Home  |   Back  |   Contact Us
700 East Ninth Street (Route 7), Lockport, IL  60441
815 838-2091
Serving the communities of
Bolingbrook,  Crest Hill,  Frankfort,  Homer Glen,   Joliet,  Lockport
Mokena,  New Lenox,  Plainfield,   Romeoville, & Shorewood
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.

Park Widner1958-60
Red Wood1961-63
Edwin Nelson1964-66
Bill Rutter1967-69
Jim Raue1970-72
Bill Vreuls1973-75
Dennis Brown1976
Jean Finley1977-80
Mildred Jackson1981-83
Larry McCure1984-86
Shirley Stephenson1987-89

Rev. George Moulthrop retired in Oct., 1988.

Bill Rutter1990-92

Rev. Tom Ewing came in Jan., 1990.

Bill Storey1993-95
Pat McCure1996-97
Doris Medema1998-99

Rev. Julie Ruth Harley came in Jan., 1999.

Bruce Knox2000-01

The constitution revision was initiated.

Jim Stephenson Jr.2002-03

A capital campaign raised $700,000.

Mary Pierson2004-05

Rev. Matthew Baugh came in Sept., 2005.

Vickie Jenkins2006-07
Doris Medema2008
Jan Bartlett2009-10
Stephanie Nienhaus2011-12