Our rector...

Fr. John Heschle has been a priest of the Diocese of Chicago for 25 years. He graduated from Hope College, Holland, Michigan in 1975 and earned his Master of Divinity from Sea bury-Western Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL in 1978. He was ordained a deacon in 1978 and a priest in 1979. He served as Vicar and Rector of the Church of St. Anne, Morrison, IL from 1978 to 1993. He has been the Rector of St. Paul's Church by-the-Lake in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago for over 10 years.

Fr.Heschle has served on several Diocesan and Deanery committees during his ordained ministry and is active in the Rogers Park Clergy Association, serving as treasurer. He also serves as the secretary & treasurer of the Chicago Chapter of the Catholic Clerical Union.

As a parish priest Father Heschle has focused on the growth and health of the local parish church and its vitality in the neighborhood. Through his parish, BEHIV of Evanston, IL first found funding and space in the City of Chicago. They still use the parish hall for staff meetings and lunches. More recently the parish has been the home and base for the meetings of the Lost Boys of the Sudan with a regular dinner on Thursday evenings. From this ministry has grown a faithful group of volunteers from many churches, who have formed a board called CALBOS (Chicago Association of the Lost Boys of the Sudan). The parish is also active in animal ministries with a regular service for the Blessing of Pets and the Thanksgiving & Remembrance of Pets and Animals. From this has grown the Illinois Companion Animal Network with its notable program called AniMeals which provides food and sundries for Low-Income and elderly neighbors with pets. In 2002 the service for the Blessing of Animals was featured on Wild Chicago, a local public television program.

In Father's time as rector the parish has grown by about 75% and is now one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse parishes in the Diocese of Chicago. It has parishioners from South America, Asia, Africa, India, England, as well North American origins. Fr. Heschle believes in neighborhood churches and the role they play in building community. The Estes-Greenleaf-Paulina block club had its beginnings at St. Paul's and the parish hall is still used to host events related to both the block club and Field Elementary School. One of the parish's latest projects is to open a Computer Learning Center to help our Sudanese young men and other selected groups to learn or improve their computer skills. The space for this project has been rehabbed by the Rogers Park Builder Group in consultation with Fr. Heschle and a committee from the parish. Teachers will be both parishioners of St. Paul's by-the-Lake and volunteers from the neighborhood. Future projects include expanding the Church's parking lot and allowing some neighborhood use of the space.

While many churches are known for one particular program such as music, youth ministry or education, under Fr. Heschle's vision St. Paul's is becoming a truly neighborhood friendly parish whose presence is well know in the larger community.

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