Posted on 07/02/2012 7:46:34 AM PDT by Cronos
COQUILLE — John McGuire didn’t take the normal route to priesthood.
He was raised a Pentecostal in the Assemblies of God tradition before converting to Catholicism against the wishes of his family as a high school senior. And he had a number of jobs, served in the military, was a competitive roller skate dancer and was engaged twice before entering the seminary when he was 33.
Father John’s 36-year career as a full-time priest ends Sunday.
The last 22 years, he’s called Holy Name Catholic Church in Coquille home, and he will celebrate his retirement Mass there on Sunday morning.
‘I have no regrets’
Father John was born on April 6, 1938, in St. Louis. He was a miracle baby of sorts, because his birth mother had tuberculosis and wasn’t supposed to have any more kids.
She died when he was a toddler, and he was raised in the Assemblies of God denomination by his father and stepmom, aside from a short while when he attended the local Nazarene church, which was a shorter walk from home.
His stepmom was strongly opposed to the Catholic church, he said.
“There was a good Catholic family on the opposite side of the fence,” he said of a neighboring family. “They had 11 kids. We could talk to them over the fence, but never visit them.”
The first seeds of conversion were sewn when his brother, George, returned from the Navy as a Catholic.
“He converted first,” Father John said. “That’s what got me interested.”
Through discussions with his brother, and after learning the church could be traced to the apostles and understanding the Catholic belief about Holy Eucharist, he decided to convert his senior year in high school.
His mom was opposed.
“Mom gave me an ultimatum,” he said. “So I left home. ... And I have no regrets. I love the church.”
Roller skates and engagements
Father John and his brother both lived with an elderly family with only one son, who happened to be a priest.
But he didn’t head right for the seminary, instead working as a billing clerk for a trucking company, a dispatcher for a police department and a service manager for a music company before a four-year stint as an air traffic controller in the Air Force.
He returned to St. Louis and worked as an office manager for Pennzoil for more than four years before entering the seminary.
During that time, he also was a competitive roller skater, reaching the national championships four straight years with partner Lila Powers.
He was engaged to a Pentecostal girl a few years after high school, but broke off the engagement when she wouldn’t convert to Catholicism. After his time in the Air Force, he was engaged to an Italian Catholic girl, but broke off the engagement when he entered the seminary.
Father John was trained in the Maronite Rite, drawn to it, he said, because the priests perform parts of the service in Aramaic, the language Jesus spoke.
After a long education that included stints at seminaries in Detroit and Canada and four years studying theology in the St. Louis University School of Divinity, he was ordained in 1976.
He spent a short time in Pittsburgh and 7 1⁄2 years in St. Paul, Minn., before being transferred to Portland. While he was there, he asked Archbishop William Levada if he could join the Archdiocese of Portland, and he came to Holy Name on Oct. 14, 1989.
Father John quickly fell in love with the parish and the Coquille community, and rather than transfer to another parish, he chose to retire in Coquille, an option given to priests over 65 years old.
“I love the area,” he said. “I love the people. I love Oregon.
“I have no desire to move back to the Midwest.”
Part of Coquille’s soul
One of the first things Father John did in Coquille was join the Sawdusters, the community theater group. He was active for seven years, including having parts in the play some summers and in the olios troupe others.
“I was told it was the best way to get to know the community,” he said.
Father John also spent many years in the Coquille Rotary Club and has always been an active member of the Coquille Valley Ministerial Association, a group he said he is proud to be associated with.
“All the clergy in this town — we all work together so well,” he said.
He was one of several pastors who started the Coquille Food Bank, which joins the Seventh Day Adventist Church, which also has a food bank, providing an important service to the community, he said.
“Between the two (food banks) we do a great job,” he said. “It’s a needed ministry.”
Early in his tenure in Coquille, Father John was known for his cross-stitch skills — he picked up the art as a way to reduce stress when he was in Portland and entered exhibits in the Coos County Fair several years.
The past decade, his primary hobby has been stained glass windows. He was introduced to the craft when Holy Name parishioner Evelyn Schaenzer wanted to take a class in the Bay Area and needed a ride because she couldn’t drive at night, so he took the class with her.
Since then, he has completed more than 20 windows for the church, starting with six windows near the entry and three for the cabinet that holds the church’s sacramental oils.
In the past few years, he completed eight windows for each side of the church — the west side depicting different saints and Jesus’ mother Mary and the east side picturing Jesus flanked by several children.
The final three windows, installed a few weeks ago, form a triptych behind the statue of the risen Christ. Father John said they are the favorite windows for both him and his teacher, Lucy Varoujean of Classical Glass in North Bend, who drew the designs for the windows.
Planning a future
Father John said he’s done with stained glass, at least for now. In retirement he plans to travel, including trips later this summer to visit family in Missouri and to Ireland, where he has distant relatives on his dad’s side.
He also will help the new priest at Holy Trinity in Bandon and will be available to answer questions for Holy Name’s new priest, Father Jim Graham.
Eventually, Father John hopes to join the Holy Name choir, and starting in the fall, he expects to serve other South Coast parishes as a substitute priest on occasion.
First, though, come his final four Masses before retirement this weekend — Saturday evening and Sunday morning at both Saints Ann and Michael in Myrtle Point and at Holy Name. Father Jim will join him in the celebrations to meet the members of the two parishes, and Sunday’s Mass in Coquille will be followed by a reception.
Father John already has warned his parishioners he likely will get emotional Sunday morning, when he will perform the consecration of the Eucharist in Aramaic and give an extra-long sermon.
Fittingly, he said it will be about the priesthood.
He broke off two engagements, was a professional dancer and is active in theater........hhhmmm.
The headline is confusing. He’s not leaving the Church, he’s retiring as Pastor of a parish church. I suppose that’s what was meant, but I kept wondering until I reached the end why a guy like that, who obviously had a real conversion experience, would end up leaving the Church.
Very glad to see that he didn’t.
In these days, he will probably continue to be a substitute priest, to say Mass in whatever parishes are nearby when their pastors are away. It’s the new retirement.
Heaven knows there are no straight actors or ballroom dancers or skaters with homosexuals making up 1% of the country.
Today, we assume perversion, unless it’s you - then we assume not.
Obama is married with two kids - he must be gay.
Why don’t we preume someone is not sinning until we see that they are - like you expect others to do of you, expect your government to do of you?
And why not love “light in the loafers” people that are not sinning and if they are, the sinner and not the sin?
You are very good at deceptive editing.
Have you considered a career with NBC? They have need for people of your particular... talent.
His conversion experience was going from a Pentecostal religion to a Catholic one...
There is no testimony of a 'coversion' to Jesus Christ...
All too many people automatically figure that when a person puts on religious garb, he/she's a Christian...
You wrote:
“There is no testimony of a ‘coversion’ to Jesus Christ...”
So you’re saying he never had a conversion to Christ? Use google. Look around:
“While he was in high school, the younger brother started investigating the ancient church and became convinced that it was the one founded by Christ and that it had an indescribably precious thing — the Eucharist.”
http://www.catholicsentinel.org/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=35&ArticleID=18530
So, he believed in Christ already, wanted Christ’s Church and no other, and wanted Christ in the Eucharist.
One hopes you’ll be subjected to the same assumptions and rush to judgment when you stand before the Almighty that you’ve charitably displayed towards Father John.
Assumptions?? What does it say of the character of a man who would drop a loved fiance just because she would not convert to the Catholic faith? Pretty sheeeeety of him. Of course he probably has pretty good character so that makes him gay as a three dollar bill.
Now don't get me wrong...if you only will date a Catholic women that is fine.
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