Our Staff
Pastor John Cho
John spent his early years living in Los Angeles and his teen and college years in Seattle. John graduated from University of Washington where he attained a B.A. in Communications with a minor in Entrepreneurship. And after working for a few years sensing God’s call, he enrolled in Regent College at Vancouver, British Columbia graduating with a Master of Divinity. John is currently finishing his studies at McCormick Theological Seminary with a Doctor of Ministry degree in Preaching. John has served youth, college, young adults, and adult ministry. He recently served at Presbyterian Church of Barrington as the associate pastor of young adults and mission. He also participated in mission trips all over the world: Tijuana, Mexico, Hong Kong, Beijing, China, Tibet, and South Korea. John enjoys spending time with family. He is happily married to Esther who is a Chicago native. They have fun loving sons, Luke and Jude. John loves to talk to people about his faith journey and has an eye for beauty in all of God’s creation including art, design, and culture. When he has free time, he loves watching and playing all kinds of sports from basketball, ping pong, tennis, and golf. He also loves watching YouTube videos and connecting with people on social media.
Clerk of Session: Jerilyn Willin
Jerilyn Willin has been a member of First Presbyterian Church since 2004. She first served as an Elder from 2006-2012 and then re-upped in 2014. Along with being a member of the Session, she was a founding member of the church’s Resurrection Resale Shop.
Jerilyn works as a leadership development consultant and career coach. She also teaches at DePaul University. Jerilyn holds master’s degrees in Counseling Psychology (George William’s College) and Industrial Relations (Loyola University/Chicago).
Church Administrator: Monique DiVarco
Office Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 9:30am – 3:30pm, 630.773.9606
Monique has been the Church Administrator since 2021. Monique is semi-retired and for 13 years, prior to coming to First Presbyterian, was an office supervisor for a major manufacturing company in Franklin Park Illinois. Monique has extensive experience in all types of office functions, including administration, and accounting. She is an expert in many Microsoft Office products.
Monique has a BA from Northeaster Illinois University.
Financial Treasurer: Ted Gault
Ted Gault has been a member of the First Presbyterian Church since 1979 and Financial Treasurer since 2017. He has previously served as a Trustee and as Elder.
Ted is retired but was formerly employed as the Chief Financial Officer of a number of manufacturing companies in the Chicago metropolitan area. Ted is a Certified Public Accountant and earned his BBA in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and a Masters of Accounting Science fom the University of Illinois, Urbana.
Presbyterian 101
Just who are Presbyterians?
PRESBYTERIANS … are defined by what we believe and how we are organized.
In the late1600’s our church ancestors (called reformers) thought the Roman Catholic Church had morphed from the church that was described in the Bible They wanted to reform (return) to the original model for church. When the Roman Catholic Church resisted, these reformers created a ‘new’ church, one more simplified in structure and more accessible in faith practices.
Instead of a ‘top (the Pope) down’ church, Presbyterian churches are led by church members inpartnership with our pastoral leaders. (The word Presbyterian roughly means ‘elder’ or lay leader.)
The reformers grounded our beliefs in the Bible, which is why we see ourselves as always growing in our understanding of God’s word (scripture) for us today. Growing in our faith is the focus of our Sunday services. We also believe that we understand God in three ways: though the life and teaching of Jesus, through God’s work in our world, and through the Holy Spirit.
As God’s people, we are empowered by our Sunday gatherings, called worship. In addition to helping us make sense of our personal lives, worship equips us to be God’s people by putting our faith to action: making a tangible difference in our world by affirming and welcoming all people, by responding to needs around us like hunger, systemic racism, economic disparity and preserving our environment (creation).
Presbyterians are believers who don’t just ‘talk the talk,’ but ‘walk the walk’ as God’s people.
We celebrate two sacraments (special moments that especially remind us of Jesus’ life and our connection to God): The Lord’s Supper (also called communion), which is open to everyone; and Baptism (we baptize at all ages), which is a public affirmation of our desire to be in a life-relationship with God. These sacraments reaffirm our two basic beliefs that we are to love God with all our heart and to love people (all people) with all the love we have!
Our two BIG celebrations are Easter (the death and resurrection of Jesus) and Christmas (Jesus’ birth). Our church year is divided into seasons, each of which has a different focus, helping us, to experience a full range of spiritual growth. Our faith life is stimulating and meaningful. We invite you to learn more about us Presbyterians.