'God Called,' Rev. Chris Kile Answered

The First Presbyterian Church of Cranford is highly active in its community. Whether through their 10 a.m. Sunday worship services, Helen K. Baldwin Nursery program, or the Cranford-Elmora soup kitchen volunteers the congregation makes its presence known in the Cranford community and keeps busy doing so. They now have a new pastor: The Rev. John Christian “Chris” Kile, a native of Kingsville, Texas.

Chris’ father’s job with a major chemical company required that the family move from time to time, from Texas to Connecticut to Missouri, finally settling down in Chadds Ford, Pa.

“It wasn’t bad for me,” Chris explains. “You always had to get used to new friends.” However, Chris had an older brother, which helped him from feeling lonely in the new towns.

The stability of the church was also helpful, Chris said. “Church was non-negotiable. We did that every week.”

When Chris was 9-years old, he knew deep-down that he would be a pastor someday.

“I really didn’t have a choice in the matter. God called,” he said. However, like any kid, he figured he would “make millions of dollars as a rock star or something” before entering a life of ministry.

Chris attended Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y. and graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology in 1990. While there, he hit a hard patch in his faith. He was without a church community. Finding a church by himself, without his family, he said, was a daunting task. Christianity experienced a charismatic movement beginning in the 1960s, he explained, and Chris, who had grown up as a “dyed-in-the-wool mainline Presbyterian” was now being confronted for the first time by more evangelical Christians, some of whom claimed to follow the one right and true path or to even be better than others. He had been taught that to be Christian was to be humble, loving and accepting.

“It was (also) a social liability to be religious,” he said. With Colgate having a work hard/play hard mentality, it didn’t seem “cool” to be religious and Chris fell out with his old faith practices.

His first year after college, living on his own in Northern Virginia, Chris found that he missed having a sense of community surrounding him. He took a chance and went on to attend a church in order to participate in its a cappella choir. Little by little, he came to realize how important his Christian faith was to him, though he still resisted the call of being a pastor.

He received a job in sales and marketing, and though moderately successful, never felt fulfilled. One day, God’s call really hit him. “I realized, ‘This [the corporate world] isn’t what I really wanted to do.’ I knew if I was going to do ministry, I had to go and take that leap.’” Chris attended Princeton Theological Seminary and completed his Masters of Divinity in May 2001.

“I haven’t regretted it,” he comments. Chris does note that the life is demanding and hard on families. But “there are some wonderful aspects too.” Attending sacred ceremonies and being part of life-altering events like marriage, birth and even death, he says, is an honor.

After working at churches in Hopewell, N.J. and Ivyland, Pa., Chris decided that he had to move in order to be closer to his 7-year-old son, who lives in Brooklyn. “I always try to remind him that Jesus loves him… that was the first thing that I told him when he was born.”

He found Cranford. “The people are very warm, very friendly, vibrant,” he explains. He started to minister regularly shortly before Hurricane Irene.

“I was… impressed by the outpouring of love from Cranford and the church,” he said. “They (the church) want to be active Christians… they want to live out their faith.”

As of right now, Chris says that his plan for ministry for the next year or two will be listening: Listening for not only to what the congregation wants and needs, but more importantly, what God wants for the congregation, and then he will proceed to try and help. “They’ve been doing just fine here without me for
over 100 years. I will be learning from them.”

In the meantime, he comments how his sermons will be about real-world issues rather than “esoteric” concepts. He wishes to use these sermons to help in everyday lives. With his wedding coming up on Oct. 8, moving into his home and learning more about this ministry, Chris says that he feels very excited by
the newest chapter of his life.