New Pastor Announcement, Welcome Beth Giese, Gala Thanks

My Dear Sisters and Brothers,

Happy Easter!

May the grace and blessings of the Resurrection of Our Lord be with you ever more efficaciously this Easter season.

This past weekend, I announced at the Nativity of Our Lord Night to Shine Spring Gala (as well as at each of the Lord’s Day Masses) that Archbishop Hebda has named Fr. Rolf Tollefson as my successor as pastor of Nativity of Our Lord, effective July 1.  

Fr. Tollefson has served as pastor of St. Hubert’s Catholic Community in Chanhassen for the past twelve years, which included leadership of a parish school of similar size to our own. Before that, he served seven years on the staff of St. John Vianney College Seminary at the University of St. Thomas.

I know Fr. Tollefson personally and am happy to say the parish will be in good hands under his pastoral leadership upon my retirement. Please click here for a message from Fr. Tollefson himself, and stay tuned for further details on the pastoral transition.

I would also like to personally welcome Beth Giese to our staff as Director of Advancement.  Beth comes with decades of distinguished fundraising experience in Catholic non-profit organizations, most recently at Visitation School in Mendota Heights.

I would also like to thank the volunteer hiring committee for their significant commitment to helping us develop and execute a plan for hiring Beth for the position.  I am confident Beth will do an excellent job helping Nativity develop a long term, sustainable outlook for a very bright future!

(In case you missed her introduction in the Easter bulletin, you can learn more about Beth here.)

Finally, thank you to all the volunteer leaders who made the Night to Shine Spring Gala a great success, and to all who attended and gave so generously. A great time was had by all, and it was a great example of what makes Nativity of Our Lord such an outstanding parish community.

And may God bless you and your families this week.

Fr. Patrick Hipwell, Pastor of Nativity of Our Lord