By Mary Owen
Immaculate Conception’s new pastor, Father Ed, calls himself a “country boy” priest.
“It is special and important for this country boy to serve smaller city or rural parishes,” said the Rev. Ed Coleman, who is called Father Ed. “I was blessed to grow up on the family farm/ranch setting about 31 miles northwest of Stayton at a place called Fairfield, along the Willamette River. Our work and income focus was hops, horses, cattle and sheep. Always important in the family was our faith and the participation in the local parish community.”
Today, he helps parishioners to discover and embrace the richness of the Catholic faith that carried him from his youth to the priesthood, but the journey was not always clear.
“I remember attending wedding celebrations of older siblings and cousins, often thinking during the celebration of the rite of marriage that someday a young lady would be standing there with myself before the priest in front of family and friends, promising to love each other for life,” he said.
But while on summer break from school, Father Ed found himself partaking in the Eucharist one Sunday and as the priest led parishioners to pray, he began to think, “Could that be me up there some day?”
“That was frightening,” he admitted, and his immediate reaction to becoming a priest was “not me.”
“But the thought, the invitation from the Lord, kept returning,” he said. “I tried to throw it out, but God kept throwing it back. Jesus kept replanting it. Like a seed planted in a warm, rich and well-watered soil, the thought grew until I responded, ‘I will go, but you have to be there to help me, dear God.’”
He then transferred to the University of Portland. After completing theology studies at Mount Angel Seminary, he began to study for the priesthood.
“I tried to keep listening to the Lord, and Jesus kept guiding,” he said.
After completing his seminary studies, he was ordained as a deacon, and then as a priest in November 1986, serving in the Archdiocese of Portland.
Father Ed came to Stayton in July after serving at St. James in Molalla since July 1999. He also served as associate pastor at St. Alexander Parish in Cornelius, St. Mary in Eugene, and Sacred Heart in Medford, and as pastor at St. Paul in Silverton and St. Anthony in Forest Grove.
“One of the most special parts of parish ministry is celebrating the Sacraments of the church with its people, especially the Celebration of the Eucharist, bringing to and receiving from people the loving, merciful, giving and compassionate presence of our Lord Jesus,” he said.
Father Ed loves to help people grow in their faith and to celebrate it to the fullest in their lives in a manner that is “welcoming and inviting.”
In the next few months, Father Ed and associate pastor, the Rev. Raul Marquez, will prepare parishioners for “simple, yet beautiful” new expressions in prayers and Eucharistic responses by drawing from the scriptures.
“These minor revisions will bring the faithful to experience the great richness of our faith even more as well celebrate Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist and thus in our lives,” he said.
The two priests serve the parishes of Immaculate Conception in Stayton and Our Lady of Lourdes in Jordan, and the mission St. Catherine of Siena in Mill City.
“Encountering so many people with a beautiful faith in the Lord enriches my own faith,” Father Ed said. “God is growing us in faith.”
For information on Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, phone 503-769-2656.
