Leadership

Pastors & Staff

Bill Novak

Lead Pastor

Pastor Bill Novak is the lead pastor at Morton Methodist Church. A Montana native, Pastor Bill comes to Morton most recently from First United Methodist Church in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He graduated from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary with an M.Div. in 2013 and a PhD in 2022. Pastor Bill's theological interests and work center around technology, our techno-culture, and faithful Christian discipleship within it. He is married to Abby, a registered nurse at OSF, and they have four daughters: Wynne, Beatrice, Mabel, and Clementine. Pastor Bill enjoys the preaching, teaching, and caring aspects of ministry and is always ready to talk about basketball any time of year.

Adam Penn

Associate Pastor

Pastor Adam has been pastoring churches since graduating from the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in 2015. He and his wife Jessica were both born and raised in the Peoria area, and have two sons: Levi and Judah. Pastor Adam has a heart for helping people of all ages connect the Bible to their life stories, and equipping people to live into Jesus’ call to be salt and light to a broken world. Pastor Adam co-hosts a podcast called Midnight Theology, and he and Jessica were in a band called Harbor at Sea, whose "Better Things" EP is available on iTunes and Spotify. 

David Craig

Director of Family and Outreach Ministries

Dave and his wife Alice have lived in the Central Illinois area since 1994. They have 6 grown children and 9 grandchildren. Dave was born on an Indian reservation in Salamanca, New York. He grew up in rural Nebraska as the son of a Baptist pastor and his family moved to Illinois in 1974. Dave is a graduate of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, and served as the Youth Pastor at The Moody Church in Chicago under Dr. Erwin Lutzer. He was ordained by Moody Church in 1986. Dave and Alice met at Moody and were married in 1981. Alice, a professional artist and owner of Artistic Memories, grew up in Flanigan, IL. In 2012, after serving as the Senior Pastor of Tremont Baptist Church and as the Pastor of Connections at Bridgeway Community Church, the Lord led Dave to start the HOPE Chest of Pekin Ministries. He served as the founder and Executive Director of The Chest for 9 years. He also served as the part time Pastor of Normandale Reformed Church in Pekin for the past 11 years. Dave has a heart for the Lord and for people. He has a passion for restoring and reconnecting people with the Biblical truth about Jesus (Yeshua), Israel, and the church. He loves preaching and teaching about eschatology and the end time events. He is passionate about family and youth discipleship. Dave enjoys hunting and fishing and is a HUGE Cornhusker fan. He is also a past member of the Illinois Auctioneer Association and continues to auction at charitable events.

Megan Benckendorf

Ministry Office Manager

Megan grew up in Tuscaloosa, AL with her two siblings and parents. She originally worked in many different roles in healthcare before moving her skills to the church. She moved to Morton in 2020 with her husband Noah. She enjoys knitting and hanging out with her two dogs and two cats.

Kerry Brenkman

Director of Music Ministries

Kerry has been leading worship for our Cross Connections service for almost 20 years. A native Texan, Kerry graduated from Sam Houston State University with a music degree before moving to Morton 23 years ago. When she’s not planning or participating in worship, you can find her spending time with her husband Steve and their children Darby and Kyle. Other than creating music, Kerry enjoys sewing, reading, pickleball, and walking with her fur babies Birdie & SíSí.

Jane Chapman

Organist

Jane grew up in Osceola, WI. Her first career choice was nursing, however the University she attended discontinued the nursing program the year she began. Music Therapy was her next plan. In 1980 she became the "temporary" Church Organist - and still plays for the church today! She feels, with joy, that she is applying a ministry of "Music Therapy" as God planned.

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