"Wonderful!"
That is how Father Stephen Thompson describes his first year as a parish pastor — make that pastor of two parishes, Holy Family, Mt. Sterling, in Brown County; and St. Thomas, Camp Point, in Adams County.
Ordained May 29, 2010, Father Thompson was parochial vicar at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Springfield, for two years. In July 2012 Bishop Thomas John Paprocki assigned him to be pastor of Holy Family and of St. Thomas.
"It has been wonderful," says Father Thompson, a former U.S. Marine, who fought in Desert Storm, then returned home after his military service to enroll in business classes at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville.
"I was active in my parish, Holy Angels in Wood River, and in the Knights of Columbus, and enrolled in the diocesan lay ministry program," says Father Thompson. "When the formation program for deacons was established, I asked Father John Titus, then the diocese's vocations director, about switching to that. He suggested I consider instead the priesthood."
He did, and was accepted, earning his philosophy degree at Conception Seminary College, Conception, Mo., and his theology degree at Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein.
"When I came here to Mt. Sterling the local newspaper did a story on me. From that I've met a lot of Marines and other veterans in the area, including some from World War II. They say smaller towns produce the most Marines."
Father Thompson says he has observed "how close families are here, how big their family history is for them. It is why the community is so close."
When it comes to appreciation of history, Father Thompson says his "having never attended a Catholic grade or high school is one of the challenges," at Mt. Sterling. The parish grade school, St. Mary School, has an enrollment of 80 students and will celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2014.
Father Thomas Henseler, parochial administrator of the parish who retired last year, "set up a trust fund for the school," says Father Thompson.
Father Thompson said he looked forward to participating in one of the time-honored traditions at the school. In mid-May he joined the parish school's five graduates and their parents to make the 35-mile drive to Macomb to catch a train to Chicago for the graduates' class trip.