Pastors reflect as St. John’s celebrates 150 years

Three years ago, Father Michael McClellan became pastor at St. John’s the Evangelist in Canton. After more than three decades at parishes in Roxbury, Jamaica Plain and Dorchester, McClellan said the move served as a bit of a culture shock.

“I moved from the city, where poverty is common, to the not so poor suburbs,” McClellan said with a laugh. His speech is quick, his tone deep, and his laugh infectious, filling up the room. It’s not hard to see how his easy-going personality makes him relatable to parishioners in two very different communities.

Despite the initial shock, McClellan has settled into his role as pastor at St. John’s and already has a good handle on the parish community and its deep historical roots with the town of Canton.

“I was honestly surprised when I first heard that the parish was 150 years old,” McClellan said. “Back in those days, New England was very Yankee Protestant. Canton is unique in that it had a significant number of Catholics even in the mid 1800s.”

And being a part of the sesquicentennial anniversary of St. John’s has only furthered McClellan’s understanding of the integral role the parish has played in the lives of many Canton residents over the past century and a half.

“Everyone seems to have a story about how the church impacted their life in a major way — whether it be educational, social or religious,” he said.

When asked what he sees as his role at the parish, McClellan first rattles off a list of conventional responsibilities —presiding over the liturgy and providing for the religious needs of the community. But McClellan said he hopes to also use his role to help continue to further the education and social experiences that parishioners recall so fondly decades later. At a time when church attendance continues to dwindle throughout the nation, McClellan’s goals may seem difficult or even lofty, but he remains undeterred.

“This community is already well organized and established,” he said. “So my job hasn’t been difficult. I’m standing on the shoulders of the giants who have come before. The path is well beaten.”

One of the giants McClellan speaks of is Father James McCune, the pastor at St. John’s between February 1983 and May 2000. Currently the chaplain at Regina Cleri, a residence for retired priests, Father McCune echoed similar sentiments of the connections between St. John’s and the community at large.

“As a parish, it is very connected with the community of Canton,” he said. “There is a feeling of a mutual relationship between the parish and the community at large.”

Father McCune speaks in slow, brief, staccato sentences. Like McClellan, he shies away from attention and is quick to emphasize the importance of the efforts of the parishioners. When asked to reflect on his 17 years as pastor at St. John’s, McCune again points to the community.

“It was just a wonderful experience highlighted by the cooperation and support of the entire parish community,” he said. “So it was difficult to leave the parish. Canton and the parish had become my home for 17 years, but far more important, it was difficult to leave after making so many strong relationships, both of friendship and faith, with the parishioners.”

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Posted by Jeffrey Cattel on May 25 2011. Filed under Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.