The Rev. Father Alan L. Heatherington

Father Alan Heatherington attended Moody Bible Institute (1963-64) in Chicago, received a pre-seminary BA degree from Houghton College (1964-67) in New York, studied at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (1967-70) in Illinois, taught Biblical Studies and Theology at Moody Bible Institute (1969-79) and completed the Anglican Studies program at Nashotah House Theological Seminary (2013-2014) in Wisconsin. 

He has a M. Mus. from Northwestern University (1974) in violin performance and served as Music Minister at the Northwest Baptist Church in Chicago (1973-1979), Director of Music Ministries at the First Presbyterian Church of Lake Forest (1995-2003), and Director of the Anshe Emet Synagogue professional choir (1992-2000) that can be heard on a collection of compact discs of High Holy Days music with Hazzan Alberto Mizrahi. He taught at the State University of New York at Buffalo (1981-86) and at North Park University (1987-1992). 

His career in music continues as Music Director of the Chicago Master Singers (1989 to present), having previously been the Music Director of the Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra (1995 to 2015) and the Lake Forest Symphony (2000 to 2013). He is grateful for the many ways that God has directed his path to past, present and future ministries. His wife Gayle, an accomplished graphic designer and administrator, actively shares his work and vision.

- St. Irenaeus
​It is not thou that shapest God
it is God that shapest thee.
If thou art the work of God
await the hand of the artist
who does all things in due season.
Offer Him thy heart,
soft and tractable,
and keep the form
in which the artist has fashioned thee.
Let thy clay be moist,
lest thou grow hard
and lose the imprint of his fingers.

St. Ignatius of Loyola
Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,
my memory, my understanding,
and my entire will,
All I have and call my own.
You have given all to me.
To You, Lord, I return it.
Everything is Yours; do with it what You will.
Give me only Your love and Your grace,
that is enough for me.  ​

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