Kurt Beard grew up in Upper Arlington, Ohio; what he refers to as a suburb of The Ohio State University. He grew up with every educational advantage a top tier school system in the shadows of a world class university. He was able to enjoy a wide variety of science, religious, and arts opportunities throughout his childhood.
He was active at Upper Arlington Lutheran Church. Participating in Choir, Vacation Bible School, Youth Group, and a variety of other programs and camps. He was able to go backpacking in Canada and to a music festival in Pennsylvania as well as learn from highly respected pastors and educators.
As well as being able to see arts opportunities he was also able to participate in arts opportunities. He played in Merry Tuba Christmas as a high school student. He also performed in Tetelestai through Upper Arlington Lutheran Church.
The rock musical, Tetelestai, portrays the events of the most important week in the history of man. Kurt traveled with Tetelestai to Florida, Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. As a high school senior on the Tour in Indiana he felt called to pursue a degree in Christian Ministry.
He started classes at Malone College (now Malone University) in Canton, Ohio that fall. The following summer he joined a Summer Venture project with Student Venture in Carmel, Indiana, less than 10 miles from where Tetelestai performed the prior year. He met his now wife on the project and made other good friends. More importantly he began to understand his call to ministry more. After another semester at Malone College he transferred to Indiana Wesleyan University.
At Indiana Wesleyan he thrived as a student. In addition to the standard educational curriculum Kurt had the opportunity to participate in publishing his first book, Encountering Worship. Since graduation he has had the opportunity establish the Indy North Alumni Group and serve as a member at large on the Indiana Wesleyan University Alumni Board.
During his time at Indiana Wesleyan University Kurt did not feel called to pastoral ministry; he felt called the business world. After graduation he worked for several years in construction business management. He helped run multi-state 10 million dollar businesses, founded his own successful company and merged with a competitor. Due to various factors the company ultimately closed. After this he worked in retail selling Men’s Suits and Fine Jewelry as well as working as a business guide for sole proprietors and small businesses. He currently works at Braden IT Services as the IT Dispatcher helping business, churches, schools, non-profits run smoothly.Kurt volunteers as a campaign strategist and trainer for state political candidates. He participates at the local level helping train campaigns to develop strategies to communicate their values and beliefs to voters. He enjoys helping teach candidates to express their views in an effective and honest manner. He currently lives a few miles from the Church Tetelestai performed in during his first visit to Indiana. He is married to the young lady he met at the Student Venture Summer Project and has two wonderful kids. He enjoys exploring the world with his kids. They spend their spare time at parks, museums, and playgrounds. They are lucky enough to live near Conner Prairie and the world class Indianapolis Children’s Museum.
