Holy Cross Parish welcomes new pastor
Bishop Peter Jugis installed Father Noah Carter as pastor of Holy Cross Church in Kernersville Aug. 4, during a joyful Mass that drew hundreds of worshipers. While he was at the parish, Bishop Jugis also blessed the parish’s cemetery. (Photo provided by Jarek Lucek)
KERNERSVILLE — On a fitting feast day – that of St. John Vianney, patron of parish priests – Father Noah Carter was installed by Bishop Peter Jugis as pastor of his first parish, Holy Cross Church.
Hundreds attended the Aug. 4 Mass, with pews full of his new parish family as well as his parents, Greg and Holly, brother Zach, sister-in-law Erin, niece Lydia, and friends from across the diocese. Participating clergy included Father Brian Becker, parochial vicar of St. Mark Church in Huntersville, Father Peter Shaw, pastor of St. Joseph Church and Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission in Bryson City, Deacon Tim Ritchey of Holy Cross, and Deacon Mark Mejias of Our Lady of Grace Church in Greensboro.
“When a priest is first appointed as pastor, there’s a renewed purpose. It’s a fulfillment of what we’re educated and trained for,” Father Carter said in a recent interview. “Remembering the harder times, I realized you have to work through those things to be prepared to be the one to lead a whole portion of the people of God to heaven.”
The first-time pastor described what went through his mind upon receiving the Kernersville appointment from Bishop Jugis.
“I was extremely excited. I know many of the families and what’s going on in the community,” said Father Carter, who served as chaplain of Bishop McGuinness High School in Kernersville during his ministry as parochial vicar of Our Lady of Grace Church. “The whole Triad is growing, especially Kernersville, where there’s growth in numbers and a natural energy and excitement amongst the parish community. It’s a great place to start. When families are growing, the natural environment is good to live in. It’s a good seedbed for the Gospel.”
The western North Carolina native grew up in Mills River and attended St. Barnabas Church in Arden. In a recent interview, his mother said she raised all three of her boys in that church and had them participate in everything from ironing altar cloths to serving at funerals. “These boys are not mine. I didn’t make them,” Holly Carter said. “They were created by God for God’s purpose.”
Father Carter was in middle school when he first noticed a draw to the priesthood. However, looking back, he realized the call came even earlier. “When it comes to any vocation, we’re called from birth. God has a plan that He wants to set in motion. So reflecting on even before seventh grade, the calling was there – a natural love for the church building, the Mass, a natural aptitude to be drawn to the celebration of the Mass,” he said. “There was a new pastor in sixth grade. He invited other priests, not just to sub, to the parish – to call them in for fraternity. Outside of Mass times, I saw my pastor interacting with priests, so I saw more than just one priest; I saw them getting along as brothers. That’s what clicked. I was like, ‘Oh. This is what sustains the work he does. This is how he’s refreshed and renewed.’”
Father Carter became a spiritual son to several experienced priests in the diocese and was the first to go directly from high school graduation to seminary studies at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. He completed his studies in Rome and later returned there to earn a post-graduate degree in liturgical theology.
Said his mother, “I’m very proud that God has called him to this moment. It’s always been our responsibility to do what God leads us to for ourselves and our children. I pray for him to make good decisions every day.”
She continued, “I once asked him what draws him to this life. He said, ‘the pure happiness of the priesthood and leading people to God.’”
Holy Cross parishioners have given their new pastor and his family a warm welcome.
“I’m so elated to have Father Carter here. He’s so vivacious,” said longtime parishioner Gloria Frappier. “I’ve heard two homilies so far, and they’re wonderful. We have been at Holy Cross since 1980, and I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. Our kids were married here, and we participated here. And it’s a joy, a real joy, to take part at Holy Cross. It’s our family, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”
Henry Affeldt, faithful navigator for the St. Pope John Paul II Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus Assembly 3017 at Holy Cross, was in full regalia at the installation with his brother Knights. “We’re very honored and humbled to receive Father Carter into our multicultural, multilingual family here at Holy Cross Catholic Church,” Affeldt said of the new pastor, who speaks English, Latin, Italian and Spanish, “as our next vicar of Christ, as our next teacher, and also as the shepherd of our souls to salvation.”
Father Carter succeeds Father Paul Dechant, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales who pastored Holy Cross for the past decade before the order left parish ministry in the diocese earlier this year.
“We are very, very fortunate to be getting Father Carter as our pastor,” said Tom White, the parish’s sacristan coordinator. “He’s all excited and ready to go. It’s not an easy job to take on at 30 years old, but he brings everyone together. We have a family-oriented church. We’re a very active parish with many volunteers who wear many hats, and we all look forward to working with our young pastor.”
After serving as parochial vicar of St. Mark Church in Huntersville for two years, Father Carter started his new position at Holy Cross July 1. At his installation Mass Aug. 4, Father Carter publicly made his profession of faith and oath of fidelity to the Church.
Bishop Jugis explained the significance of both during his homily. “The priest takes on new responsibility of serious importance in the Church in the profession of faith,” he said.
With the hint of a smile, the bishop continued.
“It lets you know that he is Catholic,” he said, earning laughs from the congregation and from Father Carter, who emphatically agreed with the statement, “and that he accepts and professes the Catholic faith, and that what you’re going to be receiving from him is the pure, unadulterated Catholic faith. And I don’t think you’ll have any problems holding him to that because he is very faithful, very faithful to the Church.”
Bishop Jugis also outlined the three primary roles of the pastor – that of teaching, sanctifying and parish governance – drawing parallels to Christ.
“The most important thing he does is bring Christ to you, which happens here at the altar,” Bishop Jugis said, noting that the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist “transforms each one of us as we continue to grow, learning to love more, learning to be more self-denying.”
“The model for his pastoral ministry is Jesus Himself,” the bishop said. “He taught the Kingdom of God to His apostles. He taught His doctrine of salvation to the apostles, and the apostles faithfully have handed that on to the Church for all generations to follow faithfully in His footsteps.”
After Mass, Father Carter joined Bishop Jugis in a procession to the parish cemetery, where the bishop blessed the people interred there.
Father Carter encouraged everyone to pray for one another, noting, “I began in 2008, at the behest of my spiritual director, to pray for everyone I would serve in the future. Ever since September 2008, in a certain way, you have been in my prayers.”
— Annie Ferguson, correspondent. Photos by John Bunyea, Catholic News Herald, and provided by Barbara Markun and Jarek Lucek.
