Mission of the Elders

The Elders at South Park Church are charged with overseeing the affairs of the church and are the final authority within the church. They are charged with guarding the Biblical integrity of all who lead and all who teach.

In addition to the oversight of leadership, they are responsible for guarding the vision of the church and developing all policies and procedures regarding: the membership process, matters of church discipline, Position Papers and the search, hiring and termination processes for all members of the pastoral staff.

This spring, the elders are looking forward to getting much better acquainted with members and attendees by visiting over dinners and hosting a spring membership class. We love to be a big part of promoting our walk with God, connecting as family, and loving others in Jesus’ name.

Our Elders

  Jim Dykema
Jim is one of five elders charged with being the spiritual 'safety' people of the church.  Other than that, he has pounded nails and shoveled concrete in several stages, and still makes a lot of mess in peoples' houses here.  He was, of all things, a greek major in college and has a Masters of Divinity degree from Trinity Seminary in Deerfield.  He tends to run off with a kayak during the part of the year when there is open water.
 
  John Heavey
John is an Elder and a member of the SPC Leadership Team.  He and Joani became members in 1976 with each of them having served in various capacities over the years. John is a retired fire chief.  He spends his time caring for Joani, visiting with his sons and their families and teaching high school 2-3 days a week.  His special role is that of a Grandfather!  John and Joani live in Des Plaines and feel blessed to serve God at South Park and to be a part of the church family.
   
  Renie Proctor
Renie has taught school in Ireland and the US.  During her teaching years, she completed an MA in Christian Ministries from Wheaton College Graduate School.  She was active in South Park Church's drama group, the Night Light Players, and has done volunteer work with Life Span, an organization which addresses the needs of battered women and their children.  Renie was the Teaching Director for the Chicago class of Community Bible Study for 9 years.  Renie and her husband Steve met and were married right here at SPC.   They have two delightful daughters.
   
  Nick Brait
Nick is one of our Elders at South Park Church.  In real life he coordinates the financial affairs for a select group of families and small business and has been doing so since 1982.  He has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Northwestern University.  In 1985 he married his best friend Cathy and they have three children, Nickolas, Emily and Amanda. They live in Park Ridge but really enjoy the "high country" of the Rocky Mountains.  They are avid hikers, sailors and campers.  Nick loves photography, leading worship and, the dreaded fear of most, public speaking.
   
  Randy Kjell
Randy had the honor of growing up in a family of believers and accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior at a young age.  Through the years Randy has remained active in the church as a helper, leader, teacher, volunteer and servant in many different ministries.  His career has been working with computers and I have spent the last 20+ years as the IT Director/CIO of several manufacturing companies in the Chicago area.  He has degrees in Computer Programming, Math, Business, and an MBA in Finance and Information Systems. Randy also spent 1 year of school at Briercrest Bible Institute in Saskatchewan Canada.  He and his wife, Deb, have been active at SPC for more than 20 years and their 2 children, Kevin and Kristy are active participants in the youth program.

Click here to download the application for Elder team.