Rev. Jeff McIlrath has been serving with The Reformed Church of the 1000 Isles since June of 2013. Pastor Jeff is a second generation pastor born in upstate NY (Waterville) at the time of his father's first pastorate. However, most of Jeff's childhood  was spent in the midwest where Jeff graduated from high school in NW Illinois. He then attended Wheaton College (B.A. English Literature 1996) in the Chicago area before attending seminary at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (TEDS) before graduating from University of Dubuque Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa  (Master of Divinity 2002). Pastor Jeff served before seminary as a full-time youth pastor in Aurora, IL and after seminary was the lead pastor for 11 years at Emmanuel Reformed Church in Morrison, IL  Heather is a High School English teacher who considers it a calling and a privilege to shape young minds. 

       The McIlrath family has great affection for the St. Lawrence River and can be found on their pontoon boat as soon as the ice melts and until the snow flies. Heather and Jeff have been married for 30 years and they are the parents of 4 adult children. Karissa is a local Kindergarten teacher married to Ridge Hagar and they have two sons. Ian is a local Jr.High English teacher  who is married to Delaney. Alethea is a teacher's aide in our local school district and Elijah is a sophomore at Clarkson University studying civil engineering. 

     Pastor Jeff  and Heather consider it a privilege to live in the north country and they love enjoying the river with family and friends including Island camping. They love watching Chicago Bears football with the whole family and the north country winters have developed a fondness for hockey and the Ottawa Senators. Most of all, Pastor Jeff considers it pure joy to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you spend any time around Pastor Jeff you will likely hear him say we are supposed to be "Reformed and ever reforming accord to the Word of God" and that "We should be beggars telling other  beggars where to find some bread."