FROSTBURG – In 46 years of priesthood, Father Edward S. Hendricks can’t recall a single day when he was bored.
“Ministry has just been a wonderful and exciting experience,” said Father Hendricks, longtime pastor of Divine Mercy Parish in Western Maryland.
“Each day is unique – it really is,” he explained. “Sometimes I have appointments and other times people ring the doorbell and they just show up and bring with them who they are. Each person is unique and each experience is unique and I’m privileged to be part of that.”
The priesthood is about walking with people on their faith journey, Father Hendricks said, “understanding that they’re loved by God and understanding that there’s room for everyone in the church.”
A trailblazer in helping bring different people of different parishes together, Father Hendricks is retiring from active ministry July 1. He was the founding pastor of Divine Mercy Parish, which formed Jan. 1, 2016, when St. Michael in Frostburg, St. Ann in Grantsville, St. Joseph in Midland and St. Peter in Westernport came together as a single faith community.
Today, Divine Mercy counts nearly 1,000 registered families.
In the years leading up to their unification, the previously independent parishes had been collaborating closely as the “Mountain Four,” which Father Hendricks led since 2012.
Prior to his work with Divine Mercy, Father Hendricks served as chairman of the Mountain Maryland Regional Planning Commission, whose work led to the merger of five Cumberland-area parishes into Our Lady of the Mountains, a single faith community under the leadership of Capuchin Franciscans.
The 72-year-old pastor said his efforts in pastoral planning in Western Maryland were made easier by the foundation established by priests who preceded him, including the Capuchin Franciscans, Monsignor James Hannon and the late Monsignor Paul Byrnes.
Difficult decisions, which included the closure of St. Mary in Lonaconing and the reduction of parish properties, had to be made over the years, he said, but people have been supportive. Parishioners take ownership of their faith community, he said.
“There’s been a strong history of lay leadership and that’s actually grown,” Father Hendricks said. “Divine Mercy now has four Bible studies that meet on their own. We pray the rosary on Wednesday nights on the front steps at St. Michael. We provide luncheons for every family at a funeral. There are so many ways people have been active here.”
Father Hendricks’ roots in Western Maryland stretch back to his early priesthood.
Raised in St. Rita in Dundalk, Immaculate Heart of Mary in Baynesville and St. Margaret in Bel Air, Father Hendricks was inspired to become a priest by the example of the clergy in ministry at his various parishes.
A “lifer,” church slang term for priests who entered seminary as teens, Father Hendricks studied at St. Paul’s Latin School in Baltimore, St. Mary’s Seminary College in Baltimore and the Theological College at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
After his 1977 ordination to the priesthood, his first assignment was as associate pastor of St. Peter in Westernport, now part of Divine Mercy Parish. He was later pastor of St. Patrick in Mount Savage from 1992 to 1994 and then campus minister at Frostburg State University from 1992 to 2011.
Father Hendricks said his work in campus ministry was the most challenging and rewarding of his priesthood. In college, young people transition from a faith given to them by their parents to a faith they own themselves, he said.
“They tend to rightly ask good questions like, ‘What do I believe?’ and ‘Is this important?’” he said. “I enjoyed dealing with young people in their search for faith.”
On average, Father Hendricks said, there were up to three college students who became Catholic every year at Frostburg and between four and eight confirmed each year.
In other assignments, Father Hendricks served as associate pastor of St. John the Evangelist in Columbia from 1981 to 1986 and associate pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Crofton from 1986 to 1989. Over the years, he also was the auditor of the Tribunal, ministered in the vocations office and was associate administrator and then administrator of the Monsignor O’Dwyer Youth Retreat House in Sparks.
Alison B. Lyons, administrative associate and director of liturgy and music at Divine Mercy, said Father Hendricks always showed concern for the welfare of his parishioners.
“He is someone who is very good at greeting every parishioner at every site at every Mass by name,” Lyons said. “He knows their kids, knows their grandkids, knows their family situation and can talk about where their kids are going to school. He’s had such a tremendous facility for knowing his flock.”
Camilla Rawe, a member of Divine Mercy’s Mission Team and a former member of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Council, said Father Hendricks made everyone feel welcome no matter where they were from.
“He was always very good at letting us do the things we needed to do,” Rawe said.
She recalled that after parishioners lamented not being able to come together for funerals during the coronavirus pandemic, Father Hendricks supported the Mission Team’s suggestion to hold a memorial evening at St. Joseph in Midland for all those across the four churches who lost loved ones.
“It was an evening to come together to celebrate the people who had died,” she said. “It wasn’t a Mass, just a celebration. He was there and he was just so supportive of the whole thing.”
Father Hendricks showed good spirit and patience in all the traveling he had to do from site to site, she said. He logged thousands of miles in ministry, changing cars every three years.
“I’m used to living in the car out here,” the white-bearded priest said with a laugh. “These missions began with circuit riders on horseback from Cumberland and then from Frostburg down to the Creek (George’s Creek). So we’re just using cars instead of horses. It’s still one pastor always moving to Mass someplace.”
Father Hendricks said he has a deep love for the people of Western Maryland and the natural beauty of the mountains. He intends to spend his retirement in the area and will continue to assist with Masses at Divine Mercy.
“It’s so rewarding that people let you into their lives at these key moments – the birth of a child, marriage, illness or death – and it’s the role of the priest to be thankful for that invitation and to walk with them in their journey as far as they want us to walk with them and to recognize we’re probably going to get more out of it than we give,” he said.
Email George Matysek at gmatysek@CatholicReview.org
Father Edward Hendricks
Born: June 23, 1951
Home Parishes: St. Rita, Dundalk; Immaculate Heart of Mary, Baynesville; St. Margaret, Bel Air
Seminary: St. Paul’s Latin School, Baltimore; St. Mary’s Seminary College; Theological College at Catholic University, Washington, D.C.
Priestly ordination: May 28, 1977
Assignments: St. Peter, Westernport, associate pastor (1977-81); Auditor of the Tribunal (1978-83); St. John the Evangelist, Columbia, associate pastor (1981-86); St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Crofton, associate pastor (1986-89); Monsignor O’Dwyer Retreat House, Sparks, associate administrator and then administrator (1989-92); St. Patrick, Mount Savage, pastor (1992-94); Frostburg State University, campus minister (1992-2011); Mountain Maryland Four, pastor (2012-16); Divine Mercy, Western Maryland, pastor (2016-2023)
Quote: “It’s so rewarding that people let you into their lives at these key moments – the birth of a child, marriage, illness or death – and it’s the role of the priest to be thankful for that invitation and to walk with them in their journey as far as they want us to walk with them and to recognize we’re probably going to get more out of it than we give.”
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