Staff

Franz Rigert grew up in Delavan, Wisconsin, where his father served the Congregational UCC church for more than 30 years. He attended UW Eau Claire and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice with a minor in religious studies. In 1989 Franz enrolled in graduate school at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois. In 1991 he married his spouse Trinn, and in 1992 earned a Masters of Divinity Degree. Franz then served as Associate Minister at Kingswood United Methodist Church in Buffalo Grove, IL from 1992 to 1995. Following that, Franz was called to Pilgrim United Church of Christ in Grafton, Wisconsin, where he served for nearly 20 years. During that tenure the congregation grew significantly in membership and mission, eventually taking on a major building project that would provide a beautiful new sanctuary, several classrooms and much needed gathering space. In fall of 2014, Franz was called by the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ, to serve as Conference Minister. Franz and Trinn make their home in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, where Trinn has taught Early Childhood Special Education for 27 years. They share three twenty-something children – Mitchell, Jordan and Marianna. Franz enjoys mountain hiking, travel, music and nature.

Jane serves as the staff resource for Church and Ministry in the eastern region, and provides pastoral care for pastors and churches with congregations in transition and helps them transform conflict. Jane also helps churches with search and call. Prior to her call as Associate Conference Minister, Jane had been in ministry in the local church for 30 years. She first served a small rural church as a licensed local pastor in the United Methodist Church. After coming to the United Church of Christ in 1988, Jane served a suburban church outside Rochester, New York, first as a licensed pastor and then as an ordained minister upon her graduation from seminary and ordination into the UCC. During her 6-year tenure in New York, she helped the congregation grow from 450 to 650 members. In 1995, Jane was called to First Congregational UCC, Appleton, a congregation of 1450 members, assuming a variety of pastoral leadership roles as the church’s program and ministry have evolved.

Rachel’s primary responsibility is to support the congregations and pastors of the southern region in the Wisconsin Conference.

Before joining the Conference staff, Rachel served as pastor of St. John’s United Church of Christ on Madeline Island whose mission and ministry are woven into the life of the island community. During her tenure St. John’s celebrated its centennial anniversary and, despite the pandemic, strengthened its future ministry through an amazing Second Century Endowment campaign.

After receiving her master of divinity degree from the Pacific School of Religion in 2012, Rachel served for seven years as minister of community life at First Church Berkeley, United Church of Christ.

Before discerning a call to ministry, Rachel earned a master’s degree in education from the University of Vermont and worked for 15 years in higher education student affairs administration.

In her free time Rachel loves reading, cooking, eating ice cream, bird watching and adventures. Rachel is also a program associate in the Spiritual Guidance Program at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. Rachel lives in Madison with her partner, Joe Scarry. Joe works on several social justice initiatives within the Wisconsin Conference.

Shannon serves as Associate Conference Minister for the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ. She brings a passion for leadership development, intergenerational ministry, immersive learning, conflict transformation, and equipping congregations for faithful ministry in a changing world.

Prior to joining the Conference staff, Shannon served as a licensed minister and later as Associate Minister at First Congregational UCC in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. During her time there, she created meaningful opportunities for people of all ages to learn, grow, and serve together, and she walked alongside the congregation as it discerned and adopted an Open and Affirming (ONA) covenant. Shannon is especially passionate about transformative learning through travel and immersive experiences.

Shannon is a graduate of Dubuque Theological Seminary. Before answering the call to ordained ministry, she earned her undergraduate degree in education and taught for seven years in the Black River Falls School District. Her background in education continues to shape her collaborative, engaging approach to ministry and leadership.

Outside of ministry, Shannon enjoys reading, cooking, hiking, traveling, playing boardgames, learning about and drinking tea, and spending time with family and friends. She and her fiancé, Taylor Bever, have three children: Liam, Eli, and Blake.

Andrew B. Warner, CFRE, serves as President of the Wisconsin Foundation UCC. He leads the fundraising efforts of the conference, supports the planned giving and effective philanthropy of congregations, and leads a foundation based on a community foundation model for the endowments of the conference and congregations. He regularly leads workshops and course through the Damascus Project to strengthen the fundraising capabilities of congregational leaders.

Andrew serves a similar role with the Michigan Conference.

Before joining the conference staff in 2019, Andrew served for twenty-two years as pastor of Plymouth Church UCC of Milwaukee, a vibrant and inclusive Christian community. Through faith-based leadership and board service, Andrew developed as a leader who connects people’s deepest passions with generative opportunities and initiatives.

Andrew lives with his husband in Shawano, Wisconsin. Their eldest son Tomas works as a geo-technical engineer in Chicago while their youngest studies aviation at Fox Valley Community College.  Andrew loves to cook and entertain, a practice he calls his “gastro-evangelism.”

Stephanie has oversight for the vision and curriculum of the Damascus Project, the shared theological learning ministry of the Minnesota and Wisconsin Conferences UCC. She designs and plans courses, recruits instructors, and works with both Conference staffs to create learning and training opportunities that support the needs of congregations, clergy, and UCC members. Stephanie is a lifelong member of the UCC raised in the Nebraska Conference. She holds a BA from St. Olaf College and MDiv and PhD from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. She resides in Grayslake, Illinois, just south of the Wisconsin border, where her husband Jason serves as pastor of a UCC/UMC church. They share their home with his teenaged sons and two cats.

Lisa is the Associate Conference Minister for Faith Formation and Justice Ministries, as well as the Executive Associate to the Conference Minister. She joined the Wisconsin Conference Staff in January 2006 after working in faith formation and youth ministry in the local church setting. Lisa organizes and facilitates Conference-wide faith formation and youth ministry programs. She also supports and resources local church leadership in faith formation and youth ministry. Lisa’s work also focuses on the justice ministries of the Conference, staffing several working groups and serving as a networking resource to the local church. As Executive Associate to the Conference Minister, Lisa provides support for the work of the Conference Minister, the Board of Directors, the Nominating Committee, and the General Synod delegation. She also staffs the UEK-UCC Partnership working group.

Lisa also serves in a number of capacities beyond the Wisconsin Conference. These include Moderator of the Network of Wider Church Youth Ministries of the United Church of Christ and Board of Directors for the Association of United Church Educators. She is also involved with UCC’s National Collaborative on Immigration.

Mark Baldwin spent 40 years as an award–winning journalist. He is a former executive editor of the Rockford Register Star, and previously worked for news organizations in Wisconsin, Kansas, Chicago and Washington, D.C. He is an expert at identifying audiences, defining communications and marketing strategy, and editing and publishing material for diverse audiences. He has proven skills in community engagement, public relations, digital and social media, and project management. Mark was a longtime member of the boards of the News Leaders Association and the Associated Press Media Editors and is a former president of the Wisconsin Associated Press Editors.

Mark is incoming vice chair of the board of the United Way of Rock River Valley. He and his wife, Sydney, are members of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Rockford, where Mark has served on the Vestry and as junior and senior warden. Mark and Sydney have three adult daughters. A Chicago native, Mark holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from Northwestern University, though he likes to point out that he was a student there long before the Wildcats became a football power.

Tracy Hauge’s role as the Finance Manager includes general accounting responsibilities. Tracy earned her Associate degree from Madison College in Business Management with an emphasis in Accounting. She brings many years of experience and a deep commitment to the mission and ministry of the Wisconsin Conference. She is the first contact for local church leaders on financial questions. Tracy works closely with Andrew Warner, Development Director, to provide reports as needed.

Nola provides support to key program areas of the Wisconsin Conference and works extensively with communications. Program support includes Communities of Practice, Catalyst, and youth programs, as well as support for other Conference-wide events including the annual meeting. Conference communications duties include developing, producing, and distributing print and digital communications, including social media, that help people to connect with the work of the Conference. Nola also manages in-house IT resourcing and manages the Conference website, and helps churches with annual Yearbook reporting.

As office coordinator, Andrea supports the conference with general office tasks and hospitality, data keeping for conference and national setting, supports and resources remote team members, supports and resources regional associations, does record keeping and document filing, facilitates large email and postal mailings, sorts and processes incoming mail and checks, and coordinate schedules and staff reservations with Daycholah Center. Andrea also serves as the Search and Call coordinator for the conference.

Jaime Craig is the Conference team’s Annual Meeting Coordinator, a part-time position. Jaime also runs her own Development Consulting business, JC Creative, where she assists nonprofit organizations with fundraising, grant writing, and development of corporate events. Jaime lives with her husband, five children, a dog, and two cats in New Glarus.

Mary Kuenning Gross

Mary served as the Refugee Resettlement Administrator of the United Church Board for World Ministries in New York City from 1985-2000 resettling refugees through the Church World Service Immigration and Refugee Program.  She then served as the Executive for Refugee Ministries in Cleveland from 2000-2010 for Wider Church Ministries of the United Church of Christ. 

Mary is a member St. John’s UCC in Merton, Wis., where she participates in a refugee resettlement team, the Immigration Working Group for the Wisconsin Conference, and has volunteered and worked in various capacities.

She is a graduate of Augustana College, Rock Island and New York University majoring in Public Administration.  She grew up in Church of Peace UCC, Rock Island, Illinois.

She lives in Waukesha with her husband of 30 years, the Rev. Bob Gross, daughter Sarah (recent Elmhurst graduate) and son, Daniel and cat, Coco.