A celebration of the 172-year history of the Lockport (IL) First Congregational church.

[Last updated on July 30, 2010.]

Moderators over the past 50 years

The position of Moderator was established in 1958. By 2012 twenty lay persons will have filled twenty-two terms. Two persons have served twice. In 1958, the term of Moderator was 3 years. It was reduced to 2 years in 1996. In 2002, a proposal was made to reduce the term to 1 year but was rejected by the Congregation.

The Moderator in a UCC (or Congregational) church is the church’s Lay Leader. The Moderator and Pastor(s) together provide the senior-level leadership function of a local church.

An effective Moderator should function mainly as a facilitator of decision making. A moderator may be a decision maker in life outside the church, but the UCC denomination stresses member involvement in decision-making.

Specific Moderator duties include presiding over Church Council meetings and meeting of the full Congregation. The Moderator usually has signature authority that can bind the church in legal matters. It is helpful if the Moderator has held prior leadership positions both inside and outside the church and has developed meeting-running skills. It’s also helpful for Moderators to be “big-picture” and vision oriented. But most importantly the Moderator should be a facilitator with reasonable people skills.

Following is the list of persons who have served as Moderator of the Lockport First Congregational Church.