Somethin’ in the water

Ambria Hammel/CATHOLIC SUN

Fr. Chuck Kieffer walks with former parishioner — now priest — Fr. John Muir before the June 5 ordination at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral.

Strong relationships, joyful priests keep vocations wave at St. Theresa flowing

There must be something in the water at St. Theresa Parish.

At least that’s what friends of the parish’s newly ordained priests joked when tallying up recent vocations borne from the Phoenix community.

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted ordained John Parks and Matthew Henry June 5 at Ss. Simon and Jude Cathedral, marking the fourth consecutive year a St. Theresa parishioner entered the priesthood.

Since the parish was established in 1955, 17 St. Theresa parishioners have been ordained priests — including five for religious orders. One parishioner entered religious life — through the Society of Our Lady of the Trinity — and three were ordained to the diaconate.

Another deacon candidate and three seminarians are at various stages of formation.

Two priests who served the parish have been raised to the Order of Bishop.

But of course, the secret lies far deeper than the water supply, said Fr. Chuck Kieffer, pastor of St. Theresa since 1991. He attributes this success to more than a handful of factors.

A diverse group of priests over the years, alongside hospitable parishioners, has made it easy for community members to get to know one another, Fr. Kieffer said.

“That type of hospitality and trusting relationship has contributed to parishioners coming to know their priests — as well as deacons and religious — as human beings who are approachable and who can be comfortable with parishioners at their dinner table, on a basketball court or in the celebration of the sacraments,” Fr. Kieffer said.

The constant and steady presence of joyful priests, regular time for parishioners to be in prayer and adoration for those discerning God’s call, seminarian involvement in parish life, stability of a pastor — there have been four in 55 years — and creating relevant, meaningful liturgies also helped foster the culture of vocations, Fr. Kieffer said.

That includes vocations to the married life, said Eric Westby, diocesan director of Parish Leadership, Credentialing and Certification. Aside from six recent priestly vocations, the former St. Theresa youth minister knows of at least seven married couples who met as a result of their involvement with the youth group.

“We weren’t the largest youth group at the time, yet all these factors came together and made it cohesive,” Westby said. “It wasn’t so much that we did anything super-special.”

Westby, and the parish at large, simply created a community. Some would also note the parish-based Scouting troop, which always made the sacraments and faith formation a priority.

As teenagers, the parish’s youth gathered on Sundays for evangelical-style meetings that engaged them with fun, food, friends and a little bit of faith. Westby met teens during weekly visits to area high schools and they also joined in.

The teens had the option of meeting again mid-week to take a deeper, more catechetical look at the same topic.

“The teachings of the Church led us to a deeper relationship with Christ,” said Fr. Matt Lowry, associate vocations director for the diocese, who grew up at St. Theresa and later led the youth group. “We realized that if the faith was worth dying for, then it was probably worth living for also.”

Three retreats a year, including  one in the summer, allowed teens to go deeper yet.

In fact, every priest scheduled to be a high school chaplain next year went on that summer youth retreat together in 2000, according to Fr. Will Schmid, who will return to his home parish as parochial vicar July 1.

“There was a rhythm to the program,” said Westby, who led the teens from 1995-2001. “It’s creating a miniature Catholic culture that a teenager can participate in and understand.”

That gives them the eagerness to rely on one another for support in living the faith and continue to encounter Christ as they join the larger parish into adulthood, Westby said.

The fruit of that is a strong, family-style relationship among priests and parishioners both thirsting for God and His will. So a little water probably wouldn’t hurt.