Dear Parishioners of Saint Henry,
Hello from the Church of Saint Peter in Richfield! I am in the process of saying goodbye and wrapping things up down here so that I can come to be your pastor. It is hard to say goodbye to the good people of Saint Peter’s, but I am looking forward to our new adventure together as we go forth glorifying God in all that we do. Archbishop Neinstedt asked me to come to your parish, in large part, because I am able to speak Spanish. I need to practice my Spanish! Sin embargo, yo haré mi mejor.
I grew up between Big Lake and Elk River and my parents still live there, so I will be quite close to home now. God definitely has a plan. I grew up with four sisters and I am the second oldest. As a graduate of Elk River High School in 1986, my first college experience was at the University of Minnesota. I studied Chemical Engineering and earned my Bachelor’s degree in 1991. Having met friends at the University who had a positive influence on me, I first began to think about some sort of full-time ministry at that point. The friends I made in college were friends who truly lived their faith and their aliveness to God really showed me how it was possible to live a life of faith as an adult.
After college, I worked in the field of water treatment for about five years and experienced life as a young adult Catholic while attending and becoming involved at the Church of Saint Lawrence in Minneapolis. Then beginning in 1996, I decided to enter the seminary and give priesthood a try. I entered Saint John Vianney minor seminary where I studies for two years. After that, I attended the Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity for four years, plus one additional year for an internship at a parish. I was ordained a priest in May 2003 and was assigned to the Church of Saint Bernard in Saint Paul. This was a great experience especially working with the grade school and high school kids. It was a great place to begin priesthood. I then moved in June 2005 to Saint Francis de Sales and Saint James in Saint Paul as an associate and this was also a very blessed assignment, especially in getting to know the people.
Since September 2006, I have been at Saint Peter’s and I am grateful for so many happy memories here. Recently, on May 31, my classmates and I celebrated our 8th anniversary of priesthood and I am grateful to God for the vocation he has given me to serve the people. They have been eight very blessed years.
Again, I look forward to our time together and our growing together in faith in Jesus Christ.
Yours in Christ,
Father Tony VanderLoop
