"Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith." -Hebrews 13:7
East Side Church Leadership TEAM
Rev. John L. Hopkins, Interim Bishop of the Northern Illinois Conference
He was born in Montgomery, Alabama, and his childhood was spent in Montgomery, Houston, Atlanta, and Ft. Wayne. After marrying Elaine M. Smithson in 1964, he attended Indiana University, receiving a B.A. with Honors in Psychology. He graduated from Yale Divinity School and was selected for the two-year Wheelock Residency at the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College where he practiced hospital, campus, and parish ministry. During this residency, he served as the Protestant Chaplain at Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital in Hanover, New Hampshire. He was ordained deacon and elder in the North Indiana Conference.
After serving a two-point charge in LaPorte, Indiana, Hopkins was appointed in 1976 as Wesley Foundation Director at Ball State University. In 1983 he became Director of the Council on Ministries in North Indiana and, in 1989 was appointed in South Indiana as Senior Pastor at The Methodist Temple in Evansville. He was elected to the episcopacy in July 1996 at the North Central Jurisdictional Conference and assigned to the Minnesota Area for eight years. In September 2004, Bishop Hopkins was assigned to the Ohio East Area until retirement in 2016.
Bishop Hopkins was appointed by the Council of Bishops from 2004-2012 to serve as the first Chair of the Connectional Table which provides a forum for the understanding and implementation of the vision, mission, and ministries of the global church. During this time, Hopkins helped lead The Call to Action effort focused on increasing vital congregations around the world.
He has served on the Executive Committee of the Council of Bishops, the United Methodist Publishing House Board, the General Board of Church and Society, the General Council on Ministries and the Committee for the Advance for Christ and His Church.
His episcopal responsibilities have included serving on the trustees of Hamline University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Mt. Union University, Baldwin Wallace University, and The Methodist Theological School in Ohio.
Bishop Hopkins was instrumental in the formation of Operation Classroom in Sierra Leone and Liberia. His mission travel has included Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Korea, China, Japan, Mexico, Bulgaria, Germany, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Currently, he serves on the board of Educational Opportunities, Inc. that provides scholarships for clergy to study in the Holy Land.
Bishop Hopkins and Elaine live in Indianapolis. They have three sons and seven grandchildren. Bishop Hopkins enjoys exercise, technology, kite flying, music, and guitar jams.
Rev. Dr. Jacques A. Conway, District Superintendent
Rev. Dr. Jacques Conway serves as the Chicago Southern District Superintendent of The United Methodist Church's Northern Illinois Conference.
He received his Doctor of Ministry from Colgate Rochester Divinity School in New York and earned a Master of Divinity from Chicago Theological Seminary.
Conway previously worked as a police officer at the Oak Park Police Department, where he became the first African-American to retire from the force as the Senior Sergeant of Patrol.
He lives in Chicago with his wife, Dr. LaMenta "Sweetie" Conway, and they have three adult children.
Rev. D. Josiah Montgomery, Pastor of East Side
Rev. D. Josiah Montgomery, a native of Chicago, comes to East Side as a Candidate for Ministry with the Northern Illinois Conference. Rev. Montgomery also serves as Assistant Conductor for the Chatham Choral Ensemble of Chicago, Illinois.
Prior to his appointment, Montgomery served as the Organist, ad interim, at the Episcopal Church of the Heavenly Rest in Abilene, Texas, and as organist pro-tempore, at First Baptist Church of Abilene. Formerly, D. Josiah served as organist and associate music director at First United Methodist Church of La Grange, Illinois, and as associate college organist at Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, Illinois (now Elmhurst University). Prior to Elmhurst, he served as organ scholar and associate organist at the historic, First Baptist Congregational-United Church of Christ (Chicago).
Having been an organist and theologian, Rev. Montgomery brings a wealth of knowledge from his twenty-one years in the music ministry. Rev. Montgomery also hails from a family of musicians, pastors, theologians, and missionaries committed to kingdom building. His grandmother, the Rev. Barbara Montgomery, serves as an associate pastor in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood.
Rev. Montgomery holds a B. A. in Religion and Service from Elmhurst College (2011), with concentrations in Communication Studies, Organ and Violin Performance. In December 2018, he earned a Master of Theological Studies from Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas with concentrations in Moral and Systematic Theology.
Rev. Montgomery also holds memberships with the American Guild of Organists and Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity.
Lay Church Leaders
& Leaders of Our Lay Ministry Teams
Shirley Witt
Church Secretary, Staff-Parish Chair, & Church TreasurerKim Price
Church Council ChairDr. Kristopher Seaman
OrganistGloria Hafer
TrusteeLogan Hickman
TrusteeLarry Grahovac
TrusteeJose Salinas
CustodianJose "Julio" Acosta
TrusteeCathy Pilarczyk
Sunday School Chair