From the Pastor's Desk
Since the arrival of Fr. John Connell in 2023 he has communicated to the parish through a series of Pastoral Desk Issues. If you would like to read and discover his thoughts look below :
2026, current issue
Release Date: Friday, May 1, 2026
Two ordinations with a special meaning this year
1. This is an invitation for all of you to attend two ordinations this year which have a direct connection to St. Joseph in Conway. First, on Saturday, May 23rd, Joshua Osborne, a member of St. Joseph and a seminarian will be ordained a transitional deacon at an ordination Mass at 10:00AM at St. Joseph. Joshua and his parents, Ellen and Scott, have been members of St. Joseph for 4 years. Many of you may not know them well, but Josh’s parents are active members of St. Joseph. You have seen Josh at our Christmas and Holy Week Masses. He is a great young man with real zeal to take care of those most in need. His parents are very proud of him and so are we.
There will be a Holy Hour at 5:00PM on Friday, May 22nd at St. Joseph. The Diaconate Ordination is at 10:00AM on Saturday, May 23rd. Josh will also assist and preach at the 4:00PM Mass on Saturday, May 23rd and at the 10:30AM Mass and 5:00PM Mass on May 24th. There will be a reception after the Ordination Mass in the Spiritan Center immediately following the Mass.
2. Secondly, Dc Duwan Booker will be ordained to the priesthood with 4 other young men on Saturday, May 30th, at 10:00AM at Christ the King Church in Little Rock. Please come and support our new associate from the first moments of his priesthood. There will be a reception for all 5 new priests after the ordination Mass. The future Father Booker will celebrate his first weekend here with us at St. Joseph, July 4/5. We will have a reception at some point in July to formally welcome him to our parish.
3. Please pray for an increase of vocations. We need more priests in our diocese. But as a priest who has been ordained almost 41 years, I ask you to pray even harder for the priests that are serving you in our diocese right now. From Father Joel Brackett, the youngest active priest at age 28 to Father Larry Frederick, the oldest active priest at age 89 and every priest in-between. We need your prayers, even more so than the guys in the seminary. After all, we are the ones that bring you Mass daily. Seminarians just look pretty.
St. Joseph pray for us,
Father John
