Pastor Bill Ressl and Pastor Penny Taylor
Designated Co-Pastors
Penny and Bill began serving as our Designated Co-Pastors in 2025. Each brings a wealth of life experience from business (corporate America and self-employed), the non-profit sectors (in the academy, clinical mental health, senior care, voluntary professional association), and ministry. Together they offer over 20 years of co-ministry experience supporting transformative resiliency grounded at the intersection of divinity, clinical social work, and ritual studies. Their co-ministerial style is an interplay of their 35+ years of couplehood and expertise in pastoral care, ritual studies, systematic theology, Bowen Family Systems Theory, and Neo-Jungian psychoanalysis. They share their combined 40+ year academic journey learning from various interdisciplinary experts. As Designated Co-Pastors the couple is called to journey through the season of transformation with the Body of Christ known as St. Peter UCC, as the congregation discerns how best to be outwardly focused on bringing God’s love and light into the world. Married in 1988, they share custody of their pet turtle, Herbert (as Pastor Penny says: “It came with the marriage.”). They look forward to sharing the journey of discernment with all the members and friends of St. Peter UCC.
Contact the Pastors:
Email
Phone: 847-438-6441, ext. 102
A Bit More About Pastor Penny and Pastor Bill
Rev. Dr. Penny L. Taylor, LCSW
Ordained Minister, United Church of Christ (UCC)
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW, IL)
Education
AS, General Printing, Ferris State University
BS, Printing Management, Ferris State University
One Unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)
MDiv, Chicago Theological Seminary
MSW, Dominican University
Post-Graduate Certificate, Center for Family Consultation
PhD in Theology, Ethics, and Human Sciences, Chicago Theological Seminary
Past Ministerial Service
Lyonsville UCC, Sabbatical Co-Pastor, Indian Head Park
Trinity Community UCC, Co-Pastor, Berwyn
Past Clinical Experience
LCSW Private Practice
SamaraCare, Naperville
Community Care Options, Berwyn
Aging Care Connections, La Grange
Past Academic Experience
Aurora University (taught MSW courses)
Chicago Theological Seminary (taught MDiv courses)
Institute of Pastoral Studies, Loyola University Chicago (taught MDiv and MA Pastoral Counseling course)
North Park University (taught MDiv course)
Past Business Experience
Chicago Tribune, electronic pre-press, Chicago
Navistar, purchasing, Westchester
Self-employed as wicker weaver
Rev. Dr. William G. Ressl, LCSW
Ordained Minister, United Church of Christ (UCC)
Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW, IL)
Illinois Artisan, Wicker Weaver
Education
BA, Economics, Lewis University
Classes toward JD/MBA, ITT Chicago-Kent
One Unit of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE)
MDiv, Chicago Theological Seminary
MSW, Dominican University
Participant ManKind Project, New Warrior Training Adventure
Post-Graduate Certificate, Center for Family Consultation
PhD in Theology, Ethics, and Human Sciences, Chicago Theological Seminary
Past Ministerial Service
Lyonsville UCC, Sabbatical Co-Pastor, Indian Head Park
Trinity Community UCC, Co-Pastor, Berwyn
St. Barbara, Youth Minister, Brookfield
Past Clinical Experience
LCSW Private Practice
SamaraCare, Naperville
Thrive Counseling Center, Oak Park
Aging Care Connections, La Grange
Institute for Psychoanalysis, Culture, and Spirituality, Research Assistant/Editor, Chicago
Past Academic Experience
Aurora University, Assistant Professor (taught BSW, MSW, DSW courses)
Chicago Theological Seminary (taught MDiv, PhD courses)
Dominican University (taught MSW course)
Elmhurst University (taught BSW course)
North Park University (taught MDiv course)
Past Business Experience
Mellon Financial Services, Oak Brook
American Bar Association, Legal Technology Resource Center, Chicago
Amoco Research Center, Naperville
Center for Law & Computers, IIT Chicago-Kent
Self-employed as wicker weaver
Academic Publications
“Tillich’s Influence on Pastoral Social Work” in Why Tillich? Why Now? Ed. Thomas G. Bandy. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2021.
“A World in Need: Brokenness and Reconciliation Explored through Paul Tillich’s Doing of Social Work” in International Yearbook for Tillich Research: Brokenness and Reconciliation. Ed. Marc Dumas. Berlin, Germany: Walter de Gruyter Press, 2020.
On Giant Shoulders: Teaching through Paul Tillich’s Legacy of Being a Theologian Doing Social Work in Bulletin, The North American Paul Tillich Society, Santa Clara, CA: The North American Paul Tillich Society, Volume XLII, Number 2, May 2016.