Staff Report

ROCKFORD – John Ortberg, a two-time Big Nine boys tennis runner-up, is the senior pastor of Menlo Church in California and author of several Christian books.

At East, Ortberg finished second in conference tennis in both 1974 and 1975. In 1974, he lost to West’s Mark Saunders in the final and in 1975 he came in second to West’s Mark Benson.

After East, he got a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Wheaton College and master’s degree in divinity and a doctorate degree in clinical psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.

Ortberg was a teaching pastor at Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington from 1994 to 2003. In 2003, Ortberg moved back to California to be senior pastor at Menlo Church, which has about 4,000 members.

Ortberg, though, is better known through his books. He’s written several, including “The Life You’ve Always Wanted” and “Who Is This Man?”, which have sold more than 500,000 copies.