Our Ministry Team
Rev. Joseph Dorociak D.Min., Senior Pastor
Pastor Joe, as he prefers to be called, brings a wealth of experience and many gifts to the ministry of the Presbyterian Church of Barrington including incredible preaching skills, an engaging personality and a hands-on approach to working with people of all ages.
“I am very excited, humbled, honored, and blessed to be called to be the Pastor and Head of Staff of the Presbyterian Church of Barrington and look forward to serving here for a long time,” said Rev. Dorociak.
Rev. Jae Cho M.Div., Associate Pastor
Rev. Jae Cho moved to the United States from Seoul, Korea, when he was 3 years old. He grew up in a Christian family and felt called to ministry in his college years.
Jae spent his early years living in Los Angeles and his teen and college years in Seattle. Jae graduated from University of Washington where he attained a B.A. in Communications with a minor in Entrepreneurship. And after working for a few years sensing God’s call, he enrolled in Regent College at Vancouver, British Columbia graduating with a Master of Divinity.
Jae has served youth, college, young adults, and adult ministry for over 12 years. He also participated in mission trips all over the world: Tijuana, Mexico, Hong Kong, Beijing, China, Tibet, and South Korea.
Jae enjoys spending time with family. He is happily married to Esther who is a Chicago native. They have a fun loving son Luke who just recently turned one. Jae loves to talk to people about his faith journey and has an eye for beauty in all of God’s creation including art, design, and culture. When he has free time, he loves watching and playing all kinds of sports from basketball, ping pong, tennis, and golf. He also loves watching YouTube videos and connecting with people on social media.
Kirsten Hedegaard Director of Music
Kirsten Hedegaard has enjoyed a duel career as a singer and conductor. She has performed numerous Bach cantatas and baroque chamber music and has been a soloist with many early music specialists including Nicholas McGegan, Paul Hillier, Ivars Taurins, Kenneth Slowik, and John Butt. Ms. Hedegaard has sung with, Philharmonia Baroque (founding member), Mercury Baroque, Ensemble viii, Baroque Band, the Newberry Consort, Ars Antiqua, the Rook Ensemble, the Callipygian Players, the Opera Company, Bella Voce, and Tafelmusik BSI among other ensembles. Ms. Hedegaard has performed a variety of new works, including an international tour of Louis Andriessens’s The Odyssey with the Beppie Blankert Dance Company and performances with the Grammy-award winning new music ensemble, eighth blackbird.
Currently Director of Choral Activities at Loyola University, Ms. Hedegaard has taught conducting at Concordia University, River Forest and has conducted choirs and orchestras for various institutions including Eastman House, Chicago Children’s Choir, Gallery 37, Loyola Academy, and the University of California. She was guest conductor with Chicago Choral Artists for the 2009-10 season and is the former conductor for the Bella Voce Outreach program. In 2000, she co-founded The Musical Offering, a nonprofit music school in Evanston where she held the position of Executive Director until 2005. She also holds the position of Director of Music at the Presbyterian Church of Barrington.
Ms. Hedegaard holds a BM from Northwestern University and her MA in conducting from the University of CA, where she was assistant to Paul Hillier. In 2008 she was invited to be a conducting Fellow at the Yale Norfolk Festival, studying with Simon Carrington.
Dana Litwin Dir. of Children’s Ministry
Dana Litwin is passionate about working with children and uses her love of crafts and games to teach the children at PCB about the Bible. Her goal is to help provide the children with an excitement for church and plant a seed for a lifelong relationship with God.
Dana returned as the Director of Children’s Ministry at PCB in 2020. She previously held this position from 2013 to 2018.
Richard Leasure Organist
Richard Leasure earned his B.M. and M.M. in church music with an organ major from Westminster College , PA, and Northwestern University. He was organist at PCB from 2007 to 2014, and returned to that position in September of 2016.
Prior to PCB, he held organist and organist/director positions in Mt. Prospect, Woodstock, and Palatine, and has been a guest organist for over 30 churches in the Chicagoland area. Richard is a member of both the Fox Valley and North Shore chapters of the American Guild of Organists.