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Last updated on Wednesday, February 17, 2016
(WASHINGTON) - A new priest is officially looking over the flock of more than 700 families at Our Lady of Hope Church.
The Washington Times Herald reports that Evansville Bishop Charles C. Thompson officially installed the Father Paul A. Ferguson as priest for the Washington Community on Saturday afternoon during Mass.
Father Ferguson is a Bloomfield native and worked 13 years as a respiratory and in 1996 heading off to seminary. He was ordained in 2002 and since then has worked with several parishes in the Evansville area, the last nine years at Holy Redeemer on the north side of the city.
"I always knew God was calling me for something when I was working as a respiratory therapist," Father Ferguson told Mike Grant, of the Washington Times Herald. "At that time I just didn't know what. In 1996, I went into the seminary. I tell people that once I gave in to what God was prompting me to do, a great peace came over me and I knew I was doing what God wanted me to do."
Father Ferguson was assigned to Washington by Bishop Thompson with the assistance of the personnel board. He called the assignment part of a shuffling of ministers prompted by the retirement of some priests at the end of the year. Father Ferguson was sent to Washington and the Father Gordon Mann was assigned to St. Mary's in Evansville.
Holy Redeemer has an elementary school as part of its ministry. The move to Washington will put Father Ferguson,who loves working with children, in charge of a middle and high school as well.
"There is a tradition here (Washington) and that is a beautiful thing," he says. "A school brings vitality to your parish, because you are passing on the faith to a younger generation."
Father Ferguson says the move will be difficult because he loves and will miss his church family in Evansville.
But he wants his new parish to know his door is always open and he wants to hear from members.
"I like to laugh. I'm very open," he added. "I like to work with people. If you have a problem, we can sit down and talk about it. When I work with people, I always tell them, we are going to do this together. We can work together for this parish, and I will work just as hard as they will work. We'll do it together day by day, because we never know what God holds for us in the future."
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