Father John Pankratz, the priest at Billing Central Catholic High School, is now working full time at the school. As such, students will have many more opportunities to see and interact with him: Father John has more time to hold chapel masses and confession, and ultimately new opportunities it brings for one on one time with him.
On November 3, Bishop Fleming decided to appoint Father John full time at Central. He made the decision with the worry that Father John’s schedule was overloaded working at both St. Patrick’s Co-Cathedral and Central. During times Father John was not teaching at Central, he was hosting daily masses at St. Patrick’s. Now, although he does not have anymore duties at St. Patrick’s, he is still teaching OCIA, the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, and finishing marriage prep with couples.
Now, Father John has the opportunity to do a lot more chapel masses with students at Central. He stated “I still teach five classes at Central, and most of the students will not notice much of a difference. The change that students will notice the most is that I will be offering chapel mass most mornings before school at 7:30am.” Chapel mass is an important opportunity for students to grow in their faith, and it is an amazing way to start the day.
A lot of the students and staff are excited for Father John to be more often at Billings Central Catholic High School. He is excited, saying, “Bishop Fleming wanted to make sure that I never get to the point of burnout. As far as why I joined Central, Bishop wanted me to continue to minister to the youth of BCCHS and help walk with them in their faith journey, because you all are the future of the Church!” Now, Father John is here all-day helping Billings Central students walk in their faith journey through everything that they do.
