Meet our Team!
Rev. Veronica Johnson and Rev. Sarah Lusche are the co-pastors of Hyde Park Union Church.
Veronica Johnson
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Rev. Veronica M. Johnson (she/her) was born in Chicago, IL and in the Baptist Church. Veronica earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign, and worked in the field for 20 years prior to answering her call to ministry in 2006. Rev. Johnson joined the pastoral staff of Greater Bethesda Missionary Baptist Church in 2010, earned a Master of Divinity Degree from McCormick Theological Seminary in 2012, and on December 14, 2013, became the first woman ordained in Greater Bethesda’s 131 year history, holding an American Baptist USA ordination. Rev. Johnson has also served in the UCC and AME churches.
Rev. Veronica M. Johnson is Senior Director of Admissions and Enrollment at McCormick Theological Seminary. She is also the mother of two academically and musically gifted children, Curtis Johnson II and Vanessa Johnson. Veronica has a passion for education, social justice, and most of all for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ which liberates us, for as John 8:36 states, “for whom the Son sets free, is free indeed!” |
Sarah Lusche
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Rev. Sarah Lusche (she/her) is a minister who is passionate about community engagement, multifaith conversation, and social change. While she is originally from Alabama, and often surprises/disappoints people with her lack of a Southern accent, Sarah lived and ministered in both UCC and Baptist churches in Vermont and New York City before coming to Chicago. Since making a home in the Second City, Sarah has served as a pastor in Hyde Park and as a hospital chaplain. She is a graduate of the dual master’s program in Divinity and Social Work at the University of Chicago.
Sarah’s ministry work is characterized by innovation and the intersection between religion and the public square, always with an eye toward justice and equity. In addition to her work at Hyde Park Union Church, Sarah volunteers as a chaplain at Cook County Jail and works to build multi-religious and interfaith dialogue. In 2018, she was honored to speak on a panel at the Parliament of World Religions about the multi-faith imperative in ministry training. Sarah is passionate about interpersonal development, social engagement, and relational modalities of change. And in her free time, she likes to explore Chicago theatre, practice yoga and aerial tricks, and bake delicious pies. Sign up for her newsletter on spirituality and theology, The Magdalene, here. |
Elikem Fiase
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Elikem Fiase (he/him) has both a BA in Business and a BM in organ performance from Coe College as well as a certificate in organ performance. Originally from Ghana, Mr. Fiase has settled here in Chicago, and we are blessed to have him here at Hyde Park Union Church.
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Qiana McNary
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Qiana McNary (she/her) is a graduate of the Chicago College of Performing Arts where she finished a Master of Music Degree in Voice Performance. She began her vocal studies and graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University where she received her Bachelor of Music Degree. In the summer of 2007, Qiana furthered her vocal studies at The Italian Operatic Experience in Urbania, Italy. She has performed in numerous opera and musical theater productions in and out of the country that include, South Shore Opera Company's Chicago premier of Harriet Tubman: When I Crossed That Line to Freedom (Rittia), Sister Act (Deloris Van Cartier), Saul and the Witch of Endor (The Witch), Ragtime (Sarah), Working (Maggie Holmes), and premiered a hip-hop opera, Hopera: Chronicles of a Fallen Hero, at the DuSable Museum – Chicago.
Ms. McNary was not only a National semi-finalist in the Emerging Young Artist competition, but won first place in the district and local rounds of the competition sponsored by the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs. She is a proud member of Mu Phi Epsilon music honorary and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Currently Ms. McNary is the lead vocalist for her band, The McNary Experience. |
Foster J. Pinkney
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Foster J. Pinkney (he/him) is a writer, organizer, and doctoral candidate at the University of Chicago Divinity School in the field of Religious Ethics. Originally from Columbus, Ohio, he received his MA in Social Ethics from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. Foster studies faith as it is reflected in the formation of value and ethical understandings of communal power. Working from a Christian humanist perspective, he uses Black theology, political philosophy, and Stoicism to reconceptualize the ethical demands of social existence. He is also a member of Hyde Park Union Church.
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Elizabeth Pence
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Elizabeth "Ez" Pence (they/she/he) is a communicator with a heart for telling stories worth telling and telling them well. They are a graduate of Spring Arbor University with a BA in Drama for Social Change, where she served as a contractual theatrical director for the Department of Communication, Media, and Fine Arts and organized the first affinity group on Spring Arbor's campus for queer students.
Originally from the Mitten State, Elizabeth now is a Masters of Divinity student at Chicago Theological Seminary and seeking ordination in the American Baptist Church. His academic interests currently involve twentieth century French mystic and revolutionary Simone Weil, theo-ethical responses to the War on Drugs, pastoral care for addiction, and queering mysticism. |