Craig Meissler was baptized into the faith at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Munster Indiana. The love of church music began at home, where Craig’s father would play classical organ records, and was reinforced by his family’s regular attendance at church. At the age of five, Craig’s family moved north to Hales Corners, Wisconsin which is a small community southwest of Milwaukee. He attended Hales Corners Lutheran School and then Martin Luther High School. After serving a four year enlistment in the United States Air Force as a Law Enforcement Specialist in Korea and Utah, Craig remained in Ogden, Utah and attended Weber State College and served as the music director at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Ogden. After working in the private sector and serving as a music director at churches in Utah and Wisconsin, Craig moved from Appleton, Wisconsin to Mesa, Arizona to help his siblings care for his father who had, and succumbed to prostate cancer in 1994. Craig met his wife Nia while in Arizona, and we were married at Christ Church Lutheran in Phoenix. While in Phoenix, Craig and Nia were told that they would be unable to have children and made plans to move to Austin for Craig to attend the pre-seminary program at Concordia University and then on to the seminary in Fort Wayne. Two months before their intended move, Nia became pregnant with their first child – and plans to move to Texas and the seminary were placed on hold. Upon the start of their family, Craig respected Nia’s desire to be at home with their child, and instead stayed on in his position with his current employer. Eventually, that same company moved Craig’s new family to Austin, Texas where he served as Music Director at Mt. Olive Lutheran while continuing to hold his full-time job. Finally, due to frequent changes in upper management within his company, Craig accepted a new position as area manager in Wisconsin with another national staffing company, and moved his growing family to Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
In Sheboygan, Craig served as Director of Music at Trinity Lutheran Church. His family grew by yet another child, and in 2003, He received and accepted a call to be Minister of Music at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church. During his tenure at Shepherd of the Hills he completed his seminary education and grew his family by two more children. Craig and Nia have been married for twenty-one years and are blessed with five children In the spirit of full disclosure, they still maintain an unwavering allegiance to the Green Bay Packers, bratwurst, and most cheeses.
