By Paula Day and Gretchen Keiser

The solemn and majestic aspects of ordination to the priesthood of Christ intermingled with the warmth and excitement of a family celebration as Father Michael Campbell, Father Tim Hepburn and Father Patrick Kingery were ordained June 5.

Bishop W. Thomas Larkin, retired ordinary of St. Petersburg, Fla., ordained the three at the Cathedral of Christ the King, calling it an “historic moment,” and also extending pastoral wisdom to the new priests. His advice included that “I’ve always found wearing the Roman collar attracts a lot of priestly business,” and that preaching well and praying the liturgy of the hours are very significant aspects of priesthood in addition to the sacraments.

The 10:30 a.m. ceremony was standing room only. Beyond the extended families of the ordinands, out-of-town guests and people from parishes in the archdiocese where the men have grown up and ministered crowded into the cathedral. With the ordinations in Ireland of Father Conor Fitzgerald and Father Frank Richardson, and two upcoming ordinations in December, 1993 is a banner year for the archdiocese, Monsignor Edward Dillon, administrator, noted.

Bishop Larkin accepted the candidates presented by vocations director, Father Don Kenny, and loud applause indicated the approval of the congregation.

While they lay prostrate, the litany of the saints was chanted invoking the grace of God and the prayers of Mary and the saints for them. Bishop Larkin then imposed his hands upon their heads ordaining them priests. All priests present also laid their hands upon each of the three.

Bishop Larkin then prayed a prayer of consecration over them and each was vested in the priestly garments. Their hands were then anointed by the bishop and each was presented with the gifts, symbolizing their role as priests interceding on behalf of the whole community, particularly at the consecration of the Mass.

Before the celebration, family members spoke of this as a time of fulfillment after many years of preparation.

“When he was a teenager I thought maybe one day he would be a priest,” said Mrs. Bridget Campbell, 94-year-old mother of Father Campbell. “When he got married I thought that was the end of that. I am very happy about the whole thing.” Her son, who is 56, has five grown children, three of whom attended the Mass.

His daughter, Mary Theresa, described her father as “a caring, loving person” who has wanted to be a priest for some time.

Father Hepburn is the first priest to come from the parish family of St. Jude’s in Sandy Springs. “He’s worked very hard for this,” said his father, Andrew. “He has focused on ordination the whole five years. You have to be focused, to be committed.” Alice Hepburn waited seven years for this moment in her son’s life. “I’m very excited,” she said. “I knew for two years before he entered the seminary that the priesthood was his goal.”

“It’s going to be neat to receive Communion from him,” said Stephen McConnell, eight-year-old nephew of Father Patrick Kingery. Another point of view came from Michael Kingery, the new priest’s brother, who teaches at Christ the King parish school.

Of Father Kingery’s first assignment at the Cathedral parish, he said, “I guess that’s an example of God’s sense of humor.” However, he added emphatically, “He’ll always be my little brother.”