John Walker – Pastor

Pastor John W. Walker was born in Spokane, Washington, but grew up most of his life in West Lafayette, Indiana. He graduated from Purdue University in 1982 with a B.S. in General Management/Accounting and went to work as an auditor for Arthur Andersen & Co. in its Chicago office. During his first year as an auditor, John sensed a strong call to ordained ministry in the Presbyterian Church, the church of his birth, baptism and spiritual nurture.

He met and married (1985) his wife, Debbie, during his 2 year transition to seminary. He graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity in 1988 and took his first church call as an associate pastor in San Jose, California, where he led ministry with young single adults and small groups. Later he moved to Spokane, Washington, where he served as Pastor of Discipleship in a large congregation leading small groups and adult ministries. He and Debbie and their 3 children, Matthew, Sarah and Hannah moved to Ottawa in early 1999 when he accepted the call to be the pastor of First Presbyterian Church.

Pastor John loves serving Christ by serving, loving and teaching people about Christ and his great love for them.

Lori Trolinger – Secretary

Lloyd and Diane Chapman – Choir Director and Pianist/Organist

Presbyterians have a well defined and biblical form of church governance that is centered around the office of elder. The word “Presbyterian” literally means of, relating to, or denoting a Christian Church or denomination governed by elders according to the principles of Presbyterianism. Like all Presbyterian churches, our congregation elects elders to serve three year terms. They, together with our Pastor (or teaching elder) exercise leadership, government, spiritual discernment, and discipline, and have responsibilities for the life of our congregation as well as the whole church, including our relationships with all of the churches in the Ottawa community (as described in the Book of Order).

At First Presbyterian Church, each elder is assigned to provide leadership to a specific committee (which anyone who is an active participant in the life of our church is welcome to join). Each committee is responsible for overseeing a specific aspect of our church life and ministry. Any questions or concerns about our church life should be brought to one of the elders on the responsible committee, and that elder will bring the question or concern to the committee for appropriate action. Contact the church office to get in touch with current elders and their associated committees.