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Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul
24 January 2009
Praised be Jesus Christ! Now and Forever!
Dear Friends in Christ,
I am pleased to announce that, effective immediately, Dr. Richard Ballard is the new Director of Pastoral Care at St. Mary’s Church. Richard was born in Asheville, North Carolina, and after a period of religious uncertainty in his youth, he perceived a call to ordained ministry in the Lutheran Church. His undergraduate education was at Mars Hill College in North Carolina, and then he earned the Master of Divinity degree from Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina and a Master of Education in Counseling from the University of South Carolina. He subsequently earned the Doctor of Ministry degree from the Lutheran Seminary in Columbia and a Master of Sacred Theology degree from the Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
After ordination as a Lutheran pastor, Richard served parishes in South Carolina, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania for nearly a quarter of a century, and serving along with him in those parishes was his wife Ruth, who was also an ordained Lutheran pastor. Throughout those years, Richard and Ruth were very active in ecumenical affairs and increasingly drawn towards full communion with the Catholic Church. Finally, at Easter 2006, the Bishop of Harrisburg received Richard and Ruth into the Catholic Church, and they began a new phase in their personal and professional lives, moving first back to his home in Asheville and then to Greenville. As our Director of Pastoral Care, Dr. Ballard will be responsible for many kinds of service to the people of St. Mary’s, including marriage preparation and counseling, direction of volunteers and social services, bereavement and pastoral counseling, the training and scheduling of lectors, and assisting with the Tribunal process for those who need a declaration of nullity for a previous marriage. He will also periodically teach courses for adults and assist our pro-life activities. Dr. Ballard’s parish phone number and email address are posted in the staff section of this bulletin, and he is available by appointment to meet with any parishioner who needs his assistance. Please feel free to call on him, and join me in welcoming Richard and Ruth Ballard to St. Mary’s.Father Newman