industry in Ione, CA.

First, Sharon and Ken moved to a large church in suburban Kansas City (youth ministry in a church of 7,000 members!), and then a medium-sized church in Sacramento (360 members), and in 1988 Ken started to plant this church in Auburn (0 members). He’s been our Pastor ever since. He says he practices “downward mobility” . . . !

Along the way, Ken has worked as: a sound engineer, photographer, scriptwriter, director, men’s clothing salesman, golf caddy, traveling encyclopedia salesman, shipping crate maker, parts warehouse order-filler, auto parts assembly-line worker, and office furniture deliveryman. Some of these positions even came with pay!

Ken’s abiding interests include spiritual growth (he’s a certified Spiritual Director, or prayer coach, too), jazz, leadership and organizational development, teaching, good coffee, wine and food, and laughter. He’s a good listener. Maybe you should talk with him sometime!

Preston Saunders
Director of Congregational Development

bluesgospel@gmail.com

Preston Saunders wears two large hats at APC, serving as the Director of Congregational Development, and coordinating worship. As Worship Director, Preston oversees the music and worship programs of the church: choir, praise team, musicians, order of worship, and the like. He works closely with our Worship Ministry Team developing our worship at APC.

As Director of Congregational Development, Preston assists our senior pastor in pastoral duties and preaching. Preston developed, prepared, and implemented leadership training for our ministry leaders. He has designed and facilitated annual leadership training retreats and curriculum. He defined our organizational strategy for the ministry of Auburn Presbyterian Church. He has developed, created, and designed an organizational chart tool for the entire ministry. He plays an integral part in collaborating and setting church vision and mission statements. Pres, as we call him, also promotes special services, events and concerts that draw the Auburn community to our campus.

Currently, Preston is working on an additional music project (Gospel / Blues) where he hopes to develop a professional singing group and band that will perform on Sundays throughout the Foothills and the Sacramento area.

Before coming to APC, Preston spent five years in Australia working with local farmers where he pioneered a congregation of eighty-five in the outback of Australia. He developed and nurtured eight home Bible groups, ages 25 to 40 years old, including children and young people. While in Australia, Preston developed the craft of building custom tables as a means of extra income. Preston entered a woodworking contest put on by the state of Queensland where he took first place with two national woodworking awards: Dame Mary Durrack Award, for the Stockman’s Hall of Fame.

Holly Krakover
Office Manager

apc@auburnpresbyterian.org

Our Office Manager, Holly Krakover, is responsible for all the little things that keep the church office functioning.

Holly Krakover Holly and her family moved to the foothills in 2007, she moved from Southern California with her husband, Rob, and sons Jacob & Ryan.

When not working Holly most enjoys cooking and socializing with family, friends and neighbors, usually all at the same time. She and her husband are so happy to have found such a wonderful place to raise their sons.

Elizabeth Creencia
Nursery Supervisor

apc@auburnpresbyterian.org

Elizabeth Creencia Elizabeth, her husband Jessie and their four children have been residents of Auburn for over 10 years. Her children range in age from 13 to 22, with the youngest daughter in 7th grade at Bowman, a son and daughter at Placer high, and her oldest son, who has recently graduated from UC San Diego. During the work week, Elizabeth also serves as an Instructional Aide at Bowman School where she has also been an active parent volunteer for many years as all four of her children attended school there. As in Instructional Aide, she works with the kindergarten students in the morning and then provides yard duty supervision during lunch time, and tutors the upper grade students in the afternoon. Previous to her employment at Bowman, Elizabeth served as the Child Care Coordinator at the Auburn Racquet Club. She has also operated her own home day care, been a Girl Scout leader, and taught Sunday School and worked in her Church Nursery.