President
Rev. Nancy M. Raabe is pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Hatfield, Pennsylvania. Nancy studied music at Pomona College (CA), and theology at Trinity Lutheran Seminary (OH) and Wartburg Theological Seminary (IA). Prior to her current call, she served as pastor for congregations in Beloit and Marshall, Wisconsin, and as music minister (keyboard, choir, and handbells) at congregations in Wisconsin and Ohio. Nancy is the founding editor of ALCM’s In Tempo. Nancy has written a series of piano arrangements of hymn tunes, along with a number of organ, choral, and liturgical settings. She published a critical biography of Carl Schalk and three volumes of One-Minute Devotions for Church Musicians. Nancy has been the Reformation Day preacher for the Bach Cantata Vespers (Grace Lutheran Church, River Forest, IL), a featured speaker at the Lectures in Church Music (Concordia University Chicago), and a presenter and featured composer at the Institute of Liturgical Studies (Valparaiso University). For more details, see NancyRaabe.com.
President-Elect
Dr. Karen Black is the Rudi Inselmann Endowed Professor of Organ at Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa. She teaches organ and church music, music theory and aural skills, serves as organist for worship services, and conducts the Kantorei choral ensemble and Handbell Choir. She also serves as organist at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Waverly.
Dr. Black is active as a recitalist and clinician. She has performed organ recitals in Germany, including at the Castle Church in Wittenburg and St. George’s Church in Eisenach. She has published organ and choral arrangements with Augsburg Fortress and Morningstar Music. In 2021 she released an organ album, Ein feste Burg, on the ARSIS label, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the installation of the Wartburg College Chapel Dobson organ.
Secretary/Treasurer
Michael Krentz, a Deacon in the ELCA, serves as Director of Music/Organist at Christ Lutheran Church in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He received Bachelor, Master, and Doctor of Music degrees from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Dr. Krentz is currently convener of the Worship Team of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Synod, ELCA, and has served in the leadership of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, including as chairperson of ALCM’s 1997 national conference, president of Region 1, and national Secretary/Treasurer.
Director
Dr. Jean Boehler is the Cantor of Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Bronx, NY. In addition to her organ, choral, and instrumental duties at this vibrant urban church, Jean is the founder and director of Arts in Mission-NY, a music outreach for young families with babies and toddlers. Jean is grateful to teach music to all ages… from peek-a-boo songs with babies, to middle school Orff ensembles, to high school and college choirs, to a community senior citizen handchime ensemble. She regularly leads music at conferences and retreats. Dr. Boehler is an active member of ALCM, having served as a workshop presenter, planner for a Region 1 Conference, and CrossAccent Music Reviewer and Editor. In addition to her DMA in organ, she is certified in Kodaly, Orff, Dalcroze, and Musikgarten.
Director
Carol Churchill Born and raised in the home of a church organist in Fairbanks, Alaska, music was as much a part of Carol’s formative years as was snow on the ground. Excellent early instruction and encouragement prepared her for a vocation as a church organist. Carol was fortunate to study organ during high school with Dr. James Johnson (University of Alaska) and later studied with Mary Helen Thompson (Pacific Lutheran University), Katie Adelman, and Norma Aamodt-Nelson. In 2006, Carol was conference registrar for the regional conference, and in 2011 she served on the local arrangements committee for the biennial conference – both in Seattle. With guidance from Jim Rindelaub and Arletta Anderson, Carol secured a grant from Seattle AGO completing the full endowment of the ALCM Norma Aamodt-Nelson Student Scholar Fund. This work has provided Carol keen awareness of the extraordinary leadership that has and continues to serve our organization. Since 1992, Carol has served Sammamish Hills Lutheran Church as shared-time organist. Prior to that she was privileged to serve 10 years with Katie Adelman at Cross of Christ Lutheran Church in Bellevue, WA. Some of Carol’s ALCM colleagues also know of her work with the largest seaplane company in the U.S., Kenmore Air, where she is always ready to share the quintessential Pacific Northwest experience. Carol and Mark have three children and seven grandchildren.
Director
Kim Cramer has served as Director of Music at St Luke Lutheran Church in Mesa, AZ for over 40 years. Responsibilities included worship and service planning, liturgical arts, directing choirs – handbells and choral – and instrumental ensembles. She has been actively involved in ALCM since 1990 when she joined at the 2nd Region 4 biennial conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kim has served on three planning committees for regional conferences and has served as regional president and secretary.
Director
Tony Cruz has served as Cantor for St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jacksonville, FL since 2006. In addition to serving as the organist, he accompanies and directs the vocal choirs and directs the handbell choir. Tony has a BA in Music from Jacksonville University and an MA in Church Music from Trinity Lutheran Seminary (Columbus, OH). He is an active member of the local chapter of the American Guild of Organists and performs regularly (as a singer) with RareSong, an early music ensemble.
Director
Dr. Wallace Horton, a Southern California native, served in full-time parish worship & music ministry for 45 years prior to his retirement in 2015. Responsibilities included worship and service planning, both “traditional” and “modern;” service playing; directing choirs – children through adults – and instrumental ensembles. Those years included serving at Bethany Lutheran Church & School (Long Beach, CA); The Falls Church (Episcopal/Anglican) (Falls Church, VA); and Prince of Peace Lutheran Church (Springfield, VA). For the past six years he has served as the part-time Minister of Worship & Music at Living Savior Lutheran Church in Fairfax Station, VA. He continues as a rostered Commissioned Minister of Religion Emeritus in the LCMS. He holds a B.A. and M.A. from California State University Long Beach; a M. Mus. Ch. Music from Biola University – La Mirada, CA; the Colloquy for the Teaching Ministry from Concordia University NE; and the Doctor of Worship Studies from The Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies.
Dr. Horton’s organ teachers include William Paul Stroud and Wilbur Held. Other instructors in various music areas include William Lock, Paul Christiansen, and H. Robert Reynolds.
Dr. Horton is the author of two books, Windows on Worship and Windows for the Journey, as well as articles that have appeared in In Tempo and Creator Magazine. In addition to his ALCM membership, he serves as a Board Member of the Northern Virginia Chapter of the AGO. He and his wife, Joan, have two grown children and four granddaughters.
Director
Carol R. (Schroeder) McDaniel is a veteran church musician and organist currently serving as adjunct professor at Concordia Nebraska. She is also a private studio teacher and a support/substitute musician in various Nebraska Lutheran churches.
Before moving to Seward, she served in southern California as professor of Church Music at Concordia—Irvine. She also served as Minister of Music/Organist for Bethany Lutheran, Long Beach, a position which she held for 30 years. Carol attended Concordia-Seward, for her B.S. in Education, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, for her M.M. in organ performance, and the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies where she earned her Doctor of Worship Studies in 2007.
Carol is passionate about worship and spiritual formation in preparation for worship, and thoroughly enjoys hymn text writing, teaching and leading Bible study retreats around the country. She founded www.faithtalkministry.com in the summer of 2022 and regularly shares blogposts about her faith and other spiritual topics.
Director
Omaldo Perez is the Director of Music and Worship at Grace Lutheran Church in La Grange, IL. Before his appointment at Grace, he led congregational singing (on and off the bench) in NJ, NY, AZ, WA, and OH. A native of the Dominican Republic, Omaldo has a deep love for all the musical traditions that inform his music-making. A contributor to Sundays and Seasons, Prelude Music Blog, and our ALCM publications, In Tempo and CrossAccent, Omaldo is also an advisory board member of the Institute of Liturgical Studies.
Director
David Werth serves as the Director of Traditional Worship at First Trinity Lutheran Church in Buffalo, New York where he leads a music ministry that includes multigenerational participation in choirs and instrumental ensembles. In 2021, he founded a music conservatory there including, currently, four teachers (organ, piano, voice and cello) and 60 students. David also directs the Valparaiso University Guild Candlelight Christmas Vesper (now in its 66th year) at First Trinity. Additionally, David serves as participant and vice president of the Lutheran Chorale of the Niagara Frontier and treasurer of Buffalo New York’s premier chamber choir, Harmonia.
David recently served as treasurer for the 2019 AGO Northeast Regional Convention in Buffalo, New York. He has contributed to the ALCM’s “Grace Notes” and has served as author for the “Creative Worship” series published by Concordia Publishing House. David has coordinated numerous hymn festivals, worship and music workshops in Western New York that have included David Cherwien, Mark Sedio, Robert Hobby, Gerald Coleman, John Behnke, Kevin Hildebrand, Scott Hyslop, Paul Soulek, and in 2022, Jacob Weber. David has participated in national worship conferences at Concordia University Chicago, Concordia University Nebraska, and St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN. Additionally, David and his wife have commissioned numerous choral, organ, and handbell works.
David has degrees in accounting and law and is a tax partner at Tronconi Segarra & Associates, one of Western New York’s largest public accounting and professional services firms.