By MELANIE PILTINGSRUD
Copy Editor
As of July 1 of this year, Father Glenn Frerichs is the new priest presiding over All Saints Catholic Church in New Richland and Sacred Heart in Waseca, two parishes which clustered for the first time just as Frerichs was installed there.
Frerichs, who grew up near Little Falls, Minn., and was raised Catholic, was ordained to the priesthood in Winona, Minn. in May 2000, 23 years ago.
Frerichs began with a degree in Industrial Technology and worked for the Bose company in Texas building prototype models of computers and other technologies. Then, in Jan. 1994 Frerichs had a powerful conversion experience that changed his life.
A secretary where he worked introduced Frerichs to Medjugorie, Bosnia, which Frerichs describes as a spiritual place. What he experienced there led him to start taking his faith seriously, and ultimately heed the call to the ministry.
Although Frerichs says he doesn't use the technological aspects of his former education in his current role as priest, he views the life experience of working in that field as invaluable. His degree also focused greatly on production management and supervisory positions. “I just think that it has helped me in relating with people,” said Frerichs.
After Frerichs was ordained, he served two years in the Saint Francis Parish in Rochester, which had a strong Hispanic population.
Although Frerichs protests that he hasn't used it in 15 years, he was once proficient in Spanish. “I had to test out of it in Canon Law,” said Frerichs. Both before and after he was ordained, Frerichs went to live in Mexico on three different occasions for about six weeks each time. There, he studied Spanish one-on-one with a tutor for four to five hours per day while also living in a Spanish-speaking country. “You learn it very quickly that way.” It was a positive experience for Frerichs, but he adds, “It was very difficult actually, because even my teacher didn't know English very well.”
From 2002 – 2007, Frerichs served the parishes in Janesville and Waldorf. Then, in Jan. 2008, he began serving parishes on the eastern side of the Diocese, including Wabasha and Lewiston. He also served as the Judicial Vicar and the Chancellor of the Diocese. As Judicial Vicar, Frerichs worked with marriage annulments, which he still does, as well as other areas relating to church law, and assisted the Bishop in a variety of ways. The Chancellery involved archival work, policies and procedures.
About 11 years after being ordained, Frerichs went on to study and receive a degree in Canon Law at the Catholic University of America in Washington DC. Frerichs still works with Canon Law today.
“We have a school of about 80 students,” said Frerichs of his current position, referring to Sacred Heart School, which serves K-4th grades in Waseca. Frerichs also ministers at the Federal Correctional Facility in Waseca, a role he is familiar with, since he worked with a men's facility when he worked at the parish in Janesville. “Now, it's all women,” said Frerichs, “but I know that the people who come to those services – they're hungering for God, and so it's always for me been a very positive and affirming experience.
“When I entered into ministry,” Frerichs said, “I just had a strong calling from God to celebrate the Mass and the other sacraments and to draw people close to God and help them to live holy lives, and that remains my primary mission today.”
Unlike many pastors, Frerichs does not arrive with a list of changes he wants to implement in either congregation. “My approach has always been get to know people and learn how they do things,” said Frerichs, “and then dialogue to see if there's anything we can do better or improve upon, but I don't come with any specific agenda.”
Also unlike the pastors of many other types of congregations, Catholic priests do not choose where they will preside, although they stay within the Diocese in which they were ordained. Each Diocese is formed by the Pope, and the Diocese in which Sacred Heart and All Saints reside is the Winona-Rochester Diocese, which is about two counties high all across southern Minnesota. Staying within a Diocese helps priests to stay within the cultural region in which they were ordained.
“When we are ordained a priest,” said Frerichs, “we make a promise to the Bishop of obedience. We consecrate our lives to God in that way, and so, where there's a need, which comes through the voice of the Bishop, that is where we see ourselves as called to serve.”
Formerly, priests could stay with a congregation for as long as they liked, but Frerichs explained that, as of 1983, a priest stays at the same parish for a six-year term, which can be renewed once before they move to another parish. “If there's a genuine need for the Bishop to move the priest, that can sometimes happen before the six years is up,” said Frerichs, “but they generally try to leave priests for six years for stability – for the priest and the parish.” According to Frerichs, pastoral wisdom has generally shown that bringing someone new in every six to 12 years can bring fresh insights and be helpful to a community.
Having served in a variety of Catholic churches since he was ordained, Frerichs' view is that each church is very unique and has its own personality. Each parish has things that it does well, while other things are less of a focus. “Smaller parishes oftentimes have that stronger sense of family or community because everybody knows everyone so well, and they need to work together to make things work,” said Frerichs. “Large parishes can be that way, too. It just depends upon the community.
“I've been very happy and received very well by All Saints and Sacred Heart,” Frerichs continued. “[There are] wonderful people in both parishes.”
It is estimated that Sacred Heart serves around 800 - 900 households, and All Saints serves around 120 households.
While many have touted this has a 'post-Christian' era, Frerichs believes the Catholic Church offers people, “a deeper meaning to life, and a relationship with the God who created us and has reached out to us through his Son, and a greater sense of peace in that relationship with God and the people around us.”
Besides studying Canon Law and serving God in his capacity as a parish priest, Frerichs enjoys walking, reading, and kayaking.