Jim Rausch
Thank you for finding us on the internet. We’re glad you’re here! My name is Jim Rausch, and I am blessed to serve as pastor to Peoria’s First Presbyterian Church, a joyful community of believers seeking to love God and our neighbors after the example of Jesus.
Please feel welcome to explore further online and in-person. There is always a place for you here as we worship, learn, and serve together as part of the Body of Christ.
Life is certainly filled with challenges, and we have found that they are better faced with a nurtured faith and a connection to a community of loving believers. The people who have found that here at Peoria FPC are especially good at sharing these gifts with others.
We pray together frequently and laugh at least as much. Everyone is welcome on our nightly phone-in prayer conference call at 6 p.m. where you will experience both – (480) 900-1250). For 10 to 15 minutes, we share joys and concerns, and offer a brief prayer followed by the Lord’s Prayer. It’s an expandable circle of love, as is our whole church family.
We rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us in our worship, study, and service to grow in our knowledge of and trust in God and God’s will for our lives, for the church, and for all of creation. It’s a journey we enjoy taking together. Please consider joining with us!
About Me
A lifelong Presbyterian, I was born and raised in the small Northern Illinois town of Marengo. My mother is fond of reminding me that at about age four I announced that I wanted to grow up to be either a minister or a garbage man. Over the years, more people than I can count (especially colleagues) have laughed and commented on the similarities between the two.
Married for 36 years to my beautiful wife, Chris, a USPS rural carrier, we have two grown children, Jennica and Jacob, and one grandchild, Natalie. Prior to coming to Peoria, we lived for 10 years in Muskegon, MI, serving First Presbyterian Church. Before that we served for nearly 14 years in Iola, Kansas, again at First Presbyterian. Our seminary home was Dubuque, Iowa from 1995 to 1998.
Church life was formative in my youth, and I am grateful for camps such as Stronghold, outstanding presbytery youth leaders, youth trienniums and the opportunity to serve as a YAD for the 1984 General Assembly. I developed an interest in music in those early years which continues. I play trombone, sing, and have enjoyed occasionally writing lyrics, parodies, and arranging songs for bands.
Though the call to ministry was present at various times since childhood, I did not recognize it as a calling, and always had a reason why I did not think God really intended for me to be a minister. My work at the North Central College radio station as production manager and later station manager seemed to indicate to me that this was my niche, though I did also work as a youth group director for a United Methodist church during those years. Upon graduation, I began work at a television station in Rockford, Illinois and worked in their creative department, eventually attaining the position of Production manager.
Rather than allowing any thought of a ministry career, I tried to live out my sense of calling by serving as an elder, youth leader, choir member and committee chair in my home congregation. I think I was the last one to know I was supposed to head for seminary and make a vocational change. My wife knew before I did, but waited quietly for me to get it on my own. When I finally contemplated quitting my job to enter seminary, I went to my father, believing he would talk me out of it. When he said, “What took you so long?” I think I nearly fell over.
Over 28 years in ministry, my wife followed me to seminary and to Kansas and Michigan. My turn to follow her came as she took a job in Arizona, following her wish to live nearer to her mother and grandmother and in a warmer climate. We bought a house in Sun City and are finding that living in Arizona suits us wonderfully. We love serving our third First Presbyterian Church in Peoria!
