Steve Albertin has been Pastor of Christ Church since January 1998. Rev. Albertin graduated with a B.A. in philosophy from Concordia Sr. College, Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1972. He graduated with a Master of Divinity from Concordia Seminary in Exile, St. Louis, in 1976, a Master of Sacred Theology from Christ Seminary, Seminex, St. Louis in 1978, and a Doctor of Ministry from Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago in 1995. Rev. Albertin was ordained into the ministry in 1978 and has served as Assistant Pastor at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Indianapolis, 1978-80, Pastor at Epiphany Lutheran Church, Fort Wayne, IN, 1980-1998, and currently at Christ Church since 1998. Rev. Albertin has served in various leadership positions in the Indiana-Kentucky Synod and the Northeast and Greater Indianapolis Conferences of the Indiana-Kentucky Synod. Over the years of his ministry Rev. Albertin has written and produced a variety of dramas for church worship, written several new hymns, and recently has published Against the Grain - Words For a Politically Incorrect Church.

Rev. Albertin has three daughters; Katherine, Meredith, and Faith.

Julia earned a Bachelor of Musical Arts from DePauw University in Greencastle, IN and a Masters Certificate in Non-Profit Management from IUPUI. From 2004-2010, she worked at Paige’s Music, managing Indy Flute Shop and from 2010-2011 she was the Operations and Education Manager at the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra. Julia grew up attending an ELCA Lutheran church in Cincinnati, OH. In her free time, she enjoys playing flute, running, following IndyCar racing, and scrapbooking. Julia and her husband Brad reside in Whitestown with their two rescue dogs – a Yorkie and a Greyhound.

Craig Swendsen has over eight years of professional experience with children, ages ranging 6-18. He is a Certified Youth and Family Minister through Wartburg Theological Seminary. He started out in ministry working for Lutheran Outdoor Ministries of the Indiana/Kentucky Synod both as a counselor and as a program director. He first started working for congregations here at Christ Church in 2005 as the Assistant Youth Director. In 2007 he took off and did a year of mission work through an organization called Youth Encounter. After a couple years working as a Youth and Family Minister in Webster Groves, MO, Craig moved back to Indianapolis. In addition to serving this congregation, Craig is the director of the Indianapolis Youth Coalition and serves as a Synod Coordinator for the 2012 ELCA National Youth Gathering.

Christine has Bachelor and Masters degrees in Education from Concordia University, Chicago. Her teaching experience has been varied and includes starting and operating a Lutheran preschool as well as teaching Early Childhood Education at Ivy Tech College. She loves children and learning! In her “spare time” she enjoys knitting, reading and spending time with her family.

Deborah Prather is the Director of Music at Christ Church. Debi earned her Bachelor of Music Education from Valparaiso University and Masters in Music Education from Butler University. She has taught in the public schools of Indiana for 21 years.

She is currently the choral director for the concert ensemble at Brownsburg High School. Debi has also been a director for the Indianapolis Children's' Choir. Mrs. Prather has served on local, state and national level boards for music organizations.

She is currently the Repertoire and Standards Chair for the Woman's Choir for the Central Division of the American Choral Directors. Debi and husband Rich reside in Lebanon, IN, and are the parents of two grown children.

An Indianapolis native, Kurt studied piano with William Eltzroth and Dorothy Munger and at Indiana University with Jorge Bolet. At age twelve, he was one of the youngest soloists to appear with the Indianapolis Symphony. He is entering his sixteenth year as organist for the Purdue Christmas Show. Kurt has performed twice at Carnegie Hall and throughout the United States and England. For twelve years, Kurt teamed with the late pianist/organist Gerry Gregorious of Portland, OR in performing over 170 duo-concerts around the country.

From age eleven, Kurt has been active in church music. Before his twenty-three year tenure as organist/choirmaster at Our Redeemer Lutheran, he played at his home church, St. John's, and also Emmaus, St. Paul's and Trinity Lutheran churches. For five years, he lived in the Evansville area, where he maintained over seventy pipe organs and was the Director of Music at First Christian Church of Henderson, KY. Returning to Indianapolis, Kurt was organist and handbell director for six years at King of Glory Lutheran, Carmel, IN. Kurt joined the staff of Christ Church in July of 2008.

Kim Handrock is the director of the Celebration bells handbell choir. Kim has been a member of Christ Church since 2003 and has been the director of the handbell choir since 2007. Kim is a graduate of Valparaiso University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a French major. She received her Master of Science in Infant, Child and Adolescent Health from the University of Michigan. While she now enjoys being a stay at home Mom for her daughter Hannah, her career path was as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. She is married to her husband Paul, a mechanical engineer and bell ringer.

Although her educational degrees aren't in music, she has spent much of her life participating in musical endeavors. As a second grader she started piano lessons which continued for 10 years. In the meantime she learned to play the clarinet and would rather not claim having learned the bassoon. Marching band, concert band, orchestra and youth symphony were the highlights of her high school career. At Valparaiso, she continued with marching band and concert band, but she added bell choir. While studying in Paris at the Sorbonne during college, she played handbells at the American Church in Paris. After graduation, she played in the Zion Lutheran Church of Marshall, Michigan handbell choir for about 8 years before moving to Zionsville and then joined the Christ Church bell choir. She has played in various instrumental groups from time to time as well.

Church Office Phone: 873-3242
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