Leadership

Daniel Jay McKinley has been full-time minister of music/organist & choirmaster of CTR since its founding in 2009. He held similar full-time positions at First Christian Church, Columbus, IN, 1978–1997; Christ Church Cathedral, Indianapolis, 1998 (interim assistant); and Christ Church of Hamilton / Wenham, MA, 1998–2009.

Raised in Borden, IN, Dan received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in organ and church music from the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, and was awarded its prestigious Performer’s Certificate. He played sousaphone in the IU marching band and was named the Outstanding Bandsman, but alas never got to the Rose Bowl. However, for 27 years he attended every IU home football game, and as an avid IU men’s basketball fan, he attended five NCAA Final Four championships.

With conductor David Bowden and the Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, he has performed organ & orchestra works of Dupré, Elgar, Guilmant, Jongen, Poulenc, Rütti, Saint-Saëns, Strauss, and Widor. Their recording of Dupré’s music for organ & orchestra was released in 1998 on the Naxos label. Performances have been broadcast on the syndicated radio programs Performance Today, Pipedreams, and With Heart and Voice.

Since coming east, he has been dean, sub-dean, and registrar of the Boston chapter, American Guild of Organists, and served on the executive committee for the 2014 AGO national convention. He also was dean and sub-dean of the Merrimack Valley chapter.

Dan is married to Tess, an English teacher and professional actress. He shares her love for theater and serves as music director for Imago Stage Company, which she directs. They hope to attend all the Shakespeare plays; he has two more to go.

A native of Northern California, Sarah has lived on the North Shore for 18 years now and still finds herself occasionally confounded by the roads and drivers of Massachusetts. Sarah holds a master’s degree in violin performance and works as a freelance violinist as well as a violin teacher. In between renditions of Brahms symphonies or “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” she is busy raising and homeschooling four daughters. She attends the 11 am service at CTR with her daughters, but her husband Nathan is conspicuously absent, as he is director of music at Park Street Church in Boston. Sarah grew up in a contemporary evangelical church, and now delights in discovering the traditions of liturgy and the celebration of the Church year. She is particularly passionate about implementing Church year observations and celebrations in the home. She and her family reside in Danvers, in a 100-year-old house perpetually in need of renovations.

Leanne grew up in CA and moved to Massachusetts in 1988. At the urging of members Linda Preston and Adam Rick, she began attending Christ The Redeemer in 2012. Its rich liturgy and community are the anchors which have bonded her to this fellowship of believers in Christ’s Kingdom. During leisure time, she enjoys gathering with family and friends, plus the occasional road trip to Rumney, NH and Lancaster County, PA.

Kristin attended Christ Church prior to joining Christ the Redeemer in 2009. She lives in Hamilton with her husband Charlie and is mother to four daughters, Sara, Grace, Eve and Helen. She is honored to have the opportunity to serve on the vestry during this important time in our church.

Peter retired in the spring of 2012 after a 22-year tenure as head of school and a total of 35 years in the field of secondary education.  An Episcopalian for most of his adult life, he, along with his wife Allegra, began attending Christ the Redeemer Church at the time of its founding in 2009 and served as Senior Warden from 2013 to 2017.  Peter grew up in the Midwest near St. Louis.  He and Allegra have also lived in Jordan, Germany, and France but since 1972 have made their home on the North Shore.  They now occupy an empty nest in Beverly.  Their four children—three daughters and a son—are married and living in places as close as Groveland and Providence and as faraway as Birmingham, Alabama and Los Angeles.  They have three granddaughters and four grandsons between the ages of 16 years and six months.  Peter and Allegra love to travel, and retirement has afforded them the opportunity to visit many of the destinations on their ever expanding bucket list—including in Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe.  Peter keeps busy with reading and writing projects, fixing stuff, and the endless pursuit of digitizing his lifelong collection of 35mm slides!  His aspiration for our Church is that we proclaim the Good News of Christ—His Truth and His redeeming love—in such a compelling way that people in need of Christ will hear of us and be drawn to our doors.