Email Father Jim

Jim Stanley lives in Plainfield, and is father to 22-year-old Rachel. He was born in Euclid, Ohio; was raised in suburban Pittsburgh and later, in Mansfield, Ohio, and moved to Chicago in 1983 to attend Moody Bible Institute where he studied Bible, Theology and Broadcasting. He worked for both WMBI AM & FM as well as the Moody Broadcasting Network for five years before relocating to Fort Wayne, Indiana. While there, Jim was News Director for a Midwestern Radio Network and later, a free-lance journalist working for the local NPR affiliate, several wire services and occasionally, newspapers.

Disillusioned with Evangelicalism, Jim discovered the Episcopal Church through the writings of C.S. Lewis and the ministry of a local priest who is now Bishop of Hawai’i. Baptized as an adult on All Saints’ Day, 1998, it was soon clear to Jim’s rector and the congregation that he had a call to ordained ministry. While he began to serve as a licensed lay preacher, Jim resisted the call to ordination for many years. A new rector and the then-Bishop of the Diocese of Northern Indiana finally got through to him and Jim was ordained to the transitional diaconate on February 14th of 2014. Six months later, he was ordained a priest. (He had since relocated to Illinois but remained canonically resident in Northern Indiana.)

Jim has degrees in broadcast communications and biblical studies from Moody and a Master’s in Ministry from Nashotah House Theological Seminary.

In his spare time, Fr. Jim enjoys reading non-fiction — especially theology, church history, American History and political analysis. He also buys, sells and collects original artifacts and documents from the American Civil War. Jim’s a long-suffering fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago White Sox. He follows other sports with interest, but baseball is an enduring passion.

Fr. Jim’s excited to begin ministry at Calvary and is eager to meet individually with any parishioners who’d like to get acquainted.