Our Senior Pastor, The Rev. Chet Okopski, came to Grace Church in March of 1999. He had been serving in the Madison, Wisconsin area (Lodi First) for 21 years before coming to Grace Church. Before serving the Lord in Wisconsin, he served in rural southern Indiana for seven years. He has a strong track record in evangelism, preaching and innovative ministries. When Rev. Chet is in the pulpit you will always hear a text from the Holy Bible carefully read and taught.
Rev. Chet was graduated from Union College, Kentucky, in 1971. His major was philosophy with a minor in music. He went to Louisville Presbyterian Seminary from 71-74. During his seminary studies, Rev. Chet worked as a Psychiatric Aide at Central State Hospital and counseled at a maximum security prison for some of his field education. The second two years of field work were spent working in “A Christian Ministries in the National Parks” in conjunction with being the student pastor of a small rural church in Indiana near Lincoln Boyhood Home National Monument, where he worked as a Seasonal Interpretive Ranger for the National Park Service. He has done many units of continuing education in various fields, such as “Shoot-No-Shoot School” for examination of police shootings while president of a police commission, and various medical continuing education classes related to board work, while serving on the Board of Trustees of Oak Hill Hospital. He has also led Presbytery retreats, teaching materials from Lyle Schaller’s research on church growth and change. Rev. Chet is a past Moderator of the Presbytery of John Knox, where he served before coming to Florida. 
The woman in the photo is Ginny Okopski. Chet and Ginny were married in January of 1970, and have two daughters. Ginny graduated from Union College in 1971 with an area in English, with awards in Literature. Amanda, their oldest daughter, graduated Valedictorian of her class at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin with majors in Literature and Art. And Morgan, their younger daughter was graduated cum laud from Dubuque University in Dubuque, Iowa, with a major in Communication. |
