I am so pleased to be writing to introduce everyone to Rev. Tom Willadsen. My first sight of Tom was watching a video sermon in which he had on a robe and used a walking staff, and both Bob and I nicknamed him “Moses” after that.
Tom was born in Berwyn, Illinois, and moved to Peoria when he was still an infant. He has an older brother, Alan, who lives in Peoria and is a CPA and a commissioned lay pastor. He has two sons: Peter who is in his first year Doctorate program at University of Kansas for Entomology, and David is in his last year at the University of Wisconsin for Anthropology.
Tom left Peoria to go to college at Northwestern in Chicago, followed by a year in New York working for the Dept. of City Planning and living in Brooklyn. He cashed his first paycheck at the World Trade Center. He went on to seminary for his Master of Divinity at the University of Chicago, and later his Doctor of Ministry from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary. Tom began writing a regular humor column for The Cresset in 1996. Here is a link to a column which earned an Honorable Mention from the Associated Church Press. In 2012 he wrote a book: OMG! LOL! Faith and Laughter, which is in our library if you would like to borrow it. His latest article was written in the Jan/Feb 2022 issue of Horizons: “God the Parent Who Has Just about Had It up to Here.”
Nevada is the seventh state in which Tom has lived and he is happy to have found six kinds of Cinnamon Toast Crunch at the local store in Sparks. He is a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan and is on a nationwide search for the best biscuits and gravy.
Please welcome Rev. Tom Willadsen to our church.