Mark Rutherford

Theology III
Sacred Heart Major Seminary
Home Parish: Christ the King, Ann Arbor

I grew up in the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti area all my life. I am number three of four boys and as you can imagine, there was lots of competition and lots of sports. We were mostly a hockey family. I played hockey, wrestled and anything else that involved me crunching someone else.

Between sixth grade and eighth, I internally rejected the Catholic faith my parents handed down to me. I did not care for it, though externally I went to Mass and did everything I was obligated to do. In school, I got involved with the wrong crowds and did many…many wrong things. I was essentially a jock with an attitude and incidentally a Catholic.

I first experienced a “call” the day after I met Jesus. At a Steubenville Youth Conference in 1997 I gave my life to Jesus. On the Sunday of that conference they did an alter call after Mass for every man who had ever thought of priesthood in order to pray for them. Having just met Jesus I now felt an inner drive to go up there. Well, like the lost-sheep-having-been-found that I was, I went up. After this and spending time in prayer, Scripture and the sacraments, the call became stronger and stronger.

My parish, Christ the King Catholic Church in Ann Arbor, my pastor, Fr. Ed Fride and the Life Teen program deeply influenced my vocation, making it easy for me to faithfully respond to the call of the Lord Jesus in my life.

From 2000-2005, I went to Ave Maria College and joined the Pre-Theologate Program (a wonderful formation program for guys thinking about a possible vocation to priesthood). Four years later I became a seminarian and am now at Sacred Heart Major Seminary (a wonderful place where Jesus reveals more fully the sound of His call for any man willing to listen). I am still a jock, but a jock for Jesus.