Joshua was born in Omaha, Nebraska, where his father had been assigned as a teacher to Good Shepherd Lutheran School. Both of his parents were (D)MLC-trained teachers, but his mother would remain a stay-at-home-mom until the kids were older.

     After a few short years in Omaha, the Kramers moved to Greenville, Wisconsin, to serve at Immanuel Lutheran School. Here Joshua attended K-8 grade school, then went on to Fox Valley Lutheran High School in Appleton. After graduating in 2000, he enrolled in the 5-year STEP Education program at Martin Luther College. It was here that he met his wife, Rebecca (nee Nolte). The two were married in 2006, just a year after graduating.

     Joshua’s first teaching Call was an assignment to Pilgrim Lutheran Church and School, an urban ministry near the heart of Minneapolis. His duties included a 3rd and 4th grade combination classroom and the church choir. Rebecca joined the faculty in 2006, teaching the 1st and 2nd grade combination classroom.

     In 2009, Joshua accepted a Call to serve at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church and School in West Bend, Wisconsin. At Good Shepherd, he taught in a departmentalized upper grade classroom and also served as Music Coordinator. The church’s musical forces included an adult mixed choir, a ladies’ choir, a men’s choir, a children’s choir, three handbell choirs, a brass choir, five organists, and various instrumentalists and accompanists. It was a joy to lead and direct these gifted and willing volunteers. During Joshua’s time at Good Shepherd, he also served on the committee that both installed a pipe organ and renovated the sanctuary.

     In April of 2022, Joshua announced his departure from Good Shepherd to pursue a staff ministry certification. He enrolled in the program through Martin Luther College, starting his first class in June 2022. Just two weeks into the program, Joshua received and subsequently accepted the Call to serve as Staff Minister of Music and Instruction at Faith Lutheran of Antioch.

     The opportunity to serve as a staff minister is a long-awaited answer to prayer. The particular duties of the Call to Faith are well-aligned with Joshua’s training, experience, and interest. From 2012-2019, he worked toward and received a Masters Degree in Church Music from Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin — a degree that a number of previous Faith staff members that have served its music ministry have also obtained. Joshua also has 17 years of experience as an educator, receiving mentoring on the administrative side of education from four different principals.

     The Kramer family has three children — Isaiah, Ezra, and Keturah. All of them have been homeschooled since Kindergarten by their mother, a trained MLC teacher. In her spare time, Rebecca also has composed music for piano, organ, and children’s choir; several are published at Northwestern Publishing House and Concordia Publishing House.

     Many of the family hobbies are musical and serving in the music ministry of a church allows for overlap with those hobbies. When time allows, though, they enjoy board games, golf, reading, and other personal interests.