For Father Kyrpczak, his first pastorate feels like home

For Father James A. Kyrpczak, who had hoped to serve as pastor of St. Joseph Parish, Washington, the hope became a reality Oct. 15 when Bishop James F. Checchio installed Father Kyrpczak as pastor there for his first pastorate.

Sometimes it takes a while to adjust to a new parish, and other times it’s easy to settle in because every parish has its own personality and so does every priest. “I felt right at home, right away,” said Father Kyrpczak, 61, who had assisted at St. Joseph’s several years ago when he was assigned in Phillipsburg. “I got to know the people and had a feel for the parish.”

But there is one special person that makes the new pastor’s assignment in Washington extra special – his father, Frank, 96, who lives nearby in Hampton. Living near him was one of the reasons Father Kyrpczak requested the pastorate at St. Joseph Parish.

But there are many reasons he likes the parish. “Mostly, I like the people,” he said. He also enjoys being involved with the parish religious education program and with teaching eighth-grade religion at Sts. Philip and James School, Phillipsburg.

“This is a great parish, great people,” Father Kyrpczak said during a telephone interview on his day off while he made a batch of his award-winning mild chili (the secret, he noted, is a half-cup plus a splash of Guinness extra stout beer).

With nearly 900 registered parishioners, the new pastor finds himself quite busy at St. Joseph’s where there is an active Order of Christian Initiation of Adults program, numerous sacramental preparation meetings, facility oversight and preparing for Masses.

The parish offers Mass in Spanish every Sunday, and Father Kyrpczak celebrates that Mass every other week. He learned Spanish so he could celebrate those Masses. “I can’t speak Spanish (in conversation), but I can read the prayers,” he said.

A Spanish-speaking priest celebrates that Mass on the other Sundays and is available for confessions in Spanish.

Father Kyrpczak admitted that there were moments during his installation that he was thinking about what he would say to the congregation at the end of the Mass: He wanted to express his thanks.

The new pastor told the Bishop and the parishioners how grateful he was to be assigned to St. Joseph Parish, and he thanked the Bishop for visiting the parish to install him. He spoke about “how very well” parishioners treat him.

“I like the church – a beautiful church – and the grounds,” said Father Kyrpczak, who is the only priest assigned to St. Joseph Parish. “It’s in town but rather rural. I like that. I like the Warren County area.”

He grew up in St. Ann Parish, Hampton, and worked in the family residential construction business before enrolling in Raritan Valley Community College in Somerville. He spent one year at Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia, before transferring to St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.

Ordained in 1996, Father Kyrpczak’s first assignment was as parochial vicar at St. Mary Parish in Alpha. He has served as parochial vicar and parish administrator in other parishes, and most recently he was the administrator of St. Joseph Parish, High Bridge (the town where he won first place in the chili cookoff).

In addition to his parish and school responsibilities, Father Kyrpczak is currently the chaplain for the St. John Vianney Vocation Club of Warren County.