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Living Hope

Meet Our Staff

Sam Hamstra Jr.

As founder and lead pastor of Living Hope Church, Pastor Hamstra responded to God's call to plant a new congregation in the southwest suburbs of Chicago after nearly 30 years serving established congregations. The vision the Lord has given him for LHC is a church family characterized by openness to the Holy Sprit, a commitment to the Reformed faith, and a commitment to multi-ethnicity.

Before embarking on this new endeavor, Pastor Hamstra served the Palos Heights Christian Reformed Church, the Thorn Creek Reformed Church (South Holland, IL), the Peace Reformed Church (Mt. Prospect, IL), and the Community Reformed Church (Delavan, WI). Prior to pastoring the Palos Heights church, he served Trinity Christian College in several capacities and had the honor of being the college's first chaplain.

Pastor Hamstra's ministry extends beyond the local church. He is an author, teacher, consultant, and musician. As an author, he has published several works, including Principled Worship: Biblical Guidelines for Emerging Liturgies (Wipf & Stock, 2006). As a teacher, he serves as Affiliate Professor of Worship and Church History at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in Lombard, IL. As a consultant, he helps a select number of congregations open up new chapters for ministry. He has been especially effective in helping congregational search committees find new pastors. As a musician, he has written several songs for congregational worship.

His educational background includes:

• Timothy Christian High School (Elmhurst, IL);
• Lipscomb University (Nashville, TN), B.A. in music;
• Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL), M.A. in biblical studies;
• McCormick Theological Seminary (Chicago, IL), M.Div.;
• Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI), Ph.D. in historical theology. 

Pastor Hamstra and Debbie (Ploegman) have enjoyed 34 years of marriage together. They have been blessed with four children: Karrie (Brandon) Wright, Samuel (Taylor), Mark (Sandra), and David.

Dan Lugo

Worship assistant Dan Lugo is a third-year student at Northern Theological Seminary in Lombard, IL. A native of Orlando, Florida, he currently calls Illinois home after graduating from Judson College (now University) in Elgin with a Worship Arts degree in 2006.

For the first 19 years of his life, Dan was active in worshiping with and ministering among Catholic Christians. He also participated in many ministries including Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Student Venture and Campus Crusade for Christ. Those experiences make it possible for him to bridge denominational gaps by promoting dialogue that focuses on understanding differences and sharing similarities.

When he isn't reading, Dan loves to play music. A music minor, he took a year of record production courses in Orlando, led worship teams in college for chapels, retreats, church and camp settings, headede a touring summer worship team called The Buddy System in 2005, and has recorded two solo albums. Other interests include cooking, trying to dance merengue and swing, and playing ultimate frisbee.
 
Dan will be heading up the college-age and twenty-somethings ministry. Find out more than you'd ever want to know at danlugo.com, or email him at .

Elissa Metropoulos

Worship Asssitant Elissa Metropoulos is a graduate of Hinsdale South High School and St. Xavier University where she not only played French Horn in the orchestra, but also earned a B.A. in Music Performance (Piano). Since graduating from SXU, she attended the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Tempe, AZ, where she earned certifications in Audio Engineering, Studio and Live Sound, and Post-Production. She is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Elementary Education at National Louis University.

Elissa comes to Living Hope with several years of experience in the church as a choir director, worship coordinator, and worship leader. When she's not helping plan and lead worship for Living Hope, she is teaching private piano lessons, writing music, playing piano, attending classes, or directing a community musical.  

Tabrasia O'Neal

Tabrasia is Living Hope Church's first seminary intern. The graduate of Bloom Township High School and University of Illinois-Chicago (B.A. Psychology) is a "Distance Learning Student" with Western Theological Seminary in Holland, Michigan, a seminary in the Reformed tradition. She is in the third year of a five-year program. 

Tabrasia was nurtured to faith by the Bethel Missionary Baptist Church (Chicago Heights, IL).  She and her husband, Eugenge ("Geno") were led by the Lord to join the Living Springs Community Church (Glenwood, IL), a multi-ethnic, Reformed congregation affiliated with the Reformed Church in America. In God's providence, a conversation involving Tabrasia, Pastor Sam Hamstra, and Pastor Dave Izenbart of Living Springs, led Tabrasia to Living Hope with the gracious blessing of Pastor Izenbart. Since 2003, Tabrasia has been married to Geno, a supervisor with the Woodlawn Communtiy Group (Chicago Public Housing). They reside in Calumet Park with their three children: Morgan, Mason, Malachi.

Ann Payne

Ann Payne serves as the Administrative Assistant for Living Hope Church. In this role, she serves as an assistant to both Pastor Hamstra and Pastor Washington, as the church secretary, web-site manager, and over all go-to person for information on the life and ministry of the congregation. Ann comes well-prepared for this position with over ten years experience with two different congregations. She works out of her home in Orland Park, IL, and may be contacted by email at .

Ann was born in New Mexico and raised in Utah. She attended Trinity Western College (British Columbia), where she met her future husband, Bob. The two have been married since 1979 and have two adult children: Joanna and Jeff. The Paynes came to the southwest suburbs of Chicago in 1996 when Bob accepted a position with the Southwest Chicago Christian School Association.

James Washington III

Pastor Washington, the Chief Professional Officer for South-Southwest Suburban United Way, serves Living Hope as its Executive Pastor. In this role, he assists Pastor Hamstra and the Living Hope Board of Directors in the area of budgeting, marketing, strategic planning, and the like.

Pastor Washington comes well prepared for this task. He received formative training from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL; he served as an Elder with the Pullman Presbyterian Church in Chicago; he was once the Executive Pastor a large congregation in Chicago; he has worked in the non-profit sector with both the Bible League and American Cancer Society; he founded “Never Forgotten Ministries,” a group which offers weekly worship services to residents of four south suburban nursing homes.

Pastor Washington loves to learn. His educational training includes:

• B.S Northwestern University
• Graduate with Kellogg Schoolof Management and McCormich Theological Seminary
• D. Min from Newburgh (IN) Theological Seminary in the area of evangelism and missions
• PhD Candidate (Biblical Counseling) – Newburgh Theological Seminary

He lives in Country Club Hills. His on, James IV, is a senior engineering student at the University of Dayton (OH), and his daughter, Amber, is a sophomore at Wheaton College (IL).