Staff Biographies
Rev. Bill Shaner
The Rev. William E. Shaner, Jr. is the Interim Senior Pastor at Grace Lutheran. He was ordained in May 1967 at Christ Lutheran Church, Staunton, Virginia. He has served parishes in Boston (Roslindale) and Stoughton, MA; Potter, Gurley and Alliance, Nebraska.
In 1990 he began serving as a Development Officer for Martin Luther Home (now Mosaic), an agency of the church that provide services for developmentally handicapped individuals across the nation. He served in this capacity until his retirement on January 1, 2005.
Since his retirement he has served as Interim Senior Pastor at First Lutheran Church, Lincoln; First Lutheran Church, Blair; and Trinity Lutheran Church, Omaha.
He married Jane Marie Schole on August 5, 1967 at St. Paul Lutheran Church, Hooper, NE and they have two grown children and four grandchildren.
Rev. Bob Rademacher
Pastor Bob is a native Nebraskan, was graduated from Dana College in Blair, NE with a B.A. and Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque, IA with a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree. He completed his Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) degree studies at McCormick Seminary, Chicago, IL.
Pastor Bob and Darlene moved to Lincoln in Sept. of 2007 when he retired from 40 years of active parish ministry, 26 of which were spent in Canada. Pr. Bob began his duties as Visitation Pastor at Grace on Oct. 17, 2007.
Three sons, one daughter, two daughters-in-law, six grandchildren and a bunch of cats and dogs complete the family, scattered from Lincoln to North Carolina to Wisconsin and south-central Nebraska.
Sara Schott
Sara Schott has been Director of Parish Music at Grace since October, 2002. Prior to that, she had been Grace's assistant organist for 6 years. A lifelong Lutheran, she began taking piano lessons in 4th grade, and began organ lessons and playing for worship at her home congregation while in high school.
Sara moved to Lincoln to pursue a degree in
journalism from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In addition to that degree, she also earned a Bachelor's Degree in Music Performance (organ) at UNL, where her teachers were George Ritchie and Quentin Faulkner.
She has a passion for Lutheran liturgy and hymnody, and for teaching both children and adults about the Lutheran heritage of fine sacred music.
Chris Lyons
A native of McCook, Nebraska, Chris began as Grace's assistant organist in August, 2009. Chris is currently pursuing a bachelor's degree in organ performance at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he studies with Christopher Marks.
