Staff Bio's

Clergy and Staff

The Reverend Fred Kinsey
Pastor of Unity Lutheran Church

Pastor Fred has been Unity's pastor since July of 2007. With Unity's Vision Steering Team he directed the congregations Space Sharing program, hiring Amy Wood as Center Director to use the beautiful building spaces as a ministry with the community, providing a space for dozens of communty groups. Together with Amy and Artist in Residence, John Baker, he helped create the ArtsWorks Committee and The Gallery at Unity. An avid bicycle commuter, he formed Bike for Real, a green initiative fundraiser benefiting Edgewater's food and clothing pantry, Care for Real. As an outgrowth of the Lutheran promise to "strive for justice and peace in all the earth,” Pastor Fred leads Unity as an member organization of ONE Northside, a community organization making structural change, also serving on its Mental Health Justice Team and the ONE Northside Board of Directors. He is also an active leader with the Sacred Seeds Interfaith Dialog of the Edgewater Community Religious Association.
   Pastor Fred previously served Bethany and Trinity Lutheran Churches with his co-pastor and wife, Kim Beckmann, in Michigan's Upper Penninsula in Iron County for 20 years. He was ordained in 1986.
   Pastor Fred loves the Edgewater neighborhood and Unity's unique place in the community. Worship is the central event of this deeply spiritual and supportive congregation who have become agents for social justice in this vibrant and diverse neighborhood.
   Link to Pastor Fred's sermon blog here.

The Reverend Emily Heitzman,
Pastor with Youth and Households for  Edgewater Congregations Together (Unity, Ebenezer, and Immanuel Lutheran Churches)

Emily grew up in Waterloo, IA and first felt called into youth ministry when she was a junior in high school. She graduated from the University of Nebraska in 2004 where she majored in vocal music performance and became an avid Cornhusker fan. GO BIG RED! After working in St. Louis for four years, she made Chicago her home in the fall of 2008, where she began her studies at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston.
In May of 2011, Emily was hired as the part time E.C.T. (Edgewater Congregations Together) Youth Director and started the E.C.T. Youth Ministry, a joint youth group for 6th-12th graders from the neighborhood and from Ebenezer, Immanuel, and Unity Lutheran churches in Edgewater.
Emily graduated from Garrett-ETS in 2012. In 2013, she was ordained by the Presbytery of Chicago (PCUSA) and installed as the Edgewater Congregations Together Pastor with Youth and Households. Prior to her current call, she has served in youth ministry at Evangelical Covenant, Congregational, and American Baptist churches… Some of her colleagues call her an ecumenical bricolage.
Emily loves hiking in the mountains, attending indie and bluegrass concerts, biking along Lake Michigan, training for half-marathons, and singing opera and musical theatre. She has a heart for youth, justice, and the Huskers, and can often been seen with coffee or a Guinness. She resides with her husband, Jonathan, in Edgewater.
You can find more of Emily’s reflections, sermons, and youth ministry ideas on her blog at http://musingsfromabricolage.wordpress.com.

Jerry Jelsema,
Director of Music

Jerry begin as Unity’s musician in the autumn of 2013, serving as organist, pianist and vocal leader. He works with several cantors and has formed a male ensemble which helps lead worship at Festive Services.

As a career Church Musician, Jerry developed extensive music programs in several Chicago area churches, featuring multiple choirs, hand bell ensembles and instrumental groups. In his last position at First United Methodist Church in Evanston, he worked with a professional choir and engaged a large cadre of student musicians from neighboring Northwestern University.

Mr. Jelsema received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Central College in Pella, Iowa with a major in music and then attended the University of Michigan where he was awarded a Masters of Music degree. His career has also included singing in professional choirs, performing organ recitals and serving in leadership positions in professional organizations such as the American Guild of Organists, Choristers Guild and the Association of English Handbell Ringers.