So Happy to be Here!
I am Rev. Thomas Wisniewski, better known as Father Tom, the
new addition to the priestly clergy serving the people at Corpus
Christi Church, here in Hasbrouck Heights.
It is a homecoming of sorts, but it’s a little complicated.
My birthplace was Jersey City, July 7, 1954. For the first 21
years of my life that is where I lived and attended school,
including my Bachelor’s in accounting from Saint Peter’s
College in 1976.
In March of 1976, our family moved to Hasbrouck Heights which
is where my parents, Frank and Irene, still reside. My sister,
Judy, lives with her two children, Kirsten and Jon, in nearby
River Edge.
The reason I qualify it as a partial homecoming is I only lived
in Hasbrouck Heights for six months before beginning seminary
in Mahwah at Immaculate Conception, where I received an M Div
Degree. From 1980-1996 I served in a number of pastoral assignments,
including three in Bergen County. During this time I also received
a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Drew University.
In my earliest days of ministry I spent almost all my time with
teenagers and young adults.
There is so much energy and all that potential that lies ahead
at that stage of life. I was determined to get out a message
that Jesus Christ is not only real, He’s the best thing
you can do for your life. The 80’s were exciting times
in Bergen County youth ministry and I felt fortunate to be a
part of it.
My conviction with both young and old is that most of us need
a conversion experience, something that brings us into real
relationship with Jesus.
Without that, I think it is hard to make religion a vital part
of your every day life. I especially enjoy retreat work and
it’s during events like that, where conversion happens
over and over again.
If I could encourage most people to do something good for themselves
it would be to go on a retreat, adults have Cursillo and the
youth have Antioch, SEARCH as well as parish retreats being
offered in many places.
Finally, in 1996, I had the opportunity to become a pastor at
Saint Joseph’s in Maplewood, an experience that broadened
my vision of ministry into many more areas. Also, I was able
to use some of my accounting background in doing the necessary
administrative work needed in a small parish with modest economic
means.
It is there that I became convinced that the most important
work we can do as clergy is to be welcoming. For the first three
years in Maplewood my staff and I simply built community. It
was truly rewarding to hear visitors comment on how friendly
our Church was to strangers. Isn’t that what Jesus emphasized?
In the past three years I fulfilled another lifelong dream --
to teach college full time. As a professor of Theology at the
College of Saint Elizabeth in Morristown, I concentrated on
Scripture and Christian ethics. Once again, I was surrounded
by youthful enthusiasm willing to learn and to discover what
their faith meant as young women. It was a great opportunity
and something I will always cherish.
Yet, despite my joy, I also came to realize that my first calling
is parish. This is the front line of real life and there are
so many things people contend with each and every day and I
believe that faith is a critical ingredient to finding integrity
and an inner peace most of us crave so much.
There are many ministries I hope to impact during my time at
Corpus Christi and we are still figuring out what some of those
directions might be.
Two things I will immediately plunge into will be to work with
the new youth ministry team as we try to build a youth community
and to use my love of teaching to do some adult education.
This fall I hope to offer a series on the Old Testament beginning
in October.
Other than that I am happy to be home and I look forward to
being active within our own faith community as well as with
the clergy from throughout the town. It is such a privilege
to break open the Word each and every Sunday for the faithful.
I so believe the world would be a much better place if we could
only live the Gospel a little better each and every day. ###
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