A little about Diana... She was born in Pennsylvania, and then her parents moved to Arizona when she was 10.
She has sung her whole life. Diana was very involved in school plays, the choir, and dance. She pretty much focused on the dancing more than the singing until getting into Bible College. That's when Diana started studying formal voice and piano with Becky Calvert in Fairfax, VA. Becky and her husband Troy were the leaders of the Spanish church at the time, and so since Diana studied Spanish, she was able to sing quite a lot in the Spanish ministry. Diana went on two short term missions trips during college to Puerto Rico and Quebec. She studied French in high school as well, so she thought that it was a lot of fun to visit Canada.
After college graduation, Diana moved back to PA and New Jersey for a few years and served doing some church planting with a few wonderful churches. She started teaching voice lessons to those that wanted to use their gifts for God in the local churches. Diana moved back to Arizona in '99, and have stayed here ever since. She hates the cold!
Diana has served in several churches as a choir member, soloist, trio leader, pianist, and voice teacher. She enjoys being invited to sing during missions conferences the most because that is where her heart is.
People have been bugging Diana for years to record an album. It took 13 years to get here, but it is finally done. She plans on recording more in the near future. This time, her husband Brian is writing original songs with Diana that come right from their personal experiences! Hopefully it won't take as long to complete the second album as it did the first!
Right now, Diana is serving faithfully in the music ministry at her home church in Scottsdale, AZ. Her husband, Brian, is a musician as well, and serves along side her. They both serve in the choir together. Diana sings lead vocals on the Praise Team during the first worship service, and then Brian plays drums during the third service. The ministries close to Diana's heart are the homeless ministry, our seniors, veterans, and missions. She is starting to develop a ministry for domestic violence awareness in the church, because she was a victim at a period of time in her life.
For the next year, Diana will be scheduling concerts in the valley to celebrate the release of her first album and to promote the one coming up soon. So if you would like Diana and Brian to come to your church or event, please contact me. She is also teaching voice again, and has room for a couple more students. Give her a call.
What does she do when she's not singing? Diana works in a pharmacy during the day, and Brian works in the automotive world. They like to go hiking, bicycle riding, camping, and their newest addiction- karaoke! God bless you!
The Music Ministry of Diana Stimmler Winkler: Bio
Diana's Testimony
I don't have the kind of testimony of being saved out of drug abuse or drunkeness, or of being a rebel teenager. Yet I was still a sinner needing saving, and so my testimony is worth sharing. I was raised in a religious home. I went to church every week growing up, doing all the things that the church required me to do. I had knowledge of Jesus dying on the cross, and knew I was a sinner. But you know what? I never had any assurance that if I were to die, that I would go to heaven.
One summer when I was 13, I was visiting my cousins. They invited me to Vacation Bible School. It was then that I was presented with The Gospel as I have never heard it before. I was shown that the Bible gives us the way that we can be sure of our eternal destiny. I really loved God, so I stayed up very late talking to my cousins asking a lot of questions. I always thought that what I was doing was the right thing. My cousins showed me from the Bible that I must be born again. It didn't matter which church I went to. I had to ask Jesus to forgive me of my sin and ask Him to be my Savior. I had to have a personal relationship with Christ. I found out working for my salvation by being a good person, going to church, or doing good works was not going to save me. We are sinners, and sin separates us from God. Someone has to pay the penalty for sin. The penalty was paid for my by Christ dying on the cross. It was a gift by God to mankind that he doesn't have to earn. He only has to take the gift. It is by claiming by personal choice, and believing that Christ's death on the cross was sufficient payment for my sin. I did not want to be separated from God forever by going to hell. That's a pretty good motivator I think. I decided that night that I was going to pray and ask Jesus to save me and to come into my life. It was August 15th, 1985 I made the decision. It has changed my life immensely. I knew for sure that I had my name reserved in heaven. No one could ever take that away from me, including myself. Not everyone was as accepting of my decision. I went against the wishes of many people I cared about who thought I was a Jesus Freak or a Holy Roller. I did fall away from Him one time because I didn't get united with a good Bible believing church near my home to learn the things of God. I wasn't allowed to join a church that was going to help me grow in my christian journey until I turned 18. When I turned 18 I was baptized in a Baptist church, and I'm still a Baptist today. It was not long until I felt God's call to serve Him in fulltime christian ministry. I left for Bible College a year later. I grew by leaps and bounds in school. The many trials I went through made me draw closer to God fast. I learned a lot about serving others and about what I believed and why. Of course, my music training was taken up a notch as well. Each day is a journey. Jesus gets sweeter everyday, and He has been ever faithful. I can't imagine what my life would have been without Jesus in my life.
If you would like to have that same assurance of heaven, and you'd like to talk to me, please let me know. I would be glad to talk with you about any questions you have.