New Associate Pastor for First Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights

First Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights has a new associate pastor. After a comprehensive year-long search, the congregation recently called the Reverend Judy Hockenberry to be associate pastor for pastoral care. She began her ministry with the church on March 10.

Hockenberry will partner with Rev. Alex Lang, pastor, and Rev. Tai Zimmerman, associate pastor for adult education and executive administration. The two associate pastors will follow Lang's lead and work with church members, friends, and leaders in the current initiative to reshape the mission and vision of the church.

Hockenberry has a heart for caring ministry and extensive experience with pastoral care. "Judy has exceptional listening skills and an amazing ability to connect with people of all ages," adds Lang. Hockenberry's impressive skill set also includes effective preaching, worship leadership, and teaching. She makes meaningful interpersonal communication a priority and feels most fulfilled when people invite her to share in their joys and their sorrows. "It is my privilege to walk with people as individuals, as couples, as families, and as a church through the joys and challenges that life will bring to us," she says.

Hockenberry earned a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, New Jersey, and she holds a bachelor of arts degree in social work from Augustana College, in Rock Island, Illinois. She has nearly 30 years of experience with the Presbyterian Church (USA), consisting of 20 years in various types of parish ministry and 7 years caring for the aged population at Presbyterian Homes.

The search for Hockenberry took the pastoral search team through some interesting twists and turns. After interviewing many candidates from all over the country, the team ended up recommending Hockenberry, who actually grew up at First Presbyterian Church and was married there. Her parents remain members. "The search team was blown away that out of all the exceptional candidates we interviewed over the past year, God led Judy to us, who was an even more outstanding candidate and an Arlington Heights and First Pres native!" says Jody Stautzenbach, chair of the search committee.

Hockenberry, too, found the search process and her ultimate decision to accept this call to be highly intriguing, a bit unsettling, and somehow exactly the right thing to do. "Moving back home was one thing I thought I would never do," Hockenberry says. "It's very unusual to return to your home church as a pastor." Yet, after living outside the state for many years and raising her family in the Louisville, Kentucky, area, she says she felt a very strong sense of call to "throw my hat into the ring" for this opportunity to serve her childhood congregation. "The nudge of the Holy Spirit is a strong thing," she says.

Now that she is back in the neighborhood, Hockenberry has jumped into her ministry with both feet. "All of us are invited to work together in the power of the Holy Spirit, making God's kingdom tangible in our community and in the world. Together, we seek to accomplish the challenging task of being the body of Christ in a world that is broken and suffering."

First Presbyterian Church is located at 302 N. Dunton Ave. in Arlington Heights. To learn more, visit www.fpcah.org or call the church office at 847-255-5900.