our team
Cindy Thomas, Office Manager; Julie Badciong & Jessica Quintanilla, Office Assistants;
Jean Tushar, Custodian; Cynthia Gebhardt, Amanda Miller & Bella Topper, Crib Room Staff
Don Weinberg, Assistant Director of Music; Martha Brown, Organist;
Joanne Weinberg, Rainbow Choir (children's choir); Allison Schweitzer, Chancel Ringers (handbell choir)
Rev. Dr. Brett Swanson, Pastor
The Rev. Dr. Brett Swanson joined the staff of Wauwatosa Presbyterian Church as Co-Pastor in November of 2017. Since his ordination in September of 2007 Brett has served churches in Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Brett is originally from California and holds a Bachelors in Religion and Philosophy from Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington and a Master of Divinity from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Kentucky. He graduated as a Doctor of Ministry from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, Georgia in spring of 2019.
Both personally and as a pastor, Brett is wholeheartedly committed to the full inclusion of the church and a theological foundation rooted in the radical love of a grace-giving God. He believes that it is our duty as Christians to speak out against hatred and evil in this world and counter that hate with a deeper, more sustaining love. Brett believes that as people of faith, we must be willing to live out this faith in a world that will call the Gospel’s message counter-cultural and do so understanding that the church does its best work when it is a dissenting voice.
Brett enjoys reading, baseball, movies, live music and sports, video games, and adventures of all sorts, especially international travel. He is a husband and a father, and together with his family, makes his home in Wauwatosa.
Dr. Dimitri Shapovalov, Music Director
As Director of Music, Dimitri works with the Co-Pastors, the rest of the music staff and the lay leadership of the church to organize and supervise the music program of the church.
By day, Dimitri is a professor at Carthage College, where he is a choir director, scholar, pianist, composer and educator. He teaches music history, aural skills, and musicology-related topics.
His professional interests include musicology, piano performance and composition.
As a musicologist, he is a published author and translator on topics connected with Russian culture at the turn of the 20th century. His choral compositions have received premieres from the Carthage Chapel Choir, the Cornell University Chorus, the Northwestern Women’s Chorus, and the Sapphire Consort Group in Minneapolis, Minn. He formerly led the Kenosha Choral Arts Society.
Dimitri earned his Ph.D and M.A. from Cornell University, and his B.A. from the University of Minnesota. He joined the Carthage music faculty in 2005.
