Our Pastor
Bio
Redeemer Church is led by Jonathan Tripple. Jonathan and his wife Amy live in Downers Grove and have three young children. Amy is a professional child and family photographer, and the two of them share the opportunity to be home with their kids. Previously, Jonathan worked as a worship leader for two years and as a youth pastor for five years, a role in which he sought to encourage and teach teenagers to love God, love each other, and transform the world that is into the world that ought to be.
Influences
Like many people, Jonathan has had the opportunity to be mentored and shaped by a number of others. Much of the vision for Redeemer was shaped by the book Simple Church by Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger, as well as by the ideas of a pastor in New York City named Tim Keller. Philosophically and theologically, he draws heavily upon St. Augustine, C. S. Lewis, and N. T. Wright. Most significantly, however, are the relationships with friends who have found Jesus and/or the church too confusing, too self-absorbed, too shallow, or too irrelevant. Jonathan sees Jesus as the ultimate Redeemer for all of life’s brokenness, and is eager to facilitate the conversation many want to have about faith, religion, and spirituality. His hope is to describe and engage with Jesus in a way that makes sense and is relevant for life in 21st century America.
Interests
Jonathan loves movies, books, home improvement projects, running, Notre Dame football, and Dairy Queen. Favorite movies include A River Runs Through It, A Beautiful Mind, Children of Men, and recently, Crazy Heart. Some of his favorite books are Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis, The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein, and A Painted House by John Grisham. At Dairy Queen it is always a Reese’s peanut butter cup blizzard made with chocolate ice cream.
Education
Jonathan went to Taylor University in Indiana for undergrad, majoring in Biblical Literature and supplemented his coursework by wooing and wedding Amy. He then did his graduate studies at Trinity International University in the northern suburbs of Chicago, where he earned a Master of Divinity, which is a pastoral degree.
