About

Short-Form, Impersonal Version

Tim Schraeder is the Director of Communications at Park Community Church, a Gospel-centered innovate church that reaches nearly 2,000 young adults and families in downtown Chicago. He blogs his thoughts on church communications at TimSchraeder.com and is an incessant Twitterer.

Long-Form, Personal Version

I decided to write this in first person rather than third person. Let’s be honest, everyone writes their own bios (unless they are like uber-famous).

So, where to start?

Well, I currently serve as the Director of Communications at Park Community Church, a Gospel-centered innovative church in the heart of downtown Chicago.

Taking the non-traditional route, I launched into ministry right out of high school, turning down an opportunity to attend the Hillsong International Leadership College in Syndey, Australia (I’m OK with the path I chose, sometimes.)

The good people at Riverside Community Church in Peoria, Illinois, gave me the opp to serve there and for the first five years in my career as a church communications guy I fumbled around, letting experience be my educator, and become a pro at learning from my mistakes.

While I was at Riverside I did marketing and graphic design and also helped to produce concerts, events, and seminars for some pretty cool people including: Chris Tomlin, David Crowder Band, Delirious, Matt Redman, Brennan Manning, Leonard Sweet, John Bevere, Reuben Morgan, Michael W. Smith, Louie Giglio, and VeggieTales… just to name a few.

I worked at Starbucks part-time for 2 years (while on staff at Riverside), and loved it and the opportunity it gave me to connect with people outside of church. I also had free coffee for 2 years (maybe part of the demise of Starbucks).

Even though I grew up in a small town, I had huge heart for big cities, and a trip to New York City in 2006 confirmed the fact that I belonged in one.

One fateful weekend in January of 2007 I made a trip to Chicago to visit friends and came across Park Community Church. I happened to be there a weekend they were talking about their vision and my heart resonated with the direction they were heading.

As soon as I got home I threw together a resume and portfolio and blindly emailed it, hoping just maybe they’d have a communications position open.

Long story short [too late!], in April of 2007, I made a big move from Peoria to Chicago to go on staff at Park.

Park is right in the heart of downtown Chicago. It’s a pretty incredible place. Over 60% of the people who attend Park are single and the average age is 29… so we’re a bunch of young people who love Jesus and love the city of Chicago.

Since being on staff at Park I’ve managed to create a ruckus, changing our logo, killing our weekly program, and making us more web 2.0 by updating our web presence as well as utilizing social media including texting, Twitter, and Facebook.

In December of 2008, I was one of a handful of people selected by Seth Godin to be a part of his Alternative MBA program. It was a surreal experience to say the least (you can read about it here and here). Although I wasn’t selected to be a part of SAMBA, the experience of applying, meeting Seth and the other candidates was absolutely incredible.

At the end of the day, I’m passionate about the local Church and believe in the potential it has to create good and make a difference in our communities and cities. And, I’m passionate to see the Church communicate in a language and voice the translates the Gospel to a generation that is longing for authenticity and truth… be it via Twitter, Facebook, or other forms of social media.

When I’m not directing things that communicate at Park, you’ll find me wandering the city, hanging out with friends, or just huddled up in coffeeshop writing (working on my first book)… I absolutely love the energy and life in the city!

That is why I love what I do… and that is just a little bit about me.

To contact me, you can reach me at timschraeder (at) gmail (dot) com.