Dr. John W.Connett is the senior pastor of East Side. John has a rich pastoral heritage. Like his father and his father before him, John became a pastor in the United Methodist Church. While he was yet in high school, ( at 16 years of age ) he led two small local congregations in southern Illinois.
After pastoring several more churches in the years to follow, central Illinois became his home. United Methodist churches in Illinois City, Pine Bluff, Tolono, Pesotum and Weldon have all been influenced by PJ ( Preacher John ). In 1980, John was granted his elders orders as recognized by the Illinois District Church of the Nazarene. He and his family served as commissioned evangelists until 1988, when John was called to pastor the Ogden Church of the Nazarene. John and his wife Lou have guided our church since 1995.

Zandra Anderson is the Associate Pastor of Family Life. Before coming to East Side, she served for twelve years with Global Partners of the Wesleyan church as missionary to Zambia and Russia.  She also served for two years as Asst. Pastor of Missions at Westview Community Church in Manhattan, KS.  Her experience also includes serving in district leadership with the Wesleyan Church of Kansas in missions and women's ministry.
Zandra holds a MS in Adult and Continuing Education.  It is her desire to use her training in education to help families in our community. Her husband, Andy, and she are blessed to have eight children and five grandchildren with their combined families.  Through ministry at East Side, they hope their own life experiences will help other families come to see Jesus Christ as the healer of broken lives and mender of dysfunctional families.

Nazarene Missions International (NMI) President
    HELEN TOWNLEY
Nazarene Youth International (NYI) President
    MARGO CHRISTIAN
Sunday School Superintendent
    JANI LINDSEY

Members-at-large of the Church Board
    ALBERT ANDERSON, KEN CHRISTIAN, LORAN FINNEY, JOHN HANCOCK, SANDY POWELL, DAN RIEGLE, EMILIE VANDEVEER, MARY ALICE WALKER

The East Side Church of the Nazarene was organized in April of 1957, at 1301 Moultrie Avenue, Mattoon, Illinois with 28 charter members. The church was a small, unattractive building with brick siding. It had a small sanctuary and two small classrooms.

Over the next twenty five years, a new sanctuary was added, the old building completely refurbished, an educational unit built, and a new parsonage erected on the property. The congregation, during this time, outgrew this facility and thus the need for a new and larger location. In the fall of 1980, we moved to our present location. A new spacious church building on South Ninth Street.

Fast forward to the present. As we rapidly approach our 50th anniversary, we continually strive to meet the challenges presented to us as a 21st century house of worship. Many things have changed over the years, but as we try to stay contemporary with all around us, we will never waver in spreading the message of God's love through Christ Jesus.

Our Statement Of Purpose is; " Believing we are called to be God's people, we recognize our responsibility and privilege to love God, to love our fellow human beings, to serve both God and humanity as an expression of that love, and to teach His Word diligently, all with the aim and hope of winnng the lost."