Pastor Roger Altenberger
and his wife Kim

Rev. Roger Altenberger was born and raised in Jackson, Michigan. He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Jackson and attended their day school. In 1974 Rev. Altenberger received a Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State University. Following graduation Rev Altenberger served the Michigan Department of Social Services first as a Psychiatric Social Worker in the Detroit area and then as a Program Analyst for Medicaid Planning in Lansing.

In 1991, Rev. Altenberger entered Concordia Theological Seminary, graduating in 1995 with a M.Div. degree. Upon entering the seminary, God led Roger to become directly involved with deaf ministry. In 1994 he began serving in deaf ministry with a deferred vicarage in Iowa District East and was then called to the same district to serve as Missionary-at-large for Deaf Ministry. He was called, in December 2000, to serve as the Counselor for Deaf Ministry by LCMS World Mission and Director for the Deaf Institute of Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.

Rev. Altenberger has also acted as the Facilitator for Small Group Ministries in North America. He has studied various small group models and is a trainer for SG2. Almost 350 congregations around the United States are now using this model for their outreach to the lost. Most recently Rev. Altenberger worked with Ablaze! Connection. Rev. Altenberger and his wife Kim, a computer programmer, have four daughters, Kristen, Melissa, Lindsay and Tracey.