By Gretchen Keiser

A parish promotes vocations to the priesthood “by living in a fully Christian way,” according to Pope John Paul II.

Father Martin Kopchik, who was ordained May 19 by Archbishop Thomas Donnellan as a priest of the order of Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales, says that the parish of St. Patrick’s in Norcross, the priests, the charismatic prayer group and the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s work with the poor made his call to the priesthood come alive.

“I wanted to be a priest, I guess, for many years, looking back on it,” said Father Kopchik, who is 37 years old and a native of Indiana. But the desire became overwhelming in the midst of this committed Christian community, he said. “My vocation came from a lot of places. God was speaking to me through a loving, caring community and all of us were a part of that. God’s call was manifested in living the Christian life in a dynamic, appealing way.”

From a family of five children in the town of Merrillville, Indiana, Father Kopchik came to Atlanta 11 years ago when the company he worked for, Simmons Mattress Company, decided to centralize their data processing operation in Georgia. Working for them as a computer programmer, he relocated to Georgia in 1975, and joined St. Patrick’s parish, becoming active in the St. Vincent de Paul Society and helping to run a thrift store. Out of that small community of people have come two vocations to the priesthood, Father Kopchik’s and that of Father John DeVore, who was ordained last January.

His involvement in the charismatic renewal, which began in Indiana when he helped his younger brother, who was too young to drive, get to a national charismatic convention at Notre Dame University in the early 1970s, continued when he moved to Georgia, Father Kopchik said. That first conference “was a turning point in my life,” he said, which drew him to active charismatic communities in Michigan and Indiana for frequent prayer meetings and Bible study. He helped to start the prayer meeting at St. Patrick’s while Father Joe Meehan was pastor, seeing in it “a really dynamic community that shared with one another, really supported one another.”

“God spoke to me in each one of these organizations,” he said, adding that the influence and example of Father Meehan and Father Ken Bayer drew him to the order of Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales, which staffs St. Patrick’s and St. Lawrence, Lawrenceville.

His study has taken him to Washington, D.C. where he spent two years studying philosophy at Oblate College and four years studying theology at Catholic University of America. His novitiate was spent in Cheltenham, England, 50 miles west of London. Now working toward a Licentiate in Sacred Theology with a specialty in Scripture, he will spend one more year studying at Catholic University. The teaching degree enabling him to teach in any Catholic institution worldwide was a desire of the order.

The Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales, some 650 men, are predominantly Indian and English, with only a few American members and only these two American parishes to serve, Father Kopchik said.

Because of that unique situation, both Father Kopchik and Father DeVore lived while in seminary training with the Josephite Fathers in Washington, D.C. and were invited to join in their formation conferences and training, which is directed toward working especially in black Catholic communities.

Assisting in St. Patrick’s and St. Lawrence this summer, Father Kopchik will be returning to Catholic University in the fall. Reflecting upon his ordination, which took place the Monday after Pentecost, he said, “I keep remembering the words Bishop (Eugene) Marino said at my diaconate ordination. He said a vocation is really not a personal call. It comes out of the community.”

The inspiration generated by an active community is overwhelming, he said. “Live the Gospel and it will be so appealing there will be plenty of people who will want to be a part of that.”