Dear Holy Trinity Parishioners,
It is with great joy and excitement that I come to Holy Trinity! I have heard from Fr. Dave, Dcn. Brett and the staff about how kind and welcoming you are as a parish. You already have a wonderful reputation in the Archdiocese. With such a reputation, I feel honored and blessed to be coming to you as your new pastor. Fr. Dave is a saintly man and we have known each other since the later part of the 1980’s when he was first ordained and was serving in Eugene and I was a new college student at OSU. After I was ordained, I followed him at St. Anthony in Forest Grove in 2002. Parishioners there kept calling me “Fr. Dave.” Some would catch themselves and apologize. On my part, I simply saw this as an incredible compliment. Hey! If I can serve you with something akin to the passion of Fr. Dave, then I must be doing something right. I look up to Fr. Dave and will be reaching out to him for guidance, as I learn how to be the shepherd that God wants me to be for Holy Trinity.
Please forgive me for any mess ups, mistakes in speech, or the deer-in-the-headlights look that will be on my face for many months. This is certainly the largest parish I have been affiliated with as a priest. In addition, I am used to being at parishes that begin with “St.” so I will most certainly goof up our parish name in the first several months. Heck! Maybe even longer. In fact, I might even goof it up and say, “Holy Family,” as I used to go to Holy Family for spiritual direction for years. In some of my emails to Fr. Dave, I have mistyped the church name as “Homy Trinity” and had to correct it! Hah! Maybe that is what is meant to be, eh? Speaking of misspelling, in my coming bulletin letters, there are bound to be some doozies. Auto-spell has done me wrong before, and if I write or say something weird, let me know. Let’s talk. Let’s get clarity. I trust we will be merciful and patient with each other! Feel free to even laugh at me or with me. Life is short, and laughter is wonderful medicine to keep things in perspective, right? And beware! I like “Dad” jokes if that helps you get a sense of my humor.
A few other personal things about me: I am the ninth of nine children. I spent my childhood in Medford and teen years in Tualatin and Tigard. After graduating from college, I taught at Central Catholic (teaching Math, Computer Science, and Religion) and then Tigard High School (Math). I am a self-professed geek. I don’t even mind being called a nerd. I have many hobbies including kayaking and astrophotography. I am fascinated by gadgets and, as an extrovert, love to be around people. I listen to Christian music and have days where I just need to hear some 80’s tunes like that from Toto and such. I enjoy camping. You might even see me heading out with my little trailer just for a couple day R&R on occasions. I have had three dogs during my priestly ministry, and as things get settled may very likely begin the search for a new four-legged friend to assist me in ministry. You can visit my website, frbill.org at your leisure and have a presence on social media. A recent joy in my life was when I celebrated my 22nd anniversary of priestly ordination last Friday, July 1st.
I love Jesus! I praise the Trinity and thank God for all he’s done for me. Indeed, my life as a priest is my way of giving back to God for all that he has done for me. He wooed me, put a passion in my heart, and set me on a great adventure. I am spoiled by his love and grace. I look forward to meeting you and learning the gifts present here at Holy Trinity. I hope I can lead you closer to Christ and learn from you at the same time. I am sinner who also needs to be forgiven, so well-ordered love served with an outpouring of mercy is my thing. I ask for your patience as the learning curve, I expect, will take some time. I am humbled that Fr. Dave would invite and recommend me to come to Holy Trinity. Let’s see what God got in store! If its from God, it’s gunna be great!
Blessings,
Fr. William “Bill” Holtzinger