Pastor John Napoli
Rev. Napoli comes to Washington Presbyterian Church from Bloomington, Indiana where he served as pastor of United Presbyterian Church since 2016. His first pastorate began in 2005 at First Presbyterian Church in DeFuniak Springs. FL. He also served as pastor of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Macon, Ga from 2008-2016. He received a master of divinity degree from Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia in 2005 and was ordained that year. He attended Trinity college earning a B.A. in Biblical Studies in 1996 and the University of South Florida earning a B.A. in history in 1998.
Pastor John is an only child and grew up in Brooklyn and Staten Island. At the age of 14 John and his parents moved to Palm Harbor, Florida where he completed high school. John and Sarah, his wife of 15 years, their son, Johnny, their two dogs, Xanthippe and LeeLoo and their canary, Tweeter moved to the area in 2022. John began his call at Washington Presbyterian church in July of 2022. Sarah is a third-grade teacher and Johnny is in the second grade. Pastor John enjoys watching movies, reading, watching television and playing video games.
Lisa Liening, Administrative Assistant
Ann Tharp, Choir Director
Our own Ann Tharp began her musical career taking piano lessons every Saturday at the tender age of 7 near her home town of Ackley, Iowa, in Steamboat Rock, Iowa until the age of 12. After that, with her musical interests aroused, she continued practicing but was self-taught, playing at her local church and while working at a neighborhood bank starting at the age of 18. She married Russell Tharp in 1952, and honeymooned in San Francisco, California… as Russell was preparing to be shipped out to Korea with the U.S. Army. They moved to Washington, Illinois in 1956 where she became the Organist at WPC until Russell’s job moved them to Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1967. She returned to Washington in 1969 once again as the Organist, a Choir Member, and eventually became the Pianist and Director of the Choir as well as the Director of WPC’s Bell Choir. Ann enjoys spending time with her daughter Jean, son Bob, her grandchildren, and her friends. She also enjoys cooking, gardening, antiquing, decorating, upholstering, tole painting, and of course, researching new musical pieces for the WPC Choirs to entertain our congregation.
Carol Dorward, Organist
Serving as organist since November 2008 is Carol Dorward. The native of McClean County, IL came to Washington in the fall of 1970 to teach at Washington Community High School where she was employed as a teacher of Home Economics, now referred to as Family and Consumer Sciences. She retired from that institution in 2003. Presently, she teaches one class at Bradley University. Organ music has been a major part of her life, commencing at about 14 years of age when the wife of a local band teacher, Elizabeth Baptista, introduced her to a pipe organ. In the intervening years, Roberta Chambers (Lincoln Christian College) and Rachel Mahue (Peoria) have assisted in honing her skills. Her added interests do include gardening (she was raised on a farm), costume work (having costumed 16 productions for Washington Community High School and, occasionally, assisting with Corn Stock, Peoria Players, and East Side theaters). She also pieces together quilt tops of which many have been donated for mission work. She has authored several articles, published by the Tazewell County Genealogical and Historical Society, relative to the history of Washington. Her late husband was Donald L. Doward.