United in Christ, Together in Ministry!

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Meet Our Ministry Team

Get to Know Us!

Primary Office Location:  col Christ the King Campus   col Cross of Life Campus   ctkFloating

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Pastors

John Is a Wisconsin native. He grew up in West Bend, graduated from Carroll College and attended seminaries in Princeton, NJ and Chicago, IL. He served as Youth Drector at Hopewell Reformed Church in Hopewell Junction, NY and on the staff of the Interfaith Conciliation Center/National Council of Churches in New York, NY. He and Barb moved back to the Midwest in the late 80’s and John served at Gloria Dei, New Holstein, WI for 8 years. He has been one of the pastors at Unity since 1996 

Besides John, the only other known “Horner-Iblers” in the world include wife Barbara, sons David and Michael and dog,Taz. Barbara is an ordained Presbyterian minister who is also a physician in private practice in Brookfield and primarily serves as the Medical Director for the Bread of Healing Free Clinic in Milwaukee.

David works in Washington DC with Everyone Home DC, an organization that works for sustainable housing among the people of the city. Michael will begin a 27-month commitment to the United States Peace Corps in Panama in June 2019, assisting with drinkable water projects in rural areas.  

Now empty-nesters John and Barb had vowed to resume some old pass-times like bread-baking. Hasn’t happened so far but they love to garden and that keeps them plenty occupied. Other interests include any sport, lots of reading, and these days, less frequent walks with our very old friend, Taz.

Sherrie has been serving as Pastor at Cross of Life and UNITY since August 2006. It was when she was in 7th grade that she began to feel a call to ordained ministry. She is the 7th person (and the 4th woman) ordained from her home congregation of Grace Lutheran in Tomahawk, Wis.

Sherrie majored in Religion at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, and received her Master of Divinity degree from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. Through seminary, she served at Capitol Drive Lutheran Church in Milwaukee and at Bethany Lutheran in Escanaba, Mich.

Her husband Matthew is a Master Electrician and owns his own electrical business. Matt and Sherrie have three sons, George, James and Peter, and a daughter Emily.

Muriel began her position with UNITY on October 15, 2013. She leads our Adult Education, Small Group, and Servanthood ministries.

Muriel received her Master of Divinity degree from Vancouver School of Theology in May 2013, was married in July (to Andrew) and moved to the Milwaukee area in late August as Andrew began his studies at the Marquette University Law School.

Muriel and Andrew have a Welsch Corgi, Manny, whose heart can easily be won through treats. Muriel's faith, personable ways, and theological training are of great benefit to our work together here at UNITY.

Administration

Nancy has been with Christ the King and UNITY since 2004 as the Office Administrator and joined CTK as a member in 2013.  She is responsible for providing office support to UNITY staff members, as well as performing the day-to-day functions of the CTK campus office.

Nancy grew up in Toledo, Ohio, and married Ken in 1977. They have three adult children – Elizabeth (married to Mike), Laura (Married to Paxton) and Kenny – and 6 grandchildren.

After her own children were in school full-time, Nancy began working as an Office Administrator for her church in Texas. From that point on she was hooked, and has served in that role for four congregations due to job transfers with her husband.

In her free time Nancy enjoys attending Bible Study, golfing, coaching Special Olympics and spending time with family – especially her grandchildren.

Ann formally joined our staff in March 2015. She initially was the primary administrator, bookkeeper, and webmaster. Ann now serves only as our Interim Bookkeeper & Webmaster and provides staff technical support.

She was integral in the development of our UNITY website. (In fact, she also upgraded the website of her previous church in Andover, MA) Ann occasionally plays clarinet in worship and has traveled on trips with our youth.

A native Minnesotan, Ann has a bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Engineering in Electric Power Engineering from RPI in New York. She worked in the electric power field for close to 25 years and shares two patents for work related to power transmission control systems.

Ann, her husband Jay, and their twins Abby and Nick, moved from Georgetown, MA to Brookfield in November 2013. In May 2022, Nick graduated from UW-Madison and Abby graduated from UW-Stout. Jay works for GE Healthcare and plays in the Worship Band. Ann enjoys performing with the summer Concord Chamber Orchestra, the Cardinal Stritch University Community Orchestra, the Milwaukee Police Band, and working on 1000-3000 piece jigsaw puzzles.

Admin position is open. See job description here.

Bio Comming Soon!

Program Directors

Janet has been with Christ the King since 2007, having over thirty-five years of experience in church music. She now serves as the Director of Music for both campuses of UNITY Lutheran church.

Janet was born and raised in a small farming community in the Red River Valley of North Dakota near Grand Forks. Baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Church, Janet is quite familiar with the Lutheran traditions of strong faith, abundant Holy Spirit and coffee with anything at any time of day.

Janet previously worked for Hal Leonard Corporation as an Editor in the Choral Music Department and as the Editor-in-Chief of Music Express, an educational magazine for teachers and students. Janet and her husband, Bob, live in Elm Grove with their two sons, Jacob and Jonathan. 

A graduate of Brookfield Central High School, Michelle earned her undergraduate degree in Elementary Education at UW-Madison, followed by her Master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Curriculum and Instruction from Cardinal Stritch University. She later worked for Brookfield Elementary, first as a Learning Support Teacher, then as a Program Support Teacher, until she was named Associate Principal in 2014.

Michelle first joined our Cross of Life campus with her parents in the 1980’s, later marrying her husband Mike there in 1989. She and Mike have three children – Mitch, Marcus and Madison – all of whom grew up immersed in our many different youth offerings.

Over the years, Michelle has served as a Sunday School teacher for Saturday evening services and as a Confirmation Small Group Leader. Mike serves as Worship Assistant and helped foster the collaboration between Cross of Life and Christ the King years ago. 

In addition to spending as much time as they can with their kids, Michelle and Mike enjoy taking their road bikes on trails – whether here in Brookfield or all around Wisconsin. 

 

Matt joined us on December 16, 2014. Prior to coming here, Matt worked for seven years at South Shore Trinity Lutheran Church in White Bear Lake, MN, responsible for overseeing the Youth Program, Sunday School, Confirmation and Vacation Bible School.

Matt was raised in Milwaukee and graduated from Milwaukee Lutheran High School. He moved to St. Paul, MN, to attend Concordia University, where he took courses in the Director of Christian Education Program and majored in Parish Administration. He graduated from Concordia in May 2007 and joined South Shore Trinity Lutheran Church that fall.

In 2010 Matt married Joy, who teaches at Lake Country Lutheran High School. Their first child Elliott was born in May 2016 and Ava born in February 2019.

In his free time, Matt loves spending time with his family and extended family (who live in the area), golfing, running, watching old movies, and traveling up north.

Debbie has been at UNITY since Dec. 1999. In the area of Member Care, she works with the pastors to visit members who are hospitalized, live independently, or are in assisted living or nursing care. She holds twice yearly grief groups as well as coordinating classes for those dealing with issues of aging family members.

She is married to Frank and they have two adult children, Nicole and Jacob.

Music Directors

Stacey has been with Christ the King and UNITY since 2013. She directs the Praise Bands at both campuses and the Handbell Choir at the CTK campus.  Before coming to CTK she served in various churches in the Milwaukee area as a Worship Leader and Pianist.

Stacey is the Church Choral Editor for Hal Leonard Corporation and holds a Music Degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. She is also a member of the Milwaukee Handbell Ensemble.

Stacey is married to Kevin and they have one son, Ryan. In her spare time, Stacey enjoys geocaching, reading and doing counted cross-stitch.

Molly holds a BA in Music from Millikin University and a Master of Music from Northern Illinois University. She served as an Assistant Professor of Music and the Performance and Audition Coordinator at Alverno College since 2008.

Molly is married to Ian, who works as a Technical Services Manager and Urban Forester for the City of Milwaukee. They have two daughters: Greta, who is 2 years old, and Britta, who was born on June 10, 2015. They also have a Golden Retriever named Hazel. Molly and Ian are residents of Bay View and take advantage of all the activities the area has to offer, especially biking, walking along Lake Michigan, and playing Ultimate Frisbee.

 

Lynn joined Cross of Life in the early 1990's when her daughter remarked “I want to go to the blue church!” Lynn was in Pastor Sue Sheffer-Meyer’s very first New Member class and joined the Gloria Dei Handbell Choir immediately. She eventually sang in Senior Choir and began playing the piano for our Youth Choirs. Over time she learned to play the organ and officially joined our staff as Organist in 1998.

That same year Lynn graduated from Mount Mary College with a degree in Business Administration, which she has applied to her jobs outside of COL. Since 2006 she has worked full-time as an Accounting Assistant at Innovative Construction Solutions, Inc.

Lynn and her husband, Jeff, were married at COL in 1992. They enjoy spending time together reading or fishing at their family lake home in Conover, WI.

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