February 08, 2025
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Daily Chronicle

Salem Lutheran Church installs new pastor

Preston C. Fields was ordained into the ministry July 14 at his home congregation, St. John’s Lutheran of Knoxville, Tennessee. He is the new pastor at Salem Lutheran Church in Sycamore. (Photo provided)

SYCAMORE – Preston Fields was installed by Bishop Jeffrey Clements of the Northern Illinois Synod as the new pastor of Salem Lutheran Church on Aug. 11.

Approximately 250 people, including ELCA Lutheran clergy and ecumenical representatives from churches in the DeKalb and Sycamore area, gathered to celebrate the installation.

A graduate of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Fields is originally from Knoxville, Tennessee. Before seminary, he was the director of Community Engagement at Maryville College, a Presbyterian Church covenanted college in East Tennessee. At Maryville, he assisted students, faculty and staff to live out the school’s mission to “do good on the largest possible scale” through volunteerism, community-based research and academic service learning. As a part of this work, he organized alongside nonprofits and local governments to promote positive social change for underserved communities in Appalachia.

“Working with people from all different socio-economic, political, religious and educational backgrounds on common goals has led me to a deep appreciation of diversity and the ways the Holy Spirit moves to bring unlikely friends together to build the Kingdom of God,” Fields said in a news release.

Fields is no stranger to the area, having already interned with First Lutheran Church in DeKalb. He joined the growing Salem Lutheran Church community in early June, immediately following his graduation from seminary. He and his husband, Wesley, a large animal veterinarian, live in DeKalb.

“These last two months have been an exciting time,” Fields said in the news release. “Even in the summer when church attendance naturally slows, we have had 10 or more new families express interest in joining the community.

“I have five baptisms scheduled within the next month, we had double the number of children at vacation Bible school than previous years, and we are planning for an exciting year of worship, Sunday school, adult faith formation, fine arts programs and social outreach,” he said in the release.

Salem Lutheran embraces people of all ages, abilities, races, ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations and gender identities. Salem Lutheran is a church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located at 1145 DeKalb Ave. in Sycamore.

For information, visit www.slcsycamore.org or call 815-895-9171.