Three priests, one deacon to be ordained for diocese in June

Bishop Robert Brennan will ordain three deacons to the priesthood and one seminarian to the diaconate for the Diocese of Columbus this month at Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral.
All four ordinations were to have taken place in May but were delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Admission to the ceremonies will be by invitation only and limited by social distancing guidelines.

Deacons Frank Brown, Michael Fulton and Seth Keller, who will have completed their priestly formation at the Pontifical College Josephinum, will be ordained at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 13, said Father Paul Noble, diocesan vocations director. They originally were to have been ordained on Saturday, May 23.

Bishop Brennan will ordain Josephinum seminarian Jacob Stinnett as a deacon at 7 p.m. Friday, June 12. His ordination was to have taken place on Friday, May 2.

Deacon Brown, 35, was born in Humble, Texas and has lived in central Ohio for almost 25 years. He grew up in Westerville and attended St. Paul the Apostle Church there and also has lived in the Clintonville and Franklinton areas of Columbus, attending Columbus Holy Family and Worthington St. Michael churches. He is a graduate of Columbus St. Francis DeSales High School and received a bachelor’s degree from Ohio University, majoring in finance and minoring in psychology.

He was employed by J. Beckner Construction of New Albany, working on commercial buildings, during summer vacations. After graduating from OU, he became a project manager for the Continental Group in Powell for six years, helping develop and manufacture mixed-material products involving glass. In addition, he was a volunteer wrestling coach at Olentangy Liberty High School.

While in the seminary, he served in assignments at Mount Vernon St. Vincent de Paul, Danville St. Luke, Powell St. Joan of Arc and Gahanna St. Matthew churches and at the cathedral. For the past year, he has been a deacon at Columbus St. Andrew Church.

Deacon Fulton, 25, is from Sunbury St. John Neumann Church, where he has been a deacon for the past year. He is a Denver native and moved to central Ohio with his parents in 2005. He graduated from Lewis Center Olentangy High School and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the Josephinum.

He has served with the youth group at Hilliard St. Brendan the Navigator Church and in the homeschool program at Columbus Holy Family Church and has worked with St. Paul’s Outreach, an organization that evangelizes young people on college campuses and has a household in Columbus. He also had assignments at Columbus Immaculate Conception, Marion St. Mary, Cardington Sacred Hearts and Columbus St. James the Less churches.

Deacon Keller, 26, from Columbus St. Patrick Church, is a graduate of Columbus St. Charles Preparatory School and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the Josephinum. He served for a year as a missionary with NET Ministries, a Minnesota-based group of young people who travel the nation to share their Catholic faith with others, was with the Columbus St. Paul’s Outreach household for a year, was associate youth ministry director at Newark St. Francis de Sales Church and worked at three area Kroger stores before entering the seminary.

Since then, he has been assigned to Columbus St. Andrew, Columbus Immaculate Conception, New Philadelphia Sacred Heart, Dennison Immaculate Conception, Zoar Holy Trinity and Columbus Christ the King churches and spent a summer of Spanish-language immersion in Costa Rica. For the past year, he has served as a deacon at Christ the King while completing his priestly formation at the Josephinum.

Stinnett, 24, has completed his third year of theology studies at the Josephinum and anticipates being ordained to the priesthood next year. He is a member of Columbus Immaculate Conception Church and a graduate of Columbus St. Charles Preparatory School and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the Josephinum.

During summer breaks, he has served at Catholic Youth Summer Camp and Newark St. Francis de Sales, Hilliard St. Brendan the Navigator, Chillicothe St. Peter, Washington Court House St. Colman of Cloyne and Waverly St. Mary churches.