Leadership

Pastors and Directors

Jeremy Hickman

Lead Pastor

Vertical Church Albuquerque
Jeremy and his wife, Autumn, grew up in Davenport, Iowa, where Jeremy was the Pastor of Junior High Ministries and the Campus Pastor. In 2017, he was sent to Albuquerque to plant Vertical Church Albuquerque. Jeremy and Autumn have two sons, Trenton and Caden.

Zach Grafe

Lead Pastor

Vertical Church Barelas
Zach is a native New Mexican and has lived in Barelas since 2011.  Zach served as an associate pastor for over eight years at an Albuquerque-area Southern Baptist church and in summer 2019 felt the call to begin ministering in his home community.  Zach and Anneliese were married in 2013 and have four children, Titus, Micah, Talitha, and Lydia.

Brian Maggard

Associate Pastor

Vertical Church Albuquerque
Brian has lived in Albuquerque since 1996. He received a Master of Divinity in theology and is currently pursuing a PhD in Old Testament and Biblical Archaeology. He is married to Stacey and has two girls at home, his daughter Samantha and his granddaughter Lilly. He has been in full time ministry since 2018.

Nate Hall

Pastoral Resident

 Vertical Church Albuquerque
Nate and his wife, Emily, grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico and they have one daughter, Isobel. Nate has been doing ministry since 2005 in various roles throughout New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado. In 2018 they moved back to Albuquerque where Nate has been serving Vertical Church since 2019.

Jay Magnant

Ministry Director

Vertical Church Barelas
Jay is recently married to his wife, Jenell. He previously served as Director of Student Ministries at a local church in Albuquerque until joining staff at Vertical Church in 2021 to expand their outreach efforts. He is currently working towards a Master’s of Divinity at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. 

Bianca Fisher

Director

Worship
Bianca and her husband, Michael, were married in 2007, and they have one son, Ezra. Bianca has been serving on Vertical Church's worship team since its launch in 2017 and joined the staff as the Director of Worship in 2022.

Susan Carrico

Director

Vertical Women
Susan has been married to Mike for 28 years and have two wonderful daughters, Emily(26) who is married to Ben, and Maggie(25). She and Mike met when she worked as a social worker for the Big Brothers Big Sisters program and he was a volunteer big brother. Working in education for over 13 years, she has a heart for teaching and working with others to learn and grow. 

Gerald Grafe

Director

Vertical Young Adults
Gerald surrendered his life to the Lord in 1983, and has been active in ministry ever since. His commitment to his faith and his academic background has led to extensive Biblical study, which has created a strong desire to train and teach from a Biblical worldview on many topics. Gerald and his wife Lynda enjoy leading and hosting studies, particularly young adults. They have six adult children who walk in Truth, as well as five sons and daughters in law, and currently have 13 grandchildren. Gerald has degrees in engineering and in law, and has worked with technology startups for over 20 years.

Support Staff

Dani Krambeer

Administrative Assistant to the Lead Pastor
Dani grew up in the midwest and began working in ministry at the age of 18. She moved to Albuquerque in 2017 to assist in the development of Vertical Church Albuquerque and is currently pursuing her Bachelors in Christian Ministry with a minor in business.

Elder Board

Bill Jackson

Elder Chair

Jeremy Hickman

Elder

Randy Nederhoff

Elder

Steve Burge

Elder