Pastor · Oak Park, Illinois
Mithun J. Roy
Executive Pastor, First Baptist Church of Oak Park
Making room at the table for every guest.
“Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
1 John 3:18
About
A life shaped by many tables.
I'm Mithun J. Roy, Executive Pastor at First Baptist Church of Oak Park, Illinois, where I've served since 2019. My path to ministry ran from Kolkata, India, through Catholic youth work, a season with the Taizé community in France, and years in banking and nonprofit work. Along the way I've learned that ministry is shared work, and that a congregation grows deeper as it makes room for its neighbors.
- PhD candidate, Organizational Leadership · Concordia University Chicago (2027)
- MA, Organizational Leadership · Judson University
- BA, Communications & Theology · Moody Bible Institute
- Preparing for ordination · American Baptist Churches USA
Ministry
How I serve
Here is the work God has let me share in so far. I still have much to learn, and I'd be glad to learn it alongside a congregation.
Preaching & Worship
- Take part in weekly worship planning and preach when our senior pastor is away.
- Preached and led Sunday worship at First Baptist Church of Oak Park in October 2026.
- Facilitated our Easter morning service.
- Started a monthly First Friday fasting prayer gathering.
Pastoral Care
- Visit members who can no longer leave their homes.
- Walk alongside families as they plan weddings and funerals.
- Believe pastoral care is less about having the right words than about being present and listening well.
Faith Formation
- Teach adult Sunday school.
- Launched Through the Bible Through the Year, so our congregation reads Scripture together.
- Started Friday Movie Nights to open conversations about faith, justice and culture.
Shared Leadership & Stewardship
- Serve as an ex officio member of our church trust board, overseeing budget, endowment and facilities.
- Work with the churches, school, preschool and seminary that share our building.
- Moved our accounting to QuickBooks and kept giving flowing through five channels during the pandemic.
- Working with a grant writer to fund repairs for our 100-year-old building.
Community Partnership & Justice
- Built our partnership with Exodus World Service to welcome refugee families resettling in Chicagoland.
- Prepare monthly dinners with Housing Forward, and in June 2026 organized a community-wide diaper drive for the families it serves.
- Serve with the Greater Chicago Food Depository and walk the CROP Hunger Walk with Church World Service.
- Worked with Village of Oak Park officials to secure Sunday-morning parking beside our church for older members.
Journey
A Catholic youth leader, a Taizé volunteer, a bank analyst, and a Baptist pastor walk into one life.
It sounds like the start of a joke. Each of those chapters taught me to listen, and to look for common ground with people whose stories are different from mine.
Tap any photo to see it larger.
2001
A literacy program in Sonarpur
Started teaching married women in a West Bengal parish to read.
2003
Youth leader, two states and beyond
Led an international group at Asian Youth Day in Bangalore, then became diocesan and regional youth president of the Indian Catholic Youth Movement in West Bengal and Sikkim. That November, after a youth camp in Basanti, traveled home with the young people, crossing a river in the Sundarbans on foot at low tide.
2004
National Youth Convention, Bhopal
Served at the West Bengal booth at the Indian Catholic Youth Movement National Convention.
2006
Taizé, France
Three months as a long-term volunteer in the ecumenical community, praying and serving alongside young people from around the world.
2007
HSBC, Kolkata
Fraud analyst, then IT analyst restoring access for colleagues on four continents. Received the Service Excellence Award.
2009
Seoul, South Korea
Attended the World Bible Seminar and World Campus Tour.
2015
Moody Bible Institute, Chicago
Studied communications and theology, worked in donor resources, joined the Moody Media Lab, and tutored children of refugee and immigrant families after school.
2016
The Word Dwelt, a short film
Helped film this three-minute meditation on the incarnation and God's care for the poor, appeared on camera, and gave voiceover.
- Filming
- On camera
- Voiceover
2018
Poland
As a video production intern, trained 40 volunteer camera operators at the European Leadership Forum in Wisła. The following month, shared a table with a Catholic youth group in Kraków.
2019
First Baptist Church of Oak Park
Started as a pastoral intern. That first December, presented at our Senior Tea.
2021
In the pulpit
Became assistant pastor and preached for the congregation.
2022
Leading worship, serving beyond the church
Facilitated our Easter morning service. Received Judson University's AMES Leadership Award for giving back to the community, and gave the keynote at Judson's Honors Celebration.
2024
Making room for neighbors
With church volunteers and Exodus World Service, delivered household items and assembled furniture for newly arrived refugee families. At Christmas, partnered with Circle Urban Ministries to host a party for children from an under-resourced neighborhood, and walked in the CROP Hunger Walk.
2025
Partnership in every season
Became executive pastor. Studied congregational growth with faith leaders from many traditions at Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management, celebrated with Exodus World Service, packed food with the Greater Chicago Food Depository, honored mothers with India Telugu Baptist Church, and kept showing up for refugee families.
2026
Leading in prayer, serving in person
Preached and led Sunday worship in October. Gave the opening prayer at Exodus World Service's Celebration of Hope, delivered groceries to a refugee family, organized a community-wide diaper drive for Housing Forward, and in November hosted a refugee journey simulation open to everyone in Oak Park and River Forest.
2027
PhD in Organizational Leadership
Finishing at Concordia University Chicago.
A word from Mithun
“Again and again, God has placed me in rooms with people who were told they didn't belong. Refugee families. Children of immigrants. Women who never got to go to school. I would be honored to help a congregation make its table a little wider.”
— Mithun J. Roy
Contact
I'd be grateful to join you at the table.
- Phone
- 312-953-8242
- Based in
- River Forest, Illinois