About

Jacob is a Jewish follower of Jesus laboring to the end of love, reconciliation, healing, and justice for all. He is a pastor, mentor, and aspiring theologian currently serving the women and men of First Free Church in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood. A few of his passions include dancing, music making, travel, philosophy, bicycling, poetry, and expanding horizons to uncharted vistas, no matter how taxing, mundane, or whimsical the process may seem.

Jacob grew up in an intentional community in Uptown, Chicago founded by Christian hippies in the 1970’s, where he received his elementary and secondary education. He achieved a B.A. in philosophy and applied mathematics with highest honors from Northeastern Illinois University, and he completed an M.Div. at Princeton Theological Seminary with a focus on systematic theology and Jewish-Christian relations. During free time not spent on this site, he is just as likely found jogging beside a large body of water, sharing spirited conversations with others, engrossed in the Bible and thought-provoking literature, concertizing assorted public houses, and traipsing across urban and rural wilderness.