By KAREN BONAR
The Register

(Editor’s Note: Bishop-elect Jerry Vincke will be ordained and installed at 2 p.m. Wed, Aug. 22 at Sacred Heart Cathedral in Salina. He will be the 12th bishop of the Salina Diocese.

The ordination of a bishop happens within the context of a Mass. Following the reading of sacred scripture, the ordination begins. Archbishop Joseph Naumann, Archbishop of Kansas City, Kan., will ordain Bishop-elect Vincke. The event will be livestreamed here.)

SALINA — While small-town Michigan seems worlds away from the Salina Diocese, Bishop-elect Gerald “Jerry” Vincke’s background is similar to many within his new diocese. He grew up in rural Saginaw, Mich., a community with strong Volga German roots in the heart of Michigan. “We’re German farm boys,” said Father Joe Krupp, who was a seminary classmate and shared a rectory with the bishop-elect for several years. “Both of us grew up working on farms and loving farming. “There was a great deal of hard work. You wake up and go to bed early. You work your tail off and give God everything you’ve got. You’re faithful to your family.”

Bishop-elect Vincke (who prefers to be called Jerry, not Gerald), said he remembers his father shouting up the stairs every morning, rousing the seven boys from their slumber. “I still remember my dad shouting ‘Time to rise and shine, the sun’s high in the sky,’ ” he said. “Work was very much part of the fabric of my life.”

The Vincke family farm was a small one, the bishop-elect said. It included about 40 cows, with only two dozen milking cows. He and his six brothers were tasked with milking the cows and other outdoor chores, while his three sisters tended to the garden and the indoor chores.

While work filled the days, faith was a backbone of the community and family. Four of his father’s sisters were Benedictine sisters. One of his mother’s aunts was a Felician Sister in Livonia, Mich. “Dad’s sisters would always visit once a year,” Bishop-elect Vincke said. “I remember how happy they were … how joyful they were to be religious sisters.” Sharon Messiter is the youngest of the 10 Vincke children. Her big brother, the bishop-elect, is 23 months her senior.

As with hard work, faith was a constant in the fabric of their lives. “I have memories of us kneeling around the couches, saying the rosary together as a family,” she said. Sunday Mass a family was given for the family, as were religious education classes (the Catholic school closed before the younger Vincke children were school-aged). “We were blessed that our community was 90 percent Catholic,” Messiter said. “Even though we went to a public school, they dismissed us from public school to attend religion classes. That was a blessing. We had the community where we saw our peers at Mass, and they were being dismissed for religious ed along with us.” The family’s faith was lived and shared. “My parents were always involved in the parish,” she said. “The priest would come over for dinner, family reunions or graduation parties. They were always a part of our lives.”

While religion was a constant in the Vincke household, Messiter said she was surprised when her big brother entered the seminary. “People will ask ‘Did you always know he was going to be a priest?’ and I say ‘No way!’ ” she said. “Some boys you see they’re very reverent, but I did not see that (draw to the priestly vocation from a young age) with Jerry. Seminary was a surprise.” His sister said Bishop-elect Vincke was a hard worker and held several professional jobs upon college graduation. “But it seemed like he was searching,” Messiter said. “He was probably getting the call, but wondering ‘Is this what I’m supposed to be doing?’ “Looking back now I see and understand it.”

Bishop-elect Vincke said he was uncertain when he entered college what he would study. He earned a two-year journalism degree from Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich., and then went on to receive a four-year degree in public relations and advertising at Ferris State. “Even (during college), I felt there was something else,” he said. “I always knew in my heart God wanted me to do something different. “It was at Ferris as the editor of the college paper when I was interviewing a priest, and he asked me ‘Have you ever thought of being a priest?’ That was the second priest who asked me that question.” The first priest to mention a priestly vocation snagged him after Mass his senior year of high school, as he was walking out with his girlfriend, and asked if he would consider the seminary.

Before he discerned the seminary, Bishop-elect Vincke spent several years working. He first worked in sports marketing for auto racing in Ann Arbor, Mich. Next, he went to Jackson, Mich., where he worked at the Michigan Adoption Research Exchange. “We tried to find homes for children with disabilities,” he said. “Many of these children came from very difficult situations. My heart ached for them, and I really wanted to help them.” While he enjoyed working, it still felt like something was missing. “One day, I was driving my car and I said out loud ‘God, do you really want me to be a priest?’ ” Bishop-elect Vincke said. “An overwhelming peace came over me. An incredible peace.”

He entered the seminary for the Diocese of Lansing, and completed his Philosophy studies at St. Thomas More College in Crestview, Ky., and his Theology studies at Athenaeum Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio and Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, Mich. Bishop-elect Vincke was ordained to the priesthood on June 12, 1999, at St. Mary Cathedral in Lansing, Mich. by Bishop Carl Mengeling. He was parochial vicar of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Ann Arbor, Mich., from 1999 to 2001. He then was asked to open a retreat house for youth, Bethany House, where he served from 2001 to 2004. “When the bishop asked me to go to the retreat center, I didn’t want to go. I loved my parish in Ann Arbor,” Bishop-elect Vincke said. “I had no idea how to run a youth retreat center.” In order to prepare, he attended Creighton University for Spirituality courses in the summer of 2001 and 2002 to assist with his new endeavor.

The work at Bethany House included leading youth retreats during the weekend for high school students and Confirmation classes. “I got to know a lot of people from around the diocese,” he said, and added he enjoyed “being able to have the spiritual aspects, but also take a break and play sports.” The work with youth segued nicely into the seven years Bishop-elect Vincke spent as Vocation Director for the Diocese of Lansing. “You’re a recruiter in the sense,” he said of vocation work. “An individual presence was so important. It’s not easy work to do, or we’d have 200 guys in the seminary.”

He spent plenty of time visiting high school and college campuses, meeting with the young men. “I would go to a high school and would provide KFC at lunch for the guys and 80 guys would show up,” Bishop-elect Vincke said with a laugh. “Obviously, they weren’t all interested in the priesthood, but it was neat to be able to talk about who a priest is and what they do. “I’ve always loved being a priest. I wanted to convey that message — that the priesthood is a joyful life. It has a lot of crosses, but there is more joy in the priesthood than you can ever imagine.”

One of the young men he met and mentored was Father Gary Koenigsknecht, a parochial vicar at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in East Lansing, Mich. Father Koenigsknecht met the bishop-elect as a 16-year-old high school student. “I grew up on a farm, and he would come over to sit and meet my parents,” Father Koenigsknecht said. “He was down-to-earth and loved farming. I saw the joy he had in the priesthood.”

Eventually, the familiarity led to a vocation — well, two vocations. “He was influential to get me and my twin brother into the seminary,” Father Koenigsknecht said. The bishop-elect was Vocation Director for several years during Father Koenigsknecht’s seminary tenure. Their paths crossed again during Father Koenigsknecht’s first parish assignment at Holy Family Parish in Grand Blanc, Mich., a suburb of Flint, where the bishop-elect was pastor from 2015 until his appointment as bishop of the Salina Diocese. “I’m sure it was ironic to think of me as a 16 year old high schooler becoming his co-worker,” Father Koenigsknecht said.

The assignment was a fruitful one. “He is a deep man of prayer,” Father Koenigsknecht said. “I would get up at 5:30 every morning to start praying, but I rarely beat him to the church.” Holy Family Parish had a school, which was something bishop-elect embraced whole-heartedly. “He’d be very good about going to the school once or twice a day to bop in the classrooms and see how they were doing,” Father Koenigsknecht said. “He’d stop in the gym and play basketball or throw the football around during recess. “The kids love Msgr. Jerry. It was neat to see him relate to them during the school Masses. He has a great sense of humor, and that came out in the youth.”

Between his stint as Vocation Director and as Pastor of Holy Family Parish in East Lansing, Mich., Bishop-elect Vincke served as a spiritual director at the Pontifical North American College (NAC) in Rome. “When you’re a spiritual director, you work with someone’s heart,” Bishop-elect Vincke said. “It’s holy ground — it’s really a holy time when you meet with the guys one on one and talk about where they’re at in their spiritual life and where their discernment is at as well.”

The request for the assignment came via Bishop James Checchio, who served as the Vice-Rector of the NAC at the time. “I got to know him over the years from his work and admired is work with the seminarians, so I eventually asked his bishop to allow him to become faculty at the college,” Bishop Checchio said. “He’s a very good person … prayerful, honest … so it makes it easy to work with. He has an easy, positive outlook on life. All those things make it easy to work with and made him a good role model for our young men who were studying to become priests.” Bishop Checchio is now the Bishop of Diocese of Metuchen, N.J., a position he has held for two years. He said Bishop-elect Vincke is accessible and able to connect with people from many walks of life. “Everyone can relate to him in one way or another,” Bishop Checchio said. “I think he’ll do the same thing with his priests. He loves the priesthood. He wears it on his shirt sleeve. He also has a special spot in his heart for women religious.”

While in Rome, Bishop-elect Vincke completed the requirements for the S.T.L. (License in Sacred Theology), with a focus on Spiritual Theology, in 2015. When Bishop Joseph Hanefeldt, bishop of the Diocese of Grand Island, Neb., heard the announcement, “The first thing I thought was ‘They’ll love him,’ ” he said. Bishop Hanefeldt served alongside Bishop-elect Vincke for several years at the NAC as a fellow spiritual director. “He’s a pastor at heart,” said Bishop Hanefeldt, who has been a bishop for three years. “He comes from a large family, he’s close to his family and he understands family life.” Plus, “he’s from rural Michigan, so in that regard he’s a great fit for a rural diocese. “He has a diverse background, but his ability to connect with people is his greatest gift. I think he will easily connect with all kinds of people and people will feel at home and pleased with their new bishop.”

One area Bishop-elect Vincke said he connects with is sports. He enjoys following sports teams, but also participating in them. “We would work hard, but we would play hard, too,” he said of his home life. His younger sister remembers the recreation. “I think the most joyful was after dinner was taken care of, we would go in our big yard and play,” Messiter said. “We’d play baseball, and the neighbor kids would ride their bikes down and see we’re playing and stop and play. We would run around and play badminton, we had a makeshift ping pong table with our picnic table.”

The bishop-elect was active in high school sports, including track, football and basketball. His former roommate, Father Krupp quipped “He came to Sacred Heart Seminary and stole my starting spot on the basketball team!” With recreation, Father Koenigsknecht said the bishop-elect has a competitive streak. “He’s super competitive,” Father Koenigsknecht said. “If you play sports of any kind or cards, he’s very competitive. I had some friends come over one evening, and he played cards with us. We played on a team, and blew them out of the water. I’ve never seen him laugh so hard.”

As he prepares to lead the faithful of the Salina Diocese, Bishop-elect Vincke said he attended a five-day retreat at Cardinal Stritch Retreat House at the University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Ill. “To me, the most important thing I’m doing this summer is the retreat,” he said. “It was an Ignatian retreat where you meditate on the word of God. I had four holy hours every day to sit with the scriptures and pray, and I met with the director every day.” He also attended a workshop for newly appointed or installed bishops in Washington, D.C. Once he is installed, he will attend the international bishops formation in Rome in September.

Bishop-elect Vincke was born on July 9, 1964, in Saginaw, Mich., the ninth of 10 children of Henry and Fidelis Vincke. In addition to running the family’s small farm, Henry Vincke worked on the line at the Buick factory in Flint, Mich. He died in 2000, the year after Bishop-elect Vincke was ordained a priest. His mother, Fidelis, still lives in Michigan and will celebrate her 92nd birthday four days after her son is ordained and installed as bishop of the Salina Diocese.

“He loves his family,” Bishop Checchio said. “He’s very close with his family.” He has nine siblings: Judy, John, Tom, Jim, Joe, Dan, Ken, Patty and Sharon. He has 23 nieces and nephews, with 22 great-nieces and nephews. The newest great-nephew was born June 13, the day he was announced as the new bishop of the diocese. “He’s very popular with the nieces and nephews,” Messiter said. “He’d get down on the floor and give them horse back rides. At family gatherings, he’d gather the kids together and play a game with them.”

The 900-mile move from Michigan to Kansas will be an adjustment, his sister said. “When I found out he was becoming,” she said, pausing for some tears, “bishop, I cried tears of joy for him, but also tears of sadness for us. He won’t be so close.” Yet she sees her brother’s love for people and Christ’s Church, and knows he is embracing his new call to service. “When I think of Jerry, I often think of the Bible verse when people said ‘Your mother and brother are here’ and Jesus said ‘Who is my brother?’ ” Messiter said. “Jesus said everyone who follows the will of God is his brother. I’ve learned to know that he’s not just my brother anymore.”