We welcome Todd Gale as the part-time Director of Faith Formation. He will continue to be part of the Queens staff as well. Please help us in welcoming him on board!   ~ Pastoral Staff

todd_fb_squareHello St. John Parish!

Fr. Chas has invited me to be a part of the dynamic staff at St. John; in some ways it is a return! When I first stumbled into parish ministry 17 years ago, we had a regional Youth Ministry program in Jackson that I was hired to coordinate. That Youth Ministry relationship continued for about 7 years between Queen of the Miraculous Medal Parish and St. John Parishes. I’m excited to be back.
 
My wife of almost 24 years, Amy, and I have three unique and wonderful kids; I am a convert to Catholicism but Amy has been a life-long baptized believer. In the years before parish ministry, I operated a drug abuse prevention non-profit corporation and traveled around the country to schools with a ventriloquist and magic show focused on “just say no to drugs” themes. During those years I learned many skills that are put to good use in parish ministry: public speaking, teaching, curriculum development, bookkeeping, video production, publication layout and design.  
 
Whenever I do presentations today I introduce myself as a born-again, Bible-believing, Spirit-filled, Sacrament-receiving Roman Catholic! My Protestant friends don’t know what to make of that. Please pray for me as I pray for an out-pouring of the Holy Spirit upon the good people of St. John Parish.