Church under leadership with a vision

Walter Sprague
Art and Culture Reporter
 
“Newcastle is a good place to live and work,” the Rev. Brian Hess said. “It’s a place that has roots. People are born and raised here. It is also a very welcoming town.” 
Hess, the pastor at Corpus Christi Catholic Church since July 2019, considers Newcastle fertile ground in which the Gospel of Christ can flourish. Unlike other towns and cities he has lived in, Hess said, he finds the people of Newcastle, although rooted, sometimes for generations, are not stand-offish. He finds it inviting and generous.
“People are about relationships here,” he said, “More so than in other towns I’ve been in. And it’s in that type of community that the Gospel can flourish.”
Relationships are most important to Hess. First and foremost, for him, is his relationship with Jesus, he said. Second, it is teaching that same relationship to the members of his parish, and he believes that relationship is best expressed within the Catholic faith.
Born at Whiteman Air-Force Base in Missouri, east of Kansas City, in 1986, Hess was raised in the Catholic faith. When he was 5 years old, his family moved to Cheyenne. Right out of high school, Hess attended First Conception Seminary College in Conception, Mississippi.
“I felt a tugging on my heart and wanted a prayerful atmosphere,” he said of his choice to attend seminary, “I didn’t really know what that tugging meant for a few years. But I knew God was calling me to do something.” 
After a few years, he moved to St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver. The process of figuring out what God wanted for him, called discernment, was gradual, he said. But during those years in Denver, he said, he removed himself from technology and much of the world in order to spend a year in prayer and to seek God’s face. During that year, Hess realized that dedicating his life to the priesthood would fulfill the deepest and most satisfying desires of his heart. He does not regret that decision, he said. Hess has been a priest for the past 5½ years, and he said it has given him a sense of completeness, as well as usefulness to God’s purposes. He has been, and always will be, sponsored by the Diocese of Cheyanne, which oversees all of Wyoming. Hess spent two years in Sheridan, one year in Jackson and two in Cody. Now, since July 2019, he has been in Newcastle and hopes that he is allowed to serve here for years to come.
“We’re so blessed to have him, or Father Brian, as we call him,” church secretary Kay Thomas said. “He’s young, energetic, positive and gives a great homily.” 
Thomas said she has enjoyed working with Hess since his arrival and hopes that it will continue for a long time to come.
“I love him,” said longtime church member Barb Tschacher. “I think he’s good for our church. People just enjoy having him here.” 
Tschacher, who does some upkeep for the church, looks forward to the days she gets to come in and interact with him, she said.
Hess believes that one of the essential functions of the church is in arbitrating any disputes among the laity. Rooted in his belief that the Catholic church is the logical and natural way for Christ to fulfill and express his love toward us, Hess said, he prays that he can perform that function well with God’s help. As such, he says the Catholic church possesses the gift and mission of peacemaker in the world.
With youth, a deep loving faith and enthusiasm on the side of their pastor, Corpus Christi’s parishioners feel that he is more than capable and thoroughly qualified to carry out the mission that God has called him to fulfill in Newcastle. Most of all, Hess believes that God has called him to express Christ’s love for His people, and he is committed to doing so.