Introducing our new Parochial Vicar
(i.e. assistant priest)
Beginning July 1, 2020
Dear Parishioners of Immaculate Conception and St. Nicholas,
I am very glad to get a chance to introduce myself to you. My name is Fr. John Powers, and Archbishop Hebda has assigned me to be your new parochial vicar starting July 1st. I grew up in Northeast Minneapolis where my parents still reside and have one older sister. My parents, Marge and Mike, are retired, though my dad is a permeant deacon assigned to Presentation in Maplewood, so I still question how retired he actually is. They spend a great deal of time with my older sister, Caitlin, in Nashville, Tennessee where she works at the VA as an assistant director of Social Work. She and her husband, Will, have one child so far, my niece Beatrice, who is just over a year old—which might have something do with my parents spending as much time in Nashville as they do. I attended the St. Paul Seminary and was ordained in 2015. Before entering seminary, I went to St. John’s University in Collegeville and studied history.
My first assignment was at Nativity of our Lord for three wonderful years and I am moving from spending two years at St. Michael’s and St. Mary’s in Stillwater where I got to be heavily involved in a major restoration project at St. Michael’s that I am extremely proud of. Besides my ongoing love of history, I am a perennial dark horse in my fantasy football league, I love going to Twins games—if they ever start up again, and am pretty decent at cribbage and euchre. My appointment letter from Archbishop Hebda tells me that “I am to assist Fr VanDenBroeke… make an active contribution to the life of the parishes, and provide a credible witness to the joy of the Gospel” and I hope I can do that while getting to know you over these next couple years.
Fr. John Powers
