Our Staff
Clergy
The Rev. Matthew Hanisian
Rector
The Reverend Matthew Hanisian began his tenure serving Christ Church Winnetka as its tenth Rector in June 2023. He arrived at Christ Church having served as Rector of St. Martin’s-in-the-Field Episcopal Church in Severna Park, Maryland for seven years. Prior to his time in Maryland, he served as Associate Rector of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. and as a deacon and Director of Communication for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and on the faculty of St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes Episcopal School both in Alexandria, Virginia.
Matthew believes in making joyful disciples of Jesus Christ. In meeting people where they are in their faith, encouraging each to take the next step in their faith discovery and formation. His sense of humor, authenticity, and love of people have endeared him to those he has served. Matthew has inspired congregations to grow in their spiritual depth, expressing God’s love through their wide welcome for all, and to discover new ways to daily get our hands dirty doing the work of loving God and neighbor in the wider world.
In each of the dioceses he has served, Matthew has been elected to serve in leadership capacities. While in the Diocese of Virginia he served on the Board of Trustees for Virginia Theological Seminary during his time as President of the Student Body. In the Diocese of Washington, he served on the Commissions on Ministry and Youth Programming. Most recently he served as the Vice-President of The Standing Committee of the Diocese of Maryland.
The son of an Episcopal priest, Matthew was born in West Islip, New York and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism for Advertising from Indiana University in Bloomington and his Master of Divinity from Virginia Theological Seminary. He enjoys watercolor painting, blacksmithing, brewing beer and would love to play more golf. Matthew is married to Katie Glover, a leadership and governance expert; together they share four adult children, a silver lab named Tallulah and a Mini Rex rabbit named Russell.
The Rev. Cynthia Rigali-Lund
Curate
The Reverend Cynthia Rigali-Lund’s background of ministry includes a wide range of non-profit settings and churches, most recently serving at St. Lawrence and as Director of Children and Youth at St. James the Less in Northfield. Her love for teaching, fundraising, and counseling has been actualized over the years as an adjunct faculty member and development professional at institutions such as DePaul University, Casa Central, and the Chicago Cultural Center Foundation.
Cynthia’s roots in Chicago run deep with an upbringing in Park Ridge and numerous young adult years living in the city. She is an advocate for Chicago and praises its lakefront, diversity, accessibility and commitment to the arts—even with its ongoing challenges of being the third largest city.
Cynthia’s faith was nurtured as a young girl via her religious, Italian- Catholic family as well as witnessing her mom’s deep spirituality. Her desire to be a priest was present at a young age and then blossomed when she found the Episcopal Church. Cynthia brings freshness and creativity to her faith and strongly believes that joy, heartache, lament, and wrestling encompasses the richness of being in relationship with God. As a champion of Jesus, Cynthia extends the Welcome Mat of Love to all, endeavoring to live into the simple-yet-difficult Christian commandments of love God and love one another.
Cynthia received her B.A. in Psychology from Marquette University, M.Ed. in Counseling from DePaul University and recently finished up her coursework at Garrett for her M.Div. She is enthusiastically married to Tom Lund, and they have three tween/teen daughters, two dogs, two cats and a carnival goldfish that has been a long-lasting surprise to the whole family.
The Rev. Rod Quainton
Assisting Priest
Rod and his wife Nanci Priest joined the Christ Church community in April, 2014 after serving 25 years as a priest following a 17 year banking career. Rod retired in 2013 after 14 years as Executive Pastor at First United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Michigan. He has served three Episcopal Churches in his ministry: St. Dunstan’s, Houston, Texas; All Saints, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; and as Rector of Church of the Heavenly Rest, Abilene, Texas. Additionally he has served as Program Director at the Center for Ethics and Values at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.
Rod believes God is experienced in the most extraordinary places along life’s journey whether in the sacraments, at the death of a loved one, in the workplace, in the Navy, and especially in the form of that still small voice. Rod’s journey is anchored in faith communities that have nurtured him in all stages of his life and he came to Christ Church because of its dedication to excellence in word and sacrament and a gift for warm hospitality. Rod likes to teach and journey with others in the great faith questions. Rod holds a B.A. from Yale University in Economics, an M.B.A. from The Harvard Business School and a Masters of Divinity from The Episcopal Theological Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Rod is inspired by the poetry of Robert Frost, especially “After Apple-Picking”.
Staff
Richard Clemmitt
Organist & Choirmaster
Organist and Choirmaster Richard Clemmitt is responsible for the management of the Christ Church music program. Since his arrival in 1992, the program has grown to include multiple choirs of nearly one hundred total participants. In addition to singing in Winnetka, choirs from Christ Church tour yearly under his direction, both in the United States and the United Kingdom. Richard loves his work as a teacher of sacred music. He particularly enjoys working through music to foster the growth of Christian community among both youth and adults.
Richard earned his BM from New England Conservatory and his MM from Westminster Choir College. He is a member of several national musical organizations and is a published composer.
Melissa Durbin
Director of Children’s Ministries
Melissa became the Director of Children’s Ministries at Christ Church in July 2013, after being a parishioner for 11 years and a Church School leader for 10 years. Her previous professional career was in the advertising business in account management and client services. In her current role, she likes to think about the parable of the mustard seed, in which a person planted the tiniest of seeds which then grew and grew into a shrub large enough that the birds came and made nests there.
Melissa loves the way that Christianity permeates every single corner of your life and world, and that once you start on the path, you have no choice but to continue following it with all your heart. Every day she is inspired by this quote from Swiss philosopher Henri-Frederic Amiel, “There isn’t much time to gladden hearts, be quick to love and make haste to be kind!”
Melissa received her B.A. in English from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Most recently she earned her certificate of training in Godly Play, a core curriculum used by many Christian denominations.
Wendy Samuel
Director of Youth Ministries
Wendy Samuel was born on the island of St Kitts, the larger of two islands in the Caribbean that comprise the nation of St Kitts and Nevis. For the past nine years she has accompanied youth by teaching high school theology, including three years when she served as a campus minister. She has taught in Boston, Florida, and most recently in Chicago. Prior to teaching she lived and served in Jamaica at Mustard Seed Communities, an organization that cares for children who are disabled. She holds a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Ministry from Boston College and a degree in Business Administration from the University of the Virgin Islands. Wendy has a daughter, Zara who is 10, and her husband, Dr. Nathaniel Samuel, is a professor at Loyola University.
Elizabeth Clemmitt
Primary Choir Director
Elizabeth has been the director of the Primary Choir for first and second grade singers since the fall of 1996. She is the music teacher at Willow Wood Preschool in Winnetka and at Ronald Knox Montessori School in Wilmette. She has also taught general music in the Glenview public schools (K-6).
Elizabeth believes that one of the most powerful ways to experience God’s love is through the joy of music. Elizabeth helps develop and nurture this joy in our youngest singers by including fun singing games, puppets, and rhythm instruments in her rehearsals. She teaches children the basics of choral singing and music reading and prepares them to sing an anthem in church services five times a year.
Elizabeth received her B.A. Degree in Music from The Colorado College in Colorado Springs and her Masters of Music in Music Education from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey.
Todd Gresick
Organ Associate
Todd Gresick joined the Christ Church music staff in 2023 as Organ Associate. His responsibilities include accompanying the choir and playing for liturgies with choral music.
Todd served as Director of Music and Organist at Divine Mercy Catholic Parish / Sacred Heart Church in Winnetka, Illinois until his retirement in February 2020. Prior to this appointment in 2004, he held church positions in Ohio, Michigan and Florida. He also served as a member of the organ faculty at Manatee Community College (Sarasota / Bradenton, Florida) and as adjunct organ instructor at Judson University (Elgin, Illinois). Todd earned the Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in organ performance at the University of Michigan, where he was a pupil of Robert Glasgow.
Michelle Sweeney
Parish Administrator
After living in many places around the country, Michelle moved to Winnetka in 1995. She is familiar with the rummage sale at Christ Church, as a donor, consumer and volunteer.
Michelle was a journalism major at The University of Kansas. She has worked with several not for profit organizations including Goodwill Industries, The Winnetka-Northfield Chamber of Commerce and The Woman’s Club of Evanston. Some of her previous job responsibilities included: fund development, public relations, administrative duties, office management, event production and facility management.
Currently Michelle lives in Wilmette, she likes to spend her free time at the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Art Institute of Chicago with her two daughters Schuyler and Grace.
Cindy Lyman
Financial Manager
Cindy joined the Christ Church staff in November, 2015 as the Financial Manager. A “Cradle – to – Grave” Episcopalian, Cindy has been a member of Christ Church for over 20 years. She is a tax attorney and CPA with experience in a large law firm and as in-house counsel. Cindy has served as the Rummage Treasurer for the past eight years. She lives in Winnetka with her husband and two children.
Cindy received her B.S. in Accounting from Bucknell University and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.
Karen Forsberg
Rummage Director
Bio coming soon.
Julie Salako
Communications Specialist
Julie Salako is the new Communications Specialist at Christ Church. She received her BA in Communications from IUPUI in Indianapolis and has worked in Parish Communications for the past 18 years here on the North Shore. She is excited to learn more about Christ Church and how she can best serve our community through our many paths of communication. She is thankful for this opportunity and looks forward to interacting with parishioners.
Julie grew up in Winnetka and currently lives in Glenview. She spends her free time reading, watching movies and spending time with her family.
Jim Caldwell
Facilities Manager
In 2001, after Christ Church Winnetka went through a major renovation, Jim was hired as the Facilities Manager.
His favorite part about being on the staff at Christ Church is working toward restoring and preserving the church’s historic buildings.
In addition to Christ Church, Jim currently works full-time as Director of Buildings & Grounds for Lincolnwood Schools. Jim shares that District 74 is a wonderful place to work with all its smiling faces -– only rivaled by the good people at Christ Church.
Mario Ruiz
Sexton
Mario was born in Uriangato, Mexico and spent summers between his college years working as a caddy at Indian Hill Country Club in Winnetka. Knowing the course was closed on Mondays, Parishioner Georganne Chalmers asked if he would like to help on Mondays with Rummage at Christ Church. This started a wonderful, 20 year-plus relationship with us. He started as a part-time Sexton in 1996 and finished his BA in 2005 at Northeastern University. He is married to Lucila, who directs our Childcare room on Sunday mornings. Mario’s sons, Emmanuel and Pieter, both sang in our Youth Choir.
Steve Tracy
Sexton
Steve is a born and bred Chicagoan and is a perfect example of “it’s all about who you know.” After fifteen years in the restaurant business where he started washing dishes and ended up as the chef, he found himself in need of a job. His younger brother was working with our Facilities Manager, Jim Caldwell, in the Lincolnwood schools. They were in need of a part time custodian; the rest is history! Steve also began part-time at Christ Church in 2013, becoming full-time on January 1, 2015. What’s the best thing about working at Christ Church? “The people! It’s an awesome place to work.”