An historically significant moment has arrived – the partnership between the parishes of Carroll County is now officially underway. In his letter to the people of the community of Philippi, St. Paul wrote, “I give thanks to God at every remembrance of you, praying always with joy in my every prayer for all of you, because of your
partnership for the Gospel from the first day until now…” Like St. Paul, we – Fr. Brian Feller, Fr. John Gerald, Fr. Shinoj Jose, Fr. Mark Stoll, and myself, along with the assistance of Fr. Tim Schott – commit ourselves to remembering all of you in our daily prayers.
My hope is to begin to utilize this column as a means of communicating with everyone in the thirteen parishes that are part of the Ministry 2025 process in Carroll County I will be making a concerted effort to be timely, consistent, clear and transparent with all information.
But in these first weeks, I want to use this column as a means to introduce the team, allowing each of the members to write a short biography to introduce themselves. Let me begin with my own background.
I was born and raised in Sheldon, Iowa, the 9
th out of 11 children to parents Elmer and Marian Richter. My dad was a hardware store owner before dying from a sudden heart attack (age 51) when I was twelve years old. Although there were still seven of us at home at the time, my mother’s faith and strength continued to hold our family together through the years that followed. My mother currently resides in the nursing home in Ruthven, Iowa, and just celebrated her 95
th birthday this week!
I attended St. Patrick grade school in Sheldon, Spalding High School in Granville, and St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. For seminary formation, I went to The American College in Louvain, Belgium. I was ordained to the priesthood on July 16, 1988. My first assignment was right here in Carroll where I was full-time at Kuemper High school with residence at St. Lawrence Church. After that, I spent two years at St. Anthony Parish in Hospers and Spalding High School in Granville, two years at St. Mary’s in Remsen, two years at St. Mary’s in Hawarden, and six years at St. Boniface in Sioux City. For ten years, I was Pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Le Mars before becoming Pastor of newly formed All Saints Parish in Le Mars (with church sites at St. Joseph and St. James) for the past three years.
In and through these assignments, priesthood has been a “wonderful ride” and I am looking forward to my time here in Carroll County. Am I nervous about the task ahead of us? Yes. But I remain hopeful that we can truly move forward through the strategic planning process with a vision of being “partners for the Gospel.” If we can keep that as our central focus, the grace of God will lead us.