The Reverend Dr. Ricky Freeman is a native of Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Oliver S. Westcott Elementary School and Chicago Vocational High School, where he majored in music theory and piano. To date, Dr. Freeman has earned the following degrees: Bachelor of Arts - Religion and Business Administration, Bishop College, Dallas, Texas (1980); Clinical Pastoral Education Certificate - Swedish Covenant Hospital, Chicago, Illinois (1983); Master of Divinity - Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois (1984); Doctor of Ministry - Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Lombard, Illinois (June 2002).

Dr. Freeman received his "call" to the ministry in 1975, when he was sixteen years old.  He was licensed at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church. At age twenty-two, he was ordained to preach the Gospel by the late Dr. Luke Mingo of the Morning Star Baptist Church in Chicago, Illinois. Following his ordination, Dr. Freeman was appointed Assistant Pastor. In 1984, Dr. Freeman was elected as Pastor of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church of Joliet, Illinois, where he served for eleven and a half years. In October 1995, he was elected Pastor of Saint John Church-Baptist in Chicago.  He is an Affiliate Professor of Ministry at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, Lombard, Illinois.

Dr. Freeman has served in the following church-related organizations:

• Ordination Commission - American Baptist Churches of Metro Chicago

• Finance Committee - American Baptist Churches of Metro Chicago

• Board member - Central Baptist Family Services

• Treasurer - Baptist General State Convention of Illinois, Inc.

In 1981, he married Zenodie Carmen Gilot, a native of Jacmel, Haiti. They are the proud parents of four children: Regine Carmen, Brendan Alexander; and a set of twins, Christopher David and Chantal Gabrielle.