KERNERSVILLE — Oblate of St. Francis de Sales Father Paul Dechant, pastor of Holy Cross Church in Kernersville, celebrated his silver anniversary as a priest in May.
Father Paul, as he likes to be called, is a native of Victorville, Calif., in the southern Mojave Desert just north of San Bernardino. Growing up, his family attended St. Joan of Arc Parish and then Our Lady of the Desert Parish in Apple Valley, Calif. He attended seminary at The Catholic University of America, where he earned a Master of Divinity.
Father Paul was drawn to the spirituality of Sts. Francis de Sales and Jane de Chantal and thus pursued a vocation as an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales.
He was ordained at St. Paul the Apostle Church in New York City by Bishop Roberto Gonzalez, the auxiliary bishop of Boston at the time.
Over the past 25 years, Father Paul served in campus ministry at UCLA and also served parishes in Portland, Ore.; Memphis, Tenn.; New York City; Vienna, Va.; Reston, Va.; Ft. Myers, Fla.; and Greensboro before coming to Kernersville.
What does he enjoy most about serving as a priest?
"The privilege of being with people at the most significant moments in their life journey," he says.
And as for his experiences in serving as a priest around the country? Father Paul loves "seeing how people live their Catholic faith when in the majority and when in the minority."
The most important lesson he has learned over the past 25 years of priesthood is that "there is never a need to rush or be in a hurry. God is never in a hurry."
He also has some advice for men discerning a vocation to the priesthood: "Discernment takes time. Give yourself the time to understand God's plan for you."
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter