Fr. Brian Gross brings a wealth of pastoral experience to his new role at The Saint Paul Seminary.
The priest of the Diocese of Bismarck will become the seminary’s next director of pastoral formation this summer. Gross comes to St. Paul after spending the past 12 years as pastor of Epiphany Parish in Watford City, North Dakota and Our Lady of Consolation Parish in the nearby town of Alexander.
“I’ve always had a deep love for the priesthood and other priests,” Gross said. “The opportunity to help men who are being formed for priesthood as it is and needs to be for the coming decades is really something that’s near and dear to my heart.”
Gross will officially begin his new role June 1.
“People need more than just the Catechism spoken at them. They need real encounters with the living God through the priest acting in persona Christi (in the person of Christ).” — Fr. Brian Gross, incoming director of pastoral formation at The Saint Paul Seminary
He will replace Fr. Michael Skluzáček, who has served as director of pastoral formation since 2019. A renowned parish priest in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for the past 44 years, Skluzáček will retire Aug. 1, 2024.
“The prospect of retirement is certainly a bittersweet one for me,” said Skluzacek, who has served as pastor at four different parishes over 27 years. “The Lord has blessed me with so many amazing encounters and friendships throughout my priesthood, and The Saint Paul Seminary has been no exception. These last five years have been blessed. It has been such a privilege to walk with men in their formation for the priesthood. I will miss them and the community, and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for the seminary, specifically pastoral formation under Fr. Gross’ direction.”
[ RELATED: A Q&A with Fr. Brian Gross, the seminary’s incoming director of pastoral formation ]
Pastoral formation is one of the four main dimensions of seminary formation. It focuses primarily on preparing priests to effectively minister to those they’re called to serve.
The seminary’s pastoral formation efforts include its teaching parish program, which puts seminarians in real-world pastoral situations on a regular basis.
Gross has plenty of experience after leading a parish in a small North Dakota town that grew from 1,700 people to more than 10,000 at its peak during the region’s recent oil boom. With so many workers from all over the world moving into the area, Epiphany became one of the state’s most diverse parishes in a very short time.
The influx of new workers — many from Mexico, Guatemala and other Spanish-speaking countries — saw Gross start saying Mass in Spanish, something he never dreamed he would do.
“The opportunities I’ve had to serve people in varied ways the past 12 years that I never thought I would have experienced … are going to be valuable in communicating with seminarians,” said Gross, who also is involved with Encounter Ministries, Acts XXIX and the National Eucharistic Congress. “People need more than just the Catechism spoken at them. They need real encounters with the living God through the priest acting in persona Christi (in the person of Christ).”
Gross grew up in Bismarck, attended the Pontifical College Josephinum seminary in Columbus, Ohio and was ordained June 3, 2010.
“It has been such a privilege to walk with men in their formation for the priesthood. I will miss them and the community, and I can’t wait to see what God has in store for the seminary.” — Fr. Michael Skluzáček, outgoing director of pastoral formation at The Saint Paul Seminary
“I am extremely grateful to Bishop David Kagan for allowing Fr. Gross to join our community,” Saint Paul Seminary Rector Fr. Joseph Taphorn said. “Fr. Gross is a highly experienced pastor who is especially attentive to how the Holy Spirit is alive and at work in ministry. This approach fits so well into our mission at the seminary, and I am excited at how he will share the charisms he has received.
“At the same time, I am both happy for Fr. Skluzáček as he moves into his retirement years, and also sad that we won’t see him around the seminary as much. His work building out our pastoral formation team and program has been transformative for The Saint Paul Seminary and the many priests and seminarians who have benefited from his leadership and wisdom.”
Fr. Skluzáček will celebrate his retirement Mass at 10 a.m. Sunday, April 21 in St. Mary’s Chapel at The Saint Paul Seminary.