Rev. Stephen Stark has been Pastor at Zion UCC, New Baden since June 2020.  He came to Illinois South Conference from the Missouri Mid South Conference.  He received his Master’s in Divinity from Eden Theological Seminary in 2017.  He was ordained in the United Church of Christ in 2018.  Pastoral ministry is a second calling for him. He previously worked at AT&T for 10 years before he started volunteering as a youth pastor. His mentors encouraged him to apply for admission to Eden Seminary. While in seminary he was a student pastor and a supply pastor.  He has served as Youth Pastor, Associate Pastor and now as our Solo Pastor. 

Pastor Stephen is married and he and his wife Molly have two young boys, Seth and Jonah.  He has many hobbies including, fishing, music, Audio/Visual tech, basketball, games, photography just to name a few.  He loves spending time with his family and playing games with them.  Pastor Stephen entered ministry as a Youth volunteer and Youth Pastor before feeling the call to full time ministry.  He still has a passion for youth ministry, and helping people learn and grow in their faith.  In Seminary God pushed him to expand his sense of call, to think beyond the teaching of youth, but to teach about faith to all.  Pastor Stephen wants everyone to grow in Christian faith through learning more about our own faiths journey.