Fr. Ryan is our new School Chaplain for 2024-25, and we are excited to have him join us!!  He has been on campus before, but now gets to spend Wednesdays and Fridays at XHS celebrating all-school and Friday morning Masses with us.

Fr. Ryan attended St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul, MN and completed priestly formation at Mundelein Seminary in Chicago,  He was ordained on May 31, 2014, and also serves as the Pastor of St. Therese Parish here in Appleton.

“We all have come on different paths,” he said. Fr. Starks traces his path to priesthood to a Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) weekend in Kellnersville in April of 2005. The experience was life changing.  “That’s where it all started,” he said. “That was the first time in my life that I realized God’s love in a very real way.”  A group of European exchange students from Global Outreach had a profound effect on him at the retreat.  “I saw peers who loved their faith,” he said.   I was a shy kid, so it wasn’t an easy thing for me to do.  Love conquers fear,” he explained. 

Be sure to say hi when you see him and welcome him to XHS!