1.      Adam, Stephanie, and Carter Gibas

Adam and Stephanie Gibas heard about Immanuel through family members who are Immanuel members: Adam’s aunt and uncle, Fran and Bruce Clawson, and Adam’s brother and sister-in-law, Ray and Melanie Jesko. When they visited, Adam and Stephanie were impressed by how welcoming the people were and liked the comfortable, family atmosphere. In February, Stephanie and Adam had their first child, Carter, baptized at Immanuel. Now that they have completed the Adult Confirmation Instruction class and the PLACE Workshop, Stephanie is joining Immanuel by Profession of Faith, and Adam is joining through Adult Confirmation.

The family lives in Milwaukee. Stephanie is a workers’ compensation underwriter at United Heartland. Adam works in accounts receivable for the employment Website monster.com.

For recreation, Adam enjoys sports of all kinds, especially football, soccer, baseball, and basketball. Stephanie challenges herself with games and puzzles such as Sudoku and Solitaire. She also loves reading James Patterson’s crime-novel thrillers.

The Gibas family is looking forward to spending time in the great outdoors this summer, whether having a backyard barbecue at home, or boating, fishing, or camping. Their first vacation with ten-month-old Carter will be enjoying a week’s vacation in a lakeside cabin.

Say hello to this young family at the 10:45 service!

Andy and Lindsay Johnson, of Menomonee Falls, live near Immanuel and visited while in the process of finding a neighborhood church to call home. Lindsay says they liked the large size of the congregation and noticed how worshipers were enthusiastically participating in the worship service. Andy especially liked having the Worship Center screens to make it easier to follow along with the liturgy.

Having just completed the Adult Confirmation Instruction class and PLACE, Lindsay says she has appreciated how the PLACE Workshop encourages and guides new members in finding ways to get involved in church activities to use their gifts and build relationships with other members of the congregation.

The couple’s first child, daughter Sydney, 9 months, was baptized at Immanuel last November.

Lindsay is a stay-at-home mom to Sydney. Andy works as a manager at Cabela’s, a job that taps into his passion for fishing! Andy, Lindsay, and Sydney are planning to spend the summer months outdoors – they are especially anticipating a week of camping in Door County’s Peninsula State Park. The family’s black lab, Jada, often joins them in their outdoor pursuits, and helps Andy during pheasant hunting season.

Please welcome this friendly family at the 9:30 or 10:45 services!

3.      Duane, Beth, Rebecca, Bradley, and Anthony Ziege

Duane and Beth Ziege and their children Rebecca, 18, Brad, 17, and Tony, 10, are new transfers to Immanuel from Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Wauwatosa. The family lives not far from Immanuel in Brookfield. Duane and Beth have already gotten to know several other new members through the PLACE Workshop, and Tony loves attending Kingdom Quest.

Duane works for North Shore Water Commission, which supplies and treats Lake Michigan water for use by surrounding communities. Beth is an auditor in Kohl's Corporate Office.

The Zieges are looking forward to fishing and camping this summer. When indoors, they enjoy watching Packers, Brewers, and Admirals games. They are also planning the celebration of Rebecca's graduation from Brookfield East High School.

Please greet the Zieges at the 8:00 service!

4.      Terrence Kobza

Terrence Kobza is a new official member to Immanuel, but he has been attending our church since he and his family moved to Brookfield eight years ago. Terrence is married to wife Shelley, and the two have three children: Stephen, 15, Joshua, 11, and Kaitlyn, 1. Terrence says that upon the occasion of Kaitlyn's baptism, he decided to go through Adult Confirmation and join Immanuel as an example to his children.

During his years at Immanuel, Terrence has served in various capacities. When his boys were younger, he and Shelley were very involved in the Parent Teacher League, and Terrence reveled in serving as grill-master and greeter at the volleyball and basketball tournaments. He also directed traffic for the school Christmas program several times. In addition, he and Shelley taught Sunday School for grades 2, 4, and 6. Currently, Terrence is participating in Adult Bible Class (he finds Eric Pankow's study of the Israelites' Exodus from Ancient Egypt fascinating!). In April, he chaperoned a YOJ all-night bowling event. He is also involved in Boy and Cub Scouts, Lenten Soup Suppers, and the Immanuel Lutheran Men's Group.

Terrence works as a service technician in supermarket refrigeration, keeping cooling devices functioning smoothly for stores such as Pick n' Save, Sendik's, Sentry, and restaurants such as Dave n' Buster's and the Cheesecake Factory. Shelley is a finance manager for Wisconsin Innkeepers, which publishes a catalog of inns, motels, and bed-and-breakfasts across the state.

Summer is a favorite time of year for Terrence, as he loves camping and fishing, frequently with his good friend, Barry Weber. He and Barry are part of the this year's Men's Network Lutheran fishing tournament. They also recently took a fly fishing workshop through the South Wisconsin District. Shelley has a year-round hobby: she's currently assembling and furnishing a miniature dollhouse, from sanding the tiny banisters to cutting curtains for the windows.

Terrence also enjoys participating in his sons' sporting events. He once coached the boys and their baseball and basketball teams in Elmbrook Little League. Nowadays, he cheers them on: Stephen plays football for Brookfield East, while Joshua plays lacrosse in the Brookfield Lacrosse League. Kaitlyn is quickly taking after her brothers' active lifestyle – Terrence says that when she isn't sleepy, she wants to be down and cruising around rather than be cuddled. He says she's at the age in baby development where she needs to be watched constantly because she's smiling at you one minute, and across the room the next!

Please say hello to Terrence and his family at the 9:30 service!

5.      Chris Beackley

Chris Beackley is a new member to Immanuel through Adult Confirmation. He lives in Milwaukee, but is a Pennsylvania native. Chris recently celebrated his fiance Sarah's graduation from Cardinal Stritch with a BA in photography. Chris and Sarah are looking forward to their July 24th wedding at Immanuel.

If you're attending a wedding yourself this summer and need some new dress shoes for the occasion, be sure to visit Chris in the shoe department at Sears. Besides working in shoe sales, Chris is going to school for professional landscaping online through Penn Foster. He hopes to one day be a golf course superintendent.

Chris loves to be outdoors, and says he often feels closest to God there, where he's surrounded by the beauty of God's creation. This summer, Chris hopes to spend lots of time in nature, hunting, fishing, and golfing.

Please say hello to this young gentleman at the 10:45 service!

6.      Georgene Kerr

Georgene Kerr is a Wisconsin native who, after spending the previous 20 years in North Carolina, moved to Brookfield in 2006. Georgene has two grown daughters, Stephanie and Shannon, who live in North Carolina.

Georgene visited Immanuel after a friend suggested she try services here. She soon discovered that Pastor Schneider's father, Dick Schneider, who was once her science teacher at Milwaukee Lutheran High School, is also an Immanuel member.

Georgene says she's amazed by how many of her former MLHS teachers are still in the area: one attends Mt. Olive, and another resides at the nursing home where a friend works. She's even run into relatives of her teachers at Marine Bank at Mayfair, where she works as a teller and personal banker.

In her free time, Georgene enjoys knitting, crocheting, and reading.

Please welcome Georgene to our congregation at the 9:30 service time!

7.      Mary Pollnow

Mary Pollnow recently transferred to Immanuel from Mt. Olive Lutheran in Wauwatosa. Mary has several family members connected with Immanuel: her daughter Terri Nolte and her family are Immanuel members, and her daughter Toni Marsac's children, Jacob and Keera Panagis, attend Immanuel Lutheran School.

Mary lives with her husband, Allan, in Milwaukee. She works as a cook and bartender at a restaurant bar.

Mary's hobbies include reading and knitting. She also loves playing with her eleven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. She often brings her granddaughters to Kingdom Quest on Sunday mornings.

Say hello to Mary at the 8:00 or 9:30 service!

8.      David Schneider

David (Dave) Schneider may be a new member, but he's already well-connected at Immanuel: he's the older brother of our senior pastor, Dan Schneider. Dave is busy settling in to musical ministries: over the winter he played in a hand-bell choir at St. Paul's in West Allis, and currently he is singing with the Family Singers at Immanuel.

Dave relocated to the Milwaukee area in January, his third move in four years (he also recently lived in the Twin Cities, Madison, and Elburn, Illinois). He resides in Brookfield, and works at a warehouse that does horticultural distribution.

In his free time, Dave enjoys helping his parents with various projects at their home. Dave also loves the outdoors, especially backpacking and hiking. He is planning a week-long backpacking trip to Unitah National Wilderness Area. Dave says he'll probably go in early August, because that's when the snow finally melts in that part of the Rocky Mountains (running through Utah and Wyoming).

Please welcome this outdoors-man at the 8 or 9:30 service!

8.      Judy Gallagher

Judy Gallagher is a new transfer to Immanuel from Good Shepherd in Watertown. Judy says she found Immanuel while trying out different driving routes to work. (Judy works in accounting at Quinn Distributors.) She liked the fact that we offer a Monday night service option, and began occasionally attending the service when she had been unable to attend her home church on Sunday.

Judy moved to Milwaukee last November, and since Immanuel is now only a 10-minute drive from her home, she decided to transfer and become a full member of our congregation.

Now that the weather is finally warming up so she can comfortably unpack her garage, Judy's looking forward to spending her summer settling into her house.

Judy has one grown son, Jim, who lives in the Kettle Moraine area. Judy likes to bring her eight-year-old grandson, Devon, to services at Immanuel.

Please greet Judy at the Monday night service!

9. Jim, Melissa, Brooke, Jack, and Olivia Porter

Jim and Melissa Porter and their children Brooke, 10, Jack, 7, and Olivia, 5, live in a Menomonee Falls neighborhood filled with Immanuel families. It was a child of one of these families, Brenna Brooks, who first introduced the Porters to Immanuel when she invited Brooke to participate in Vacation Bible School. Now, the Porter family is part of our Immanuel family!

This summer, the Porter children have recently finished a fun school year at Kingdom Quest and are all looking forward to another exciting session of VBS, taking summer school classes through the school district, and much more!

Brooke is a young artist, reveling in drawing, singing, and dance (she takes ballet, tap, and modern dance lessons). She also likes to make a splash at the neighborhood pool.

For Jack, summer is about outdoor sports: he plays baseball in the Menomonee Falls Little League, and also likes to zoom around in his go-cart. Come fall, he'll trade baseball for football, and perhaps spend more time perfecting his video game skills as the weather gets chilly.

Olivia, like her big sister, loves to dance ballet and tap. She says she also enjoys coloring, and the simple pleasure of letting balloons go free, up, up, up into the sky.

In the fall, Jack and Olivia will begin a new school year at Valley View Elementary. Brooke will attend North Middle School in Menomonee Falls.

Jim shares his son's love of baseball, and coaches Jack's Little League team. In addition, Jim plays men's softball through Menomonee Falls Park and Rec.

Summer is also the busy season for Jim's new concrete landscaping edging business, Porter's Borders.

Melissa works full-time for the State Department of Corrections (Region 3 - Milwaukee) as a probation and parole agent. Her caseload is made up of women, which she says is a good fit for her because she is passionate about helping both the women she works with and their children as well. 

Melissa loves to cook (her area of expertise is casseroles). She also enjoys reading, particularly Oprah Book Club picks.

Say hello to the Porters at the 9:30 or 10:45 service!