About Me

I'm the Director of Worship Ministry for Naperville Presbyterian Church in Naperville, Illinois.

More information than you want to know, but hey, it's my blog...so here's my...

  Personal History

    Childhood

    High School

    College

    Adult

  Faith Journey (coming soon)

  Ministry Path (coming soon)

  Worship Discovery (coming soon)

  Spiritual Pilgrimage (coming soon)

(Skip my Biography and jump to my Interests.)

PERSONAL HISTORY (childhood): I was born December 23, 1957 (and yes, that makes me almost a half century old) in Merced, California...and that means welcome tax deduction for my parents and the beginnings of an air force brat for the world. The early years saw me moving from California through Goose Bay, Labrador to Dover, Delaware and finally at age 8 "landing" in Rolling Meadows, Illinois when my dad took a job as a pilot with United Airlines. Okay, that was just a two year pause before we moved further north up to Wauconda, Illinois. At our Wauconda address we had a Lake Zurich phone number but were in the Mundelein school district...so a little bit of everywhere and everything.

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PERSONAL HISTORY (high school): High school years (go Mustangs and yes, my high school football team was 0-6 my senior year, not that I was on it or anything) meant being a band geek (clarinet which I picked in 4th grade because it had all the bright, shiny keys), eventually a drama geek (I was the butler who DIDN'T do it in Ten Little Indians) and always a scholastic geek (yes, I was my high school valedictorian and I'm not ashamed to admit it!). High school also was the time of my first employment. I was a secretary for D. M. Campana Art Company (horrible, horrible job...fully repressed...don't make me relive it).

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PERSONAL HISTORY (college): 1975 saw my enrollment at my grandfather's and father's alma mater, the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), home of the Fighting Illini, where I pursued a Bachelor of Science in the Teaching of Mathematics, a degree I have never used and never will. The coursework I remember most clearly would be the 2½ semesters of ballroom dancing I took. This is not only due to the practical nature of the coursework, but also to the dubious nickname I received at the time. While taking Ballroom Dance II, the Daily Illini (the school newspaper) decided to do a feature on ballroom dancing (which was probably the most popular class on campus with over a thousand students each semester taking it). Well, the photographer came to my class and a picture of me practicing the cha-cha ended up being run in the Daily Illini. Now the article was all about the author's left footed experiences and was appropriately titled Ballroom Bimbo...and said title was right next to said picture of me...and that became my nickname for years to come, the Ballroom Bimbo.

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PERSONAL HISTORY (adult): Moving into the adult world in 1979 meant doing high school youth ministry for 8 years with Youth For Christ as a Campus Life director in the Champaign-Urbana area. In 1987 I moved back north to the Chicago suburbs to pursue an M. A. in Educational Ministries at Wheaton College. I so loved the educational experience at Wheaton that I also finished all the requirements for an M. A. in Theological Studies as well (but I only have the one degree since you can't double count classes). 1989 saw me working in a warehouse for Scripture Press while I tried to figure out what was next. Well, what was next turned out to be another stint in youth ministry, but this time in the church. So in 1990, following 5 months doing missions in Africa (see below), I landed at Naperville Presbyterian Church in Naperville, Illinois as the Director of Youth and Children's Ministries. And I'm still at Naperville Presbyterian Church, but over the years my job has gradually changed until in 1996 I became the full time Director of Worship Ministries at NPC. A decade later I'm still going strong.

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Now all the information above doesn't really touch on the real history, the real journey of life. They're only mileage markers along the way. The real road has been one of faith, one of ministry, one of worship, one of spirituality.

FAITH JOURNEY: [coming soon]

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MINISTRY PATH: [coming soon]

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WORSHIP DISCOVERY: [coming soon]

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SPIRITUAL PILGRIMAGE: [coming soon]

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