BY KATHI STEARNS

Staff Writer

ATLANTA-Father John T. Howren, 31, a native of Charlotte, N.C., who grew up in Stone Mountain, Ga., believes his call to the priesthood was a gradual one involving seven years of discernment at seminary.

His educational background includes graduation from Redan High School in 1982 followed by a year of study at West Georgia College. The next five years he worked as a customer service representative and production manager for Rattanworks, a wholesale furniture importer, while taking evening classes at Georgia State University.

During this time he became involved in a ministry to shut-ins at the Cathedral of Christ the King, Atlanta. He joined the singles group and served the parish community as a lector as well as a eucharistic minister. Involvement in these ministries underscored a quiet prompting to the possibility of studying for the priesthood.

"I started to take a look at my life, and I kept thinking, 'What is it that I want to do?'" he said. "As I struggled to find the answer to that question, the question changed to, 'What does God want me to do?' Those questions and my increased involvement in ministry at the cathedral were the impetus for exploring a vocation."

He described the initial thought of a vocation to the priesthood as overwhelming and humbling. "When the possibility first came to light for me I balked at it," he said. "There were a lot of tears shed. I kept saying to myself, 'Oh, my God, I am not worthy of such a thing.' The reality of the matter is that none of us are worthy, but we must go on."

"I went to seminary because I felt I was being pulled toward a vocation, and I needed to go somewhere where I could discern my calling," he said. "Seminary was a place for me to decide rather than a place to go because I had already decided."

Father Howren said his summer pastora1 internships played a major role in the development of his vocation. As a seminarian he completed pastoral internships at the Church of St. Benedict, Duluth, in the summer of 1990; St. Francis of Assisi, Blairsville, and St. Paul the Apostle Mission, Cleveland, the summer of 1993; and St. John the Evangelist Church, Hapeville, the summer of 1995. He spent the summer of 1992 studying Spanish in Mexico. Father Howren completed a pastoral internship in hospital ministry at the Stamford Hospital in Stamford, Conn., during the summer of 1994.

He credits Msgr. Henry Gracz, pastor of St. James the Apostle Church, McDonough, for nurturing his call to the priesthood. "Msgr. Gracz was a wonderful model for me," Father Howren said. "His style of ministry and leadership is something that I hope to be able to emulate and incorporate into my own priesthood."

He also credits Sister Marita Carmel Rondinelli, RSM, and Sister Rosemary Wickham, OSF, pastoral associate at St. Francis of Assisi, with encouraging his call to the priesthood.

In 1992 Father Howren earned an undergraduate degree in psychology from St. Meinrad College which shares the campus with the St. Meinrad School of Theology. It is also the location of the Benedictine Archabbey. He was ordained to the transitional diaconate at the Archabbey Church of Our Lady of Einsiedeln, St. Meinrad, Ind., on Nov. 4, 1995. Archbishop Daniel Buechlein, OSB, of Indianapolis, was the ordaining prelate.

"There was a strong sense of having arrived," he said. "The most powerful moment of the liturgy was when my spiritual director put the stole on me. When I looked down and saw that stole it really hit me."

While at St. Meinrad Father Howren, who began playing the violin at age 4, became very interested in liturgy and music. He plays the piano, guitar and has led numerous choirs, serving as the director of music. Throughout his seven years in seminary he has played a major role in the planning, selection, and execution of the music in his fellow classmates' transitional diaconate ordination. Father Howren was also president of his deacon class.

He earned his master of arts degree in 1994 and received his master of divinity degree from St. Meinrad in May of 1996.

Father Howren sees his ordination as a starting point for the rest of his life. "Now the real education begins," he said. "I feel prepared for it because of all the training I have received, yet I enter into it with slight trepidation because it's something I've never done before."

To be an effective priest he believes he must be a leader as well as a member of the community he serves. "Regardless of our role in the Church, we all have to work together as we grow in our relationship with God and one another."

Father Howren's mother and stepfather, Annette and David Dorries, his sister Angela Dorries-Walsh and his grandmothers Marie Westerman and Lillian Dorries attended his ordination and first Mass. Father Howren's father, John Howren, and his wife, Susan, and his paternal grandmother, Claire Howren, were also in attendance.

Father Howren celebrated his first Mass at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, June 2, at the Cathedral of Christ the King.

He has been appointed to St. James the Apostle Church for his first assignment as a parochial vicar.