BY KATHI STEARNS

Staff Writer

DECATUR--Father John Murphy, who five months ago celebrated the second anniversary of his priesthood, has been named pastor of St. Peter's Church in LaGrange effective Nov. 21.

"I am delighted with the opportunity and I am looking forward to the challenge," Father Murphy said.

Father Murphy, who has served as a parochial vicar for the last two years at St. Thomas More Church, Decatur, says the pastor, Father Pat Mulhern, has been a role model for the kind of pastor he hopes to be.

"He empowers and encourages people to live their faith by the example he sets," Father Murphy said. "As a pastor he is continuously striving to live out the vision of Vatican II. Because of his leadership St. Thomas More is not just a place of prayer--it is also a vibrant faith community where people are trying to bring Christ out into the world."

Father Murphy believes that parish ministries at St. Thomas More have continued to flourish and develop because of Father Mulhern's pastoral vision. "The list of outreach ministries here is endless," Father Murphy said. "There seems to be a ministry for everyone who wants to give. People become so involved because they are allowed to take ownership of their parish and as they do this they become stewards of the Church, living out the Gospel message."

Father Murphy says that pastoral assistant Ann Duggan, Father Joseph Peacock, in residence at St. Thomas More, and the parishioners of St. Thomas More have been a great support and nurtured his vocation over the years.

"I worked at St. Thomas More as a seminarian, a deacon and a priest," Father Murphy said. "My time here has been very blessed and the people here have treated me like family since the day I arrived. I will truly miss my family here, but I also look forward to getting to know my new family in LaGrange."

Father Murphy says that Father John Kieran, whom he will succeed at St. Peter's, did a "wonderful job as pastor and will be a hard act to follow."

During his five years at St. Peter's, Father Kieran revitalized the pastoral council and finance committees, started an RCIA program and encouraged the development of other ministries. He was a founding member of the LaGrange Ministerial Association and was the first Catholic chaplain at West Georgia Medical Center. He also served as a director on the boards of the United Way of West Georgia, the battered women's shelter, Troup County Habitat for Humanity, Troup County Clean and Beautiful and was a member of the Coordinating Committee for the LaGrange International Fellowship Exchange.

"Following in the footsteps of John is going to be difficult," Father Murphy said. "I just hope I can do half as good a job as he has done."

The son of the late William Thomas and Mary Smith Murphy, Father Murphy completed his seminary studies at St. John's College in Waterford, Ireland. He was ordained to the transitional diaconate there by Bishop Michael Russell on April 3, 1993. Father Murphy was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop James Moriarity, auxiliary bishop of Dublin, on May 27, 1994, at The Most Precious Blood Church in Cabra, the same church where he had been baptized 40 years earlier. He has six brothers and sisters.

Before his ordination he completed pastoral work at Holy Spirit Church, Atlanta, under the guidance of Msgr. Edward Dillon and Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Atlanta, under the direction of Msgr. Henry Gracz.

"I have been very fortunate with the former pastors I have worked with," Father Murphy said. "They have been priests of the highest caliber and have had a true love of Christ which always remained the center of their pastoral responsibilities. That is my goal. I just want to stay focused on serving God's people the best way I can."