Reverend Steve Boorsma

Steven Boorsma has been married to Carla for 23 years. Carla and he met his freshmen year at Ellsworth Community Collage, Iowa Falls, Iowa and have been together ever since. They have three children: Tabitha, a senior at ISU studying Music Business; Ryan, a junior also at ISU studying Special Education; and Paul, the youngest is in seventh grade.

He was raised in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago, and in 1970 when his father died, his family moved to West Chicago. He graduated from West Chicago in 1980 and attended Ellsworth Community College and the University of Northern Iowa, graduating with a teaching degree. He worked and coached at West Chicago before taking a position with Quakerdale Homes in rural Iowa. Quakerdale Homes was a group home for troubled teens sponsored by the Quaker Church. He served as the Director of Therapeutic Recreation and worked with as many as 85 youth at any given time. Eventually, He became the Family Development Coordinator for a private non-profit social service agency where we worked with low-income families helping them to become self-sufficient and free themselves from the welfare system. They were even named one of President Bush’s “1000 points of Light.”

It was in these positions that the “dawning” of God’s call into ministry began to come into light. He has always felt a call to be involved with people, from a junior high volunteer candy striper at the DuPage Convalescent Home in Wheaton to a Lifeguard in West Chicago. However, as he became more involved in his own church and worked with his pastor, not answering the call was no longer an option.

In 1990, with a leap of faith, they quit their jobs, sold their home, and headed to St. Louis where he attended Eden Theological Seminary, graduating in December of 1994. While in seminary he served two yoked parishes in rural Missouri, Ebenezer and Zion-St. Paul. Zion-St. Paul had just come through a conflicted time and, as a student, he received “baptism by fire,” if you will. However, the church persevered; they grew, had a building project, grew closer and stronger as a community, and were able to celebrate.

Since his ordination, he has served two congregations, St. John UCC in southern Illinois and his current congregation. His call to these congregations came following a period of difficulty and conflict. However, through attention to “resolution,” these churches have been able to move beyond those difficult times and reclaim “community.” He has enjoyed his experiences and has grown from them himself. These church families grew in worship and program. This is possible because it is what the people desired and felt the Holy Spirit calling them to. To him that is “doing ministry.”

As a pastor, He is a very pragmatic person attempting to live my life as faithfully as possible. He believes that God has revealed himself to us through his spoken and written word. He also believes that God continues to reveal himself to us through those same spoken and written words. He believes that our faith is something to be taken seriously and not as a matter of convenience. Having said that, He also believe that our faith journey and life is something to be enjoyed and enriched by our experiences. Two of his favorite possessions are pictures. One is a sketch of a laughing Jesus. This is important because it reminds us of Christ’s humanity and that there is so much in life to celebrate and experience with a joyful heart. The other is a print of Jesus holding a dying man with “nails and a hammer” in his hand. He enjoys this picture because it demonstrates the “divine” nature of Christ, indeed, his forgiving nature.

At the center of his “preacher’s heart” are these two aspects of Jesus’ life and death. As his disciples, he knows how important and difficult at the same time it is to “live up to” the standards we claim as Jesus’ followers. Nevertheless, the “Cost and Joy” of discipleship is always striving to say to Christ, like Peter, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you,” and then to do as Jesus requests: “…then feed my lambs….” I am convinced as a Christian pastor, husband, father, brother, and friend that if we endeavor to live our lives as Christ has called, each gifted differently by the Holy Spirit, then we have sufficiently and faithfully answered our call to God, and there is nothing small about that!

Reverend Daniel E. Hinckley -
Part-Time Associate Pastor for Pastoral Care

Rev. Hinckley’s ministry began in August 1965 at a small church in Bethel, Vermont. He was a student at Andover Newton Theological School where he received his Bachelor of Divinity. He next served a yoked ministry on the state line of Wisconsin and Michigan at Ely Memorial UCC, Land O’Lakes & Watermeets UCC. From there he moved on to St. Stephen UCC in Juneau, Wisconsin and served there for three years; St. Paul UCC in Pekin, Illinois for five years; First Congregational Church of Decatur, Illinois; United Church of Christ in Warrenburg, Illinois; eight years at St. Paul UCC; and he retired from St. John’s UCC in Hampshire, Illinois after being their pastor for twelve years.

Rev. Hinckley will now serve as our part-time Associate Pastor for Pastoral Care. His ministry with us will be pastoral calling and worship leadership.

Pastor Dan lives with his wife, Linda, in Huntley.

During his past 34 years of ministry, Rev. Hinckley has helped congregations “build a community where God is the center, Jesus Christ is the example, and the Holy Spirit calls us to action. In community we discern the will of God for our action in the world. In Jesus Christ we discover that the covenant relationship between one another and God is love, selflessness. In the Holy Spirit we are to reach out to one another and then to the wider community, sharing the realm of God and proclaiming forgiveness, healing, justice, and love. “Our Christian faith takes on power when God’s faithful congregations are about the building of the realm of God in their community. All ministry is caring and loving one another in faithful response to God’s love in Jesus Christ.”

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Kellen Roggenbuck- Youth Leader

Kellen Roggenbuck was born in Denver, Colorado where he and his parents lived for two years before moving to Illinois. He was baptized into the Presbyterian Church at age 7 by his aunt, Reverend Kyle Roggenbuck. From age 7 on, Kellen was involved with multiple youth ministries including youth choir, Pathways after school program, Junior High and Senior High youth group, Adult choir and handbells.