New Assignments & New Beginnings
A Note from Father Izen
I am happy to share with you that Archbishop Hebda has named me the parochial administrator of St. Charles, while at the same time remaining the pastor of St. Michael and St. Mary in Stillwater. Their current pastor, Fr. Mark Joppa, was recently named the next pastor of St. Rita in Cottage Grove. The Archbishop has also assigned an additional priest to the St. Croix Valley, Fr. Andrew Stueve, who will have the primary responsibility of caring for the everyday sacramental and pastoral needs of the faithful of Bayport. I am confident that the people of St. Charles will find Fr. Stueve to be a warm and caring priest, and I am excited to be collaborating with him. As parochial administrator, I will be working with St. Charles’ staff and parish leadership to provide for the temporal care of that parish and I will be in close contact with Fr. Stueve. We are both committed to continuing Fr. Joppa’s great work. Archbishop Hebda is hopeful that this new configuration will facilitate even greater collaboration between the parishes of St. Mary, St. Michael, and St. Charles, while encouraging the distinctive strengths of each community. These changes are effective June 10, 2020.
A Note from Father Powers
As we announced last weekend, the Archbishop has reassigned me to be the new vicar of Immaculate Conception in Lonsdale and St. Nicholas in New Market starting July 1, 2020. Although I was expecting to move, I still find myself at a loss of where to start saying "goodbye" and "thank you" to the people here in Stillwater, because there are so many people at St. Michael’s, St. Mary’s and St. Croix Catholic who I would like to thank. It has been a wonderful two years serving you alongside Fr. Izen and the rest of the staff here, and I really cannot say enough how fantastic everyone has been. One of the nice things about being a diocesan priest is that, even while we move onto our new assignments, we’re still not that far away, so I’m sure I will be back for Germanfests and the St. Michael’s procession or just to visit downtown Stillwater. Thank you again for everything, and please know of my prayers.