Meet the Staff
ADMINISTRATION
Jim Harris
Administrator
Jill Bruss
Financial Secretary
Marianne King
Office Coordinator
Tonia Wallner
Christian Education
Cindy Payette-Walsh
Staff Support
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
Director of Christian Education
Tonia Wallner
Tonia is originally a “small town girl” having grown up in Randolph, Wisconsin. She has a lifelong passion for sports and physical education. Tonia earned Bachelor Degrees in both Physical & Health Education, has a Masters Degree in Sports Administration, and is currently the physical education teacher and Athletic Director at St. Monica School in Whitefish Bay. She has also coached volleyball and basketball at various levels, including 5 years with the UWM Women’s Basketball Team. It was during her tenure there that she discovered a desire to direct her skills towards working with young people, rather than coaching adults. Tonia continues to expand her Lay Ministry talents with additional outside classes and education, and always looks for extra ways to ‘minister’ at First Church, especially for our young people and their families.
Tonia joined FCC in 2004 and was appointed our Director of Christian Education in 2010. She resides in Wauwatosa with her 3 cats.
MUSIC
Director of Music & Keyboard Artist
Rhonda Kwiecien
Rhonda Kweicien, Director of Music and Keyboard Artist, serves as organist at First Congregational Church and is a very successful and highly respected accompanist in Southeastern Wisconsin, having worked collaboratively with every imaginable performing force from solo musicians to all-state choirs. She also holds the position of collaborative keyboard artist at Carroll University, where she accompanies faculty and students in recital performances and also the choral ensembles.
Choir Director
Ellen M. Shuler
Ellen Shuler holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Montana State University and a Master of Music Education with Choral Emphasis from Florida State University. Ms. Shuler is the Chair of the Performing Arts at the University School of Milwaukee, the Upper School and Middle School choir director, and music director their musical productions. She was awarded the Outstanding Middle Level Choir Director Award from Wisconsin Choral Director’s Association in 2018 and the Choral Teacher of Excellence from the Milwaukee Civic Music Society in 2015. She has been a guest clinician for singers throughout the greater Milwaukee area. Ms. Shuler was founder and director of the Bel Canto Boy Choir, director of the Milwaukee Children’s Choir, and was Youth Choir director at Mequon United Methodist Church for 20 years.
Director of the Junior Choir
Roxanne Trump-Miles
Roxanne Trump-Miles, Junior Choir Director, holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree (Choral Emphasis) from UW-Eau Claire and a Master’s Degree in Education from Concordia University-Wisconsin. Roxanne teaches music in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Prior to that she taught for twenty years at Lloyd Street School, where she coordinated the school’s “Save the Music” program, put on holiday musicals and numerous other concerts with her students, and perform in Madison at the State Capitol.
FCC CHOIR – SECTION LEADERS
Elle Dannecker
Soprano
JillIian Bruss
Alto
Brett Hanisko
Baritone
Anthony Andronczyk
Tenor
CUSTODIAL & MAINTENANCE
Mark Lund
Building Superintendent