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United Church of Christ, 1125 Wilmette Avenue, Wilmette, Illinois 60091
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The Reverend Stephanie J. Perdew, Senior Pastor
Pastor Stephanie J. Perdew was called as Senior Pastor of FCCW in November 2004. Prior to this, she served FCCW as Associate Pastor from 1996-2003. A native of Lincoln, Nebraska, she was ordained in the Lincoln Association of the Nebraska Conference United Church of Christ. Stephanie earned her B.A. in religion and women's studies from St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota and her M.Div. from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Liturgical Studies at Garrett-Evangelical with an emphasis in Liturgical History and Christian Origins. Her scholarly research focuses on the emergence of Christian liturgies out of their Jewish contexts, early Christian meal traditions, and the role of women in ministry in the early church. Stephanie finds her calling to FCCW to be deeply rewarding: "FCCW is a place where one can approach Christian faith with intellectual honesty in a way that feeds both head and heart. In our congregation we endeavor to be in dialogue with the Biblical text and its history, with one another, and with people of other denominations and other faiths. This dialogue is born and nurtured in our worship together. Therefore my highest priority as pastor is to focus my passion and energy on preaching and on our community's liturgical life. From early Christianity we learn the saying 'as we pray, so we believe.' What this means is that in our worship and prayers we rehearse and practice the spirit of compassion and joy that we are called to share with the rest of the world when we depart from the sanctuary on Sunday mornings." Stephanie is committed to the work of ecumenical partnership and interfaith dialogue. With the late Rev. Dr. C. David Owens, she led FCCW in establishing a sister-parish relationship with the Latin Patriarchate Church and School in Zababdeh, Palestine in the year 2000. Stephanie is a past chair of the Wilmette Interfaith Religious Leaders Association. She is a member of the Colloquim on Violence and Religion and a visitor in the Early Liturgical History Seminar of the North American Academy of Liturgy.
 Kathleen Cetrone, Director of Children's Ministries
Kathleen Cetrone received her B.A. with K-9 Teaching Certificate from Trinity International University in 2006. She has served in many capacities with the Avoca School District 37 including Special Education Paraprofessional, Summer School Coordinator, and Assistant to the Director of Pupil Services. In addition, Kat has taught in the Center of talent Development at Northwestern University and served as a teaching associate at Chiaravalle Montessori School in Evanston. Our children know that Kat creates a learning environment where creativity, individuality, and an attention to ritual and story make faith come alive.
Kurt Mockenhaupt, Director of Music
Kurt is currently Director of Music/Organist at First Congregational Church. In this capacity, he plays for all worship services, and directs the Chancel Choir and Handbell Choir. Kurt holds a Bachelor of Music in Education from DePaul University and taught general music (K-8) for eight years. He is a member of The Agape Ringers, an auditioned community handbell ensemble from the Greater Chicago area, and has served on the state committee for Area VIII of The American Guild of English Handbell Ringers (AGEHR). With 30 years of church music experience, Kurt has served four churches: Granville Avenue United Methodist Church (Chicago), Berry Memorial United Methodist Church (Chicago), St. Timothy's Lutheran Church (Skokie), and now FCCW. He has also done substitute work for several other denominations, including playing for a few Temple services.
Darcy Crain, Youth Minister & Children’s Worship Arts Coordinator
Darcy joined the church staff in 2005 as the Children’s Music Director and is excited about the opportunity to extend her ministry in this community. She will serve as one of the Youth Ministers at FCCW, working with middle school and high school students and teaching “Emerge,” the new confirmation program for ninth graders. In addition to Youth Ministry, Darcy will continue her work with the younger children’s music program as the Children’s Worship Arts Coordinator. In 2004, Darcy received her B.A. from Albion College where she studied music and psychology. At Albion she played piano and guitar in a contemporary worship band that led weekly student worship. Darcy is now in the final year of her Masters of Divinity program at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL. Her focus is on pastoral care and counseling as she hopes to pursue chaplaincy work at a hospital. She is “in care” with FCCW, beginning the process of ordination in the United Church of Christ. Darcy’s goal is to establish a youth program in which students learn more about themselves, God, and the world around them; all within a safe, open-minded, and creative environment. It is her ultimate hope and mission that youth experience the grace, peace, and love of Christ and emerge as affirmed, blessed, and theologically engaged young adults.
 Adam Ericksen, Youth Minister
Adam recently joined the FCCW staff as one of our Youth Ministers and will teach our third through sixth grade Sunday class as well. He looks forward to learning with all the students of FCCW, both the young and the not so young.
Adam is originally from Forest Grove, Oregon. He graduated from Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon in 2002 with a BA in Religious Studies and a minor in History. At college, Adam met his wife, Carrie, who now attends Loyola University in a social psychology PhD program. Adam recently graduated from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary with a Masters in Theological Studies focused in theology and ethics. His MTS thesis was titled, “Love and Nonviolence in Christianity and Islam.” His main interests are in comparing and contrasting Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He considers himself an open minded, progressive Christian grounded in the hope that God gives to the world through Christ, who continues to challenge our world through a radical message of faith, hope, and love.
 David Hogue, Men's Ministry Facilitator
David Hogue joined the FCCW staff as our Men’s Ministry Facilitator in January 2006. In this capacity, he leads a monthly men’s gathering, and an annual men’s retreat. In addition, he presides in worship monthly and preaches occasionally.
David is Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology and Counseling at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston where he has served for fifteen years. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), he is a pastoral counselor and teaches additional courses in marriage and family, ritual studies, and theology and science. His most recent book Remembering the Future, Imagining the Past: Story, Ritual, and the Human Brain (Pilgrim Press), draws on the brain sciences for a deeper understanding of worship and pastoral care. David’s wife Diane Stephens is an adjunct faculty member at Garrett-Evangelical, teaching in the area of spiritual formation and direction. She has been a frequent retreat leader for First Congregational Church. They share four children and one grandchild.
Teresa D. Northcut, Church Administrator
Teresa has served as Church Administrator of the First Congregational Church of Wilmette since 1999. Prior to her arrival at FCCW, Teresa served as administrative support to the Chair of the Department of Neurobiology and Physiology at Northwestern University. For ten years, she served on the church administrative support staff at the First Church of God Christian Life Center in Evanston, Illinois, where she has been a member since 1988. Prior to her work there, she was employed at the Presbyterian Homes of Evanston and the Mather Foundation in Evanston and Wilmette. Teresa served as previous Chair of the Pastor Parish Relationship Ministry, served on the Senior's Ministry Team, and has served on several ministry projects of the First Church of God Christian Life Center. Her volunteer work in the community includes twelve years working with "Partners", a teen parenting program mentoring teen mothers at Family Focus, Our Place, now the Weissbourd-Holmes Family Focus Center in Evanston. At FCCW, Teresa provides administrative support to the pastor, staff, trustees, ministries, congregation, and other organizations. In addition to managing the church office, coordinating scheduling, facilitating building needs, and designing and maintaining FCCW's website, Teresa also supervises the custodial and maintenance staff.
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