Good Shepherd Parish at 400 N. Saginaw , Montrose, MI 48457-0974 US - Our Pastor

Our parish is blessed to have Fr. Steve Anderson serving as Parochial Administrator.  He began his relationship with the Good Shepherd community in July of 2009.   You may have heard that he is married and has three sons.  In case you are wondering how he came to be a Catholic priest and be married, let me give a simple explanation.  The discipline of requiring Latin Rite Catholic priests to be celibate has not changed.  But, in 1980, the English speaking bishops (especially England and the United States) petitioned the Pope to see if the Anglican/Episcopal priests who come into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church can continue to function as priests - even if they were married and had children.  The Pope, much like the father in the prodigal son, was eager to greet these priests in the most generous way.  He determined that the Anglican/Episcopal priests who became Catholic could, on a case by case basis, be Catholic priests after a year or more of formation in a Catholic seminary.  This decision is called the Pastoral Provision as is the basis of why he was allowed to continue functioning as a priest in the Catholic Church when he became Catholic in 1999.

In Father Steve's words:  "I am  grateful to Bishop Mengling who was willing to petition Rome on my behalf.  I am grateful to Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI), and Pope John Paul II for approving my petition to be a Catholic priest.    But mostly I am grateful to all of the people of the Churchs where I have been assigned to minister.   Everyone has been so welcoming to me and my family.   My wife Cindy loves to sing and play the guitar so you may see her here in the music area more often than not.  My oldest son Austin (24) is married and lives in Ann Arbor.  The two sons you will see the most are Steven (14) and Christian (11)".

Now I am here and already experiencing the same welcome I received from the two most recent Popes,  and the people in the parishes I have already been since becoming Catholic.  I am excited about the good work God will do while we are together. 

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