Jimmy Hatfield, while preparing to be ordained a Deacon

Ordained a transitional deacon June 6th, 2009 in his preparation for priesthood.

Jimmy Hatfield grew up in Reynoldsburg and was raised Baptist. “Faith was very big in my house. My mother read the bible to us,” said Jimmy. “The first time I thought about ministry, I was 7 or 8 years old. I was at Vacation Bible School and the teacher read us a book about a missionary and I began to think about ministry.”

Jimmy converted to Catholicism and joined the Catholic Church on December, 16th, 1988; he was 32 years old.

Jimmy’s journey to the Catholic Church began when he did some catering for Pre-Cana group at St. Mary of the Springs in Columbus. He became friends with one of elderly nuns, Sister Geanette Waligore. “Sister was partially paralyzed from a stroke, but she was so happy because she was so in love with Jesus, we talked and talked about the Catholic Church.”

He decided to visit Columbus St. Matthias and that is where he met Fr. Raymond Lavelle. “I attended a 6:30 a.m. weekday Mass one day, and I thought to myself, that these Catholics must really love their faith to be here so early in the morning,” said Jimmy. “Fr. Lavelle and I began talking and he so patiently answered my questions about Catholicism.”

Another Catholic friend gave him some books and videos from the Office of Religious Education about Catholicism. His hunger for more information grew.

“It was so ironic. When I was a Baptist, I was under so many misconceptions and misunderstandings about the Catholic Church,” said Jimmy. “But when I found Catholicism, I knew that this was my home. I converted and I was very excited about becoming a priest. But Fr. Lavelle advised me to be patient, to pray, to learn about the faith, and to see where God was leading me.”

Jimmy continued to get more involved in the Catholic Church. He taught adult bible study and PSR, and he joined the Chrism two-year ministry formation at the St. Therese Center. “Chrism was such a great ministry formation program – the prayer, the community, the books, and the mentored ministry. It helped me settle into the faith. God had brought me to that point.”

As a younger man, Jimmy had been music major in college in New Mexico. He was also in the Air Force as an air traffic controller from 1974-1978. In 1986, he came to Ohio and worked in restaurant management and continued in volunteer ministries.

In 1998, Jimmy began working on a Bachelor’s in Theology at Ohio Dominican University; he graduated in 2005. While attending ODU, he worked part time as Director of Ministry Formation for the Diocese of Columbus and he also worked at the Cathedral Book Store.

Dcn. Jim Keating was Jimmy’s spiritual director. Jimmy was discerning a call to the diaconate when Dcn. Keating suggested that he pray about God possibly calling him to the priesthood.

“Dcn. Keating had a lot of reasons for asking me to discern a possible call to the priesthood. So I decided to take a second look at the priesthood, pray, and talk to Fr. Jeff Coning about seminary. I also spoke with many of my friends who know me well,” said Jimmy. “Through prayer, insight from friends, and spiritual direction, I realized that God was calling me to the priesthood. What a lovely opportunity to give 100% to serving God as a priest.”

Jimmy acknowledges that he had not initially focused on praying about a call to the priesthood because he was somewhat older than the typical seminarian and because of his admiration and friendship with deacons in his parish.

Jimmy completed the entrance papers for seminary ,and was on his way to a summer scripture program at Notre Dame University in June, 2005, when: “I stopped by the Chancery on my way out of town, and Bishop Campbell informed me that I had been accepted into seminary.”

“I was so thrilled because it had been 17 years of discernment –17 valuable years of education and experience in the diocese. I wouldn’t have traded that experience for anything. All my friends will help me to be a priest.”

Jimmy had one year of Pre-theology at the Josephinum and three years of Theology. He will be ordained a deacon June 6th, 2009, and is anticipating the call from Bishop Campbell to presbyterate ordination on May 29th, 2010.

“It has been a marvelous experience. It is like coming back home. With my experience in Ministry Formation, it was like coming back home when I arrived at the Josephinum and it was so exciting to be admitted here,” said Jimmy, who is 52 years old.

“It is a lot of hard work, but it keeps me feeling young being around the young guys. With Hurricane Katrina, the seminary in the Diocese of Alexandria was damaged and the seminarians came to the Josephinum. One of the men is my age and we have become very good friends,” said Jimmy.

“It is such a remarkable privilege to study and pray and have this uninterrupted time to do so. I am so thankful to the diocese and he people of the diocese.”

“I try to open up to the formation – there are so many new things to learn,” said Jimmy. “I will make my ministry close to the ministry of Christ.”

Jimmy had three “wonderful” summer assignments with priests who he describes as “excellent mentors.” He served at Portsmouth Holy Redeemer Portsmouth, Delaware St. Mary, and Westerville St. Paul.

”I had small town and suburban assignments and I learned so much. I learned about balance as a priest, that God is just as present in the big parishes as the small, and I enjoyed getting to know the people.”

 “As I prepare for the diaconate ordination, I would describe the experiences as humbling. It will be an honor and it is the next step in formation. I need to hold on to Christ and stay close to Him as He is the source of our ministry, and without Him, we cannot bring the love of Christ to other people.”

Jimmy continues, “I approach this honor with a sense of gravity and I try to maintain my sense of humor.”

His advice to others who may have a call to priesthood, especially older men is this: “There are challenges for older men in seminary, but even more, there are the blessings of being with younger guys and experiencing their energy and enthusiasm – it is contagious.”

He also recommends prayer and spiritual direction. “Find a good spiritual director to help you through the discernment. God will open up the doors. Never force any decision or movement. Good friends help you and so does a good pastor. This is your opportunity. Deepen your prayer life and recognize it when God opens the doors.”