There’s a New Church in town!
Church Leadership
Rev. James Missick is an Ordained Advent Christian Minister. He has been preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ for over 40 years. Rev. Missick is currently serving as Pastor of the New Hope Advent Christin Church in Aurora, Illinois.
He has held pastorates in New Albany, Indiana, Queens, New York, Norfolk, Virginia, and Chicago, Illinois. Rev. Missick earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, at the College of New Rochelle, in New Rochelle New York. He earned his Master of Divinity degree in theological studies at Colgate Rochester Divinity. Rev. Missick worked as a Social Worker for the Urban League of Rochester, New York, he was a Chaplin/Counselor at the Cook Jail in Chicago, and he is a member of the Leadership network in Chicago, Illinois.
He has traveled extensively around the world where he studied the cultures and religions of various countries. He is married to Deloris, and they have three grown children. His Motto for Ministry is, PREACHING, TEACHING AND REACHING.
Board Chair
Char and her husband, Bob, became acquainted with the Advent Christian Church in 1977, when they moved to Aurora, and Bob joined the math department at Aurora College, where he taught for 29 years. Char worked for the then Mercy Center in their behavioral health section, and subsequently obtained her Ph.D. from Northwestern University in Counseling Psychology and her Masters in Pastoral Studies in the Institute of Pastoral Studies at Loyola University.
She has had a long career in mental health and teaching and is now trauma informed, trained in Somatic Experiencing and Attachment strategies for healing relational and developmental trauma. She has done several workshops for primarily religious organizations that focus on her motto: How We Treat One Another Matters. Char cherishes the opportunities to work with church leaders and adult pastor’s kids (PKs), having been a pastor’s kid herself, to heal religious trauma. She also is the resident psychologist for Crossroads Soul Resources School of Spiritual Direction, which currently meets at Christ Church in Oak Brook, once a month during the school year.
Char believes that her clinical training and experiences have laid the foundation for what has always been a passion, which is to collaborate and help facilitate the development of a healthy church. That is something that cannot be done alone. She believes that New Hope has just the right ingredients and feels greatly blessed by the Lord’s provisions to provide the foundation for a new kind of church in town. Char understands how important it is for people to feel safe and know they are not alone in their spiritual walk. Bit by bit the foundation is being laid for healing and for ministry. God is present; we aim to look at where He is working and join him.
Board Vice Chair
Larry grew up in New Jersey and Texas. He arrived on the Aurora College Campus in September of 1965. After his four years at AC, he received his undergraduate degree in Bible and Religion and a minor in Sociology. He had planned on going into the ministry full time until he figured out that writing a sermon for every Sunday would be the same as writing a 20 page term paper once a week. He reports that God and he had a discussion in which they both agreed that he would not go into the church ministry full time. Instead, he committed his life to ministry and told God that any job He provided would be his ministry.
Larry met his wife, Ruthi, at AC, and after they married, he worked in several capacities, with natural progressions of advancement, building skills as a social worker and school administrator. His career included working in corrections for the State of Illinois, directing a group home, training teachers in group process, starting and administering an alternative school in the private sector of the State of Illinois and working as an Administrator in special education in DuPage County. Larry has been a life-long learner, receiving his Master’s in Social Work from Jane Adams School of Social Work at the University of Illinois and his Master’s in School Administration from Roosevelt University.
While working in his ministries and raising his family, Larry was very active as an elder in the Aurora Advent Christian Church for 8 years. He co-taught an adult Sunday School Class, and he served as chairman of several different committees for the church. He notes that his greatest reward has been the relationship he has developed over the years with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!
Larry feels blessed with a wonderful wife, a married daughter in California who has her own ministry, and a married son who has 4 children, with the oldest one being a child with disabilities. He and Ruthi are active grandparents and parents to their adult children.
Helen was born & raised in Washington State. She has been a life-long member of the Advent Christian denomination, starting with the Bellingham (Washington) Advent Christian Church. Her family is embedded in the Advent Christian denomination. Her uncle, Austin Warner, was a missionary in Japan for 35 years, and her mother, Luella Warner Johnson, graduated from Aurora College in 1944. Helen graduated from high school in 1969 and came to Aurora to attend college at what was then Aurora College. She married Edward J Green Jr., who was an Aurora College graduate. They had 3 children, who are now grown.
Helen is a woman of many gifts, with one of her most famous being baking. People from all walks love Helen’s pies, cookies and cakes. She is a first-time grandmother and enjoys sharing pictures of her grandson with the church community. She retired from her bookkeeping work when she turned 70, although she still works part-time and has used her skills and gifts in bookkeeping for New Hope from the beginning.
Board Clerk
Robin Marlowe grew up in Washington State where she attended the Sumas Advent Christian Church.
She is now an active member of the New Hope Advent Christian Church and enjoys her role as Board Clerk, where she keeps track of membership, legal papers, board minutes, and all things which need structure and recordings of the church’s activities. During the summer, she brought fresh produce every Sunday from her abundant garden to share with our congregation.
Robin moved from Washington State to Aurora where she obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degree from Aurora College. She met her future husband Bill before her college graduation. They married and have lived in Aurora their entire married lives. They have four adult children and four grandchildren, who all live in the Aurora area.
Since graduation from college, Robin has juggled her many roles as wife, mother, teacher, and good friend and neighbor. After her children were all in school, she returned to full time teaching as an elementary physical education teacher, where she spent her career until retirement. Upon retirement, Robin continued to substitute teach at West Aurora. With substitute teaching, she had the flexibility to babysit grandkids and spend winters in Arizona. Now fully retired, Robin spends more time in Arizona, enjoys her hobbies of gardening, jewelry making, creating cards for all occasions, cooking, and watching her grandchildren play sports. She is an energetic and curious human being. When in Arizona this past winter, Robin regularly attended Sunday services via Zoom.