My name is Father Michael. I would first like you to know me as a Catholic Christian who seeks to follow the person of Jesus Christ in whom my hope for eternal life is found. I grew up as a protestant evangelical Christian on the east coast of Long Island in the awesome state of New York.
I spent four years in Ohio attending a Christian evangelical university where I received a B.A. in Education. I then entered the Army Chaplain program and attended an evangelical seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I completed my seminary studies and was weeks away from completing Army Chaplain Officer school when I experienced my first encounter with Catholic Christianity.
I was invited to a Mass on the army base and after extensive discussions with a Catholic seminarian I came to conclude that the fullest, deepest, richest expression of the Christian faith endures in the Catholic Church. I entered the Catholic Church during the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday 2011.
If you would like to watch the interview I did for The Journey Home program on the EWTN Catholic television channel:
If you are interested in reading a more detailed story about my conversion, you can click on the following article title:
From Narnia to Middle Earth: An Unexpected Journey into the Catholic Church
These past few years have been full of joy as I have learned more about the history of Christianity and have found grace-filled opportunities to deepen my faith. Today, I am the Associate Pastor at St. Paul the Apostle parish in the Diocese of Grand Rapids as a priest of Jesus Christ in His, One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church!
Ordination to the Priesthood
You may watch my ordination to the priesthood here: FACEBOOK VIDEO
Here is a link to the photos from the ordination: Ordination Photos
Here are the two videos of First Masses I celebrated at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Grand Rapids (a link to the picture album is below):
Click here for photos from the First Masses: Photo Album
Contact Me:
If you would like to talk with me about what I have shared or have any questions about my life and faith journey, you may contact me through the Facebook link below or you can contact me using this form:
Michael Goodwin’s Profile
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The Easter People 
Blog looks great. Will be reading! I added it to my reader.
Hi Mike. Nice site.
I haven’t seen you recently at “work”. Maybe I’ll see you this weekend.
God Bless you.
Thank you for your conversion story. It was wonderfully written. I am currently working on My Masters in Catholic Theology and will begin the permanent Diaconate Program in Dallas TX next year. I was born in Port Jeff, also loved Narnia and Lord of the Ringa. Great stuff man, keep writing. Peace be with you, Michael Stenson
Good website, Fr. Michael. I’m still figuring my way through blogs and stuff like that. Oddly, I never used them in all of my computer usage. Mostly used computers for work and technical stuff. I’ll catch up.