KERNERSVILLE — Father Christian Cook has been assigned as part-time chaplain at Bishop McGuinness High School effective Feb. 10. Ordained last year by Bishop Peter Jugis, Father Cook is also the parochial vicar of Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro and serves as eighth-grade religion teacher at Our Lady of Grace School.
Not long after coming to Our Lady of Grace Parish, Father Cook met Bishop McGuinness High School’s principal Tracy Shaw. The high school had a need for priests to celebrate Mass after a religious order priest from Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in High Point, who had been assisting regularly at the school, was reassigned by his order.
“I volunteered to take a few of those Masses,” Father Cook explained. “When I spent some time at the high school (prior to being named chaplain), it was clear that students, faculty, staff, parents and benefactors of Bishop McGuinness wanted more of a priestly presence at the Catholic high school.”
As the high school is centrally located in the eastern region of the diocese, priests from many parishes help out at the school but few of those pastors have a parochial vicar to assist them, Father Cook noted. He knew he was in the position to volunteer to assist the high school, so he discussed it with Bishop Peter Jugis.
After prayerful consideration, Father Cook was given the green light to serve in a part-time capacity as chaplain at Bishop McGuinness High School.
“Working with my pastor, Father Paul Buchanan, and Principal Tracy Shaw, we were able to work out a plan that would allow me to fulfill my duties at Our Lady of Grace Church, Our Lady of Grace School and Bishop McGuinness High School,” Father Cook said.
“We are so grateful and blessed that he is willing to share his time and his faith with our community. He has been a welcome addition to our school,” Shaw said.
Father Cook hopes to help the high school students grow in faith during what are formative years.
“As one begins to grow into young adulthood in high school and college, the world gets busier and noisier, and the practice of the faith becomes more challenging,” he said. “I remember similar challenges to my faith from those years in my life, and I think I bring that perspective to this ministry. I know that some walk away from the practice of the faith because of a lack of emphasis on practicing their faith during the young adult years.”
He believes it is crucial for students to have the presence of a spiritual father at Bishop McGuinness High School during these critical years.
“The students are growing into adulthood, and experience many pressures – school work and discerning the next steps in their lives, be that continuing their education at the university level, or perhaps a religious vocation or military service.
“Because they are attending a Catholic high school, the chaplain fills a crucial role in leading the students to do God’s will in their lives. The chaplain does this by offering the sacraments – primarily Mass and confession – and by working with teachers and administration to provide a fully Catholic culture. We must proclaim the fullness of truth found in the teachings of the Catholic Church, and we must do so with unwavering courage, because our salvation – and the salvation of our students – depends on it.”
As Father Cook just assumed the role of part-time chaplain recently, he hopes to get to know the students, staff and teachers better over the remaining weeks of the academic year.
“I am honored to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for students, staff and teachers, and to be available for confession and general spiritual counseling. I am encouraged by a sense of a good Catholic culture at the school and a genuine desire, on the part of many of the students I have met, to live the fullness of our faith.”
Father Cook acknowledges that given the culture we live in and the pressures students face, it is “very challenging for a chaplain to be prepared to address the breadth of issues with which the students wrestle. But over time as I get to know the students better and spend more time on campus – not only during the school day, but at extracurricular events – I will become more a part of the community, and more of a spiritual father to it.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter