Ministry Team

Many committed lay members and volunteers work to enrich the life of United Church where everyone is a minister! In our ministry we are supported by the following staff members:

, Pastor

Catiana McKay joined the ministry team of United Church July 1, 2007, after serving as pastor of Good Samaritan UMC in Addison since 1999. She serves as the chair of the Northern Illinois Conference Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns; is involved in our United Methodist, Chicago area dialogues and participates in ecumenical and interfaith local, national and international gatherings, including Parliament for the World’s Religions, the World Conference of Churches, the World Methodist Conference, National Workshops on Christian Unity, Chicago Ecumenical Millennium Committee, Ecumenical Colleagues, Regional and Local Task Force for Churches United In Christ, Methodist Federation for Social Action, Reconciling Ministries, Methodists United for Peace with Justice, the Niagara Foundation, Turkish Muslim Chicago Network, American Friends Service Committee, the Chicago Faith Coalition on Middle East Policy, and the Peace Coalition.

Catiana was Chaplaincy Associate at Millar Chapel (1998-99), the non-denominational chapel of Northwestern University. Her pastoral care ministries were strengthened through training and actively serving at First United Methodist in Downers Grove as a Stephen Minister; Clinical Pastoral Education with Alexian Brothers Hospital; and participation in various addiction care programs.

Pastor Catiana is from Norman, Oklahoma, and graduated from the University of Oklahoma. Her family includes son Ross, his wife, Sima, and their daughter, Shaina. Daughter Alexandria is a student at the University of Missouri in St. Louis. Catiana held an assistantship in voice performance during her graduate studies and attended the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. She has performed many leading musical, operatic, and oratorio roles. She has a passion for travel and learning from the world and God’s beautiful and diverse creation.

, Director of Music 

Mark Bowman has been minister of music at United Church since February 2001. He has a master's of divinity degree from Boston University School of Theology. He was organist and/or choir director at several congregations in Cleveland and in Washington, D.C. and then spent a number of years as an organizer or manager in Christian social justice agencies. He has returned to his early vocation of church music and is deeply committed to spirited congregational singing and to singing songs that inform and deepen the faith life of a multicultural and justice-seeking community. Mark has developed skills in introducing and leading church music from around the world in workshops and training seminars with internationally recognized worship scholars and leaders Dr. C. Michael Hawn, Dr. John L. Bell, Marcia McFee, Jorge Lockward, and others.

, Children, Youth & Families Coordinator

A first-year student at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in the master’s of divinity program, Eva has a bachelor’s degree in religious studies from California State University/Long Beach and served for three years as United Methodist campus minister at University of California/Irvine. She is a member of the United Methodist Commission on the Status and Role of Women and is a seasoned children-and-youth worker with experience as a camp counselor, Sunday School teacher, youth leader and coordinator, vacation Bible school leader, and liaison for children’s ministries to the Conference on Sexual Ethics.