Spirited Times - June 2009

Fr. Bill Tkachuk, Church of the Holy Spirit (CHS) pastor since August 1996.

Fr. John Dearhammer, CHS pastor as of July 1, 2009

Pastor profiles: Goodbye, Fr. Bill. Thank you. Hello, Fr. John. Welcome.

Spirited Times asked Fr. Bill Tkachuk, Church of the Holy Spirit (CHS) pastor for 12 years, and Fr. John Dearhammer, pastor as of July 1, a few questions.

Q. Please tell us a little about yourself: Where you grew up, a little about your family, how you decided to become a priest, and when you were ordained.

Fr. Bill: I grew up in St. Edward Parish on the northwest side of Chicago; my family moved to Lake Zurich when I was fifteen.  My parents became a part of CHS over the past 12 years.  They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary here, and we celebrated mom’s Funeral Mass here.  I have a younger sister, a sister-in-law, two younger brothers, and three nephews; we get together regularly.  I first wanted to be a priest when I was in second grade; I never really felt passionate about any other life.  I was ordained in 1981.

Fr. John: I grew up on the northwest side of Chicago in St. Pascal Parish.  I went to the parish grammar school and then went to St. Patrick High School.  From there, I entered Niles College Seminary.  I have a sister who is three years younger than me.  She lives in Thailand with my brother-in-law and nephew.  My Mom lives in Round Lake Beach and my Dad lives in Florida.  I was ordained in 1991.

Q. Please tell us where you’ve ministered since being ordained.

Fr. Bill: In my first three years I served in three Chicago parishes: St. Ann in Pilsen, St. Sebastian in Lincoln Park, and Maternity B.V.M in Humboldt Park.  I then took a six-year leave of absence and developed a career at Anderson Consulting (now named Accenture).  I returned to active ministry in 1990 and served as an associate at St. Francis Xavier in La Grange and St. Denis on the southwest side of Chicago before coming to Church of the Holy Spirit in 1996.

Fr. John: My first assignment was St. Maurice in the McKinley Park neighborhood on the South side.  I was there until 1997.  Then I went to Mundelein Seminary as Assistant Vocation Director.  I was in that office for two years.  I didn’t like that job at all.  Then I went to St. Gall on the South side of Chicago in May, 1999.

Q. Tell a story that tells us a little about how you’ve become who you are today.

Fr. Bill: A man stepped off of a cliff in the dark.  On the way down he crashed into a limb sticking out from the cliff and he grabbed on to it for dear life.  He hung there in the dark for what seemed like hours and prayed for God to save him.  “Let go,” he heard a voice say.  “But if I let go, I’ll die,” he responded.  “Let go,” he heard again.  So he let go, certain that it was the end.  He discovered that the ground was only two feet below where he had hung.

Fr. John: I lived with a family on the South Side in order to learn Spanish.  Mrs. Calderon asked me in Spanish how I felt about living in a new place with new customs.  I wanted to tell her I was embarrassed but didn’t know the Spanish word for it.  So, I told her, “Estoy embarazado,” thinking that putting an “o” on the end would make the word understandable.  That phrase, “Estoy embarazado” means “I am pregnant.”  They never looked at me the same way again.  The story says I make mistakes but I learn from them.

Q. What have been your top three achievements from the past 12 years?

Fr. Bill: 1) Learning with CHS the potential for living out of unity and diversity in parish life. 2) Learning to be a pastor (I’m still learning). 3) Bringing “style” to the Country Fair Dunk Tank.

Fr. John: 1) St. Gall Sunday Mass attendance has grown each year.  2) Changed the culture of the parish’s outreach. 3) Increased the quality of service to the parish.

Q. What has surprised you most during that time?

Fr. Bill: I have been awed by what God does when we allow God to work through us.

Fr. John: Even though people are incredibly busy they always have some time to give to the parish.  People are incredibly generous.  On the negative side, I am still surprised by the level of violence in families.

Q. What would you have done differently?

Fr. Bill: I would have listened and learned more from day one.

Fr. John: Listened more and made fewer assumptions.

Q. What wisdom have you gained that you will bring into the next 12 years?

Fr. Bill: I will listen and learn from parishioners and staff – beginning on day one.

Fr. John: I have learned that being a bicultural, bilingual parish is not easy.  It is what I call the “heavy lifting” of Catholicism.  Many people drift to monolingual, mono-cultural parishes because it is easier; but it is not really catholic.  Being in a multicultural parish gives us many blessings.

Q. If you could impart one gift to the community of faith that you are leaving, what would it be?

Fr. Bill: Deep awareness and gratitude for what you have made possible by living the charisms of hospitality and welcome – especially when this required sacrifice and stretching.

Fr. John: Patience with yourself and others.

Q. How will you approach the next few months?

Fr. Bill: I hope to celebrate and honor what I have experienced at CHS as I leave here, and to be open to God’s direction as I begin to live among the people of St. Nicholas.

Fr. John: I visited my sister in Thailand and saw some statues of Buddhist monks.  All the statues depict the monks with huge ears because listening to God’s voice is crucial in the monks’ lives.  I will try to get Buddhist monk ears.

Q. What is one thing that you wish people could or would understand about you more quickly than they usually do?

Fr. Bill: Although my job requires me to function as an extrovert, I am a strong introvert.  I sometimes appear as aloof when I am actually feeling lost and out of my comfort zone.

Fr. John: First, when I ask questions I am just trying to find out information, I am not attacking the subject of the question.  Second, if you think “He must be kidding,” I probably am kidding.

Q. How can those around you best help you serve?

Fr. Bill: Be honest, be open, be compassionate, be willing to dream, be patient, and get involved.

Fr. John: Let me know exactly what you are thinking.  Your ideas help me tremendously.

Q. Twelve years from now, what would you like to say about what you’ve shared with your new community?

Fr. Bill: We lived and learned together what God was asking of us in this time and place, and took the risk to reach beyond our comfort zone when the Spirit invited us.

Fr. John: That we have grown more as the Body of Christ and have become more like brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Q. What’s one question that we didn’t ask that you wish we would have asked; and what would be your answer?

Fr. Bill: What do I cherish most about CHS?  What I cherish the most is what I will miss the most: the heart, soul, and spirit of its people.  You are a blessing.

Fr. John: What do I do for fun or relaxation?  I love to play golf and go to the movies.  I am trying to get back into the mandolin.  I took lessons as a kid and am starting to pick it up again.