Clergy

The Very Rev. John Richmond, Rector

Fr. Richmond was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, but was spirited away by his parents to Kansas, at the age of two months. He grew up in Topeka. He earned a B.A. at Southern Methodist University, Dallas; a M.S. in library science at the University of Illinois, Urbana; and a M.Div. at Nashotah House Seminary, Nashotah, Wisconsin. He has served as director of public libraries in Kansas, Texas, and Illinois. His parish ministry began in Overland Park, Kansas, and continued in Normal, Illinois. In fact, this is his second time around at Christ the King (an “encore performance,” as a retired bishop put it). While engaged in the practice of librarianship, he served as a supply priest in churches in Texas and Illinois.
In the Diocese of Kansas, Fr. Richmond was recruited early for youth ministry, being somewhat younger than many of the clergy in the diocese. That ministry continued in the Diocese of Springfield, where he also fulfilled duties on the Commission on Ministry and diocesan Council. Currently, he is dean of the Northern Deanery of the diocese. Which is why he is “The Very Reverend.”
Fr. Richmond discovered opera at the tender age of 13, or so, and has never un-discovered it. In fact, he is an aficionado of all kinds of classical music. He has been known to chase trains, and even ride them. As his lower back allows, he gardens, with a particular attachment to tall bearded iris. As one might expect of a librarian, he reads. He is partial to NPR, PBS, and BritBox. And he enjoys movies, especially on the theatrical big screen. Not to mention live theater, including Shakespeare, whose plays he finally has come to find intelligible in his more mature years.
**Fr. Richmond is married, and claims an adult son and a Shiba Inu as his own.**

Staff

Sarah Weber, Music Director

Sarah grew up in Normal, Illinois but has lived in the small town of Lexington, Illinois, since 1998. She and her husband Jim have 3 daughters as well as raising their oldest grandson since he was 7. She has 10 other grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. Sarah began piano lessons at the age of 7, and thanks to the organist at her mother’s church, started taking organ lessons at age 13 and began playing for services soon after. Summers were spent as an organist substitute at various churches in Bloomington-Normal, through high school. Sarah lists her church choir director and high school choir director as inspiring her to be a choir director. After graduating from ISU in 1976, Sarah continued her love of playing the organ and directing with being the “volunteer” organist and Assistant Choir Director at Epiphany Catholic Church. After having children , Sarah took some time from music to raise her girls and work to provide the necessities of life, while still playing for weddings, funerals, and church services in her spare time. In 2004, she and her husband joined Christ the King and she became involved in the Music Ministry as accompanist for the choir and organist (with a little choir directing on the side). Sarah became the music director in 2010. As Music Director, her duties include those of organist, choir director, overseeing the repairs to the organ, and maintaining the music library.