The parishioners of St. Philip Neri Catholic Church have been wishing Father Keith Pellerin farewell.
“I will miss the people,” he said as he prepared to leave Kinder. He described his parishioners as a warm welcoming family. “You’re like a family member here. I’m going to miss their passion for sports.” He said he always tried to attend any event whether it was football, baseball, etc.
“I’m going to miss the food,” he added thoughtfully. “But mostly the people. Their devotion to their faith.”
Father Pellerin said this area has a strong faith based community of people. He said it doesn’t matter what religion they represent, here in Kinder faith is alive.
When he first came to Kinder, Brother Don Barrett of the Kinder Bible Church “visited with me and filled me in on the community. Then we came up with the idea for a ministerial alliance to celebrate unity and respect our differences.”
The goal with the alliance was to work together. In the beginning there were seven to eight churches that became members of the alliance. “It has done some wonderful work here.”
Father Pellerin said the annual pro-life banquet is sponsored by the alliance. They also hold a Thanksgiving Prayer Service, and they started the Shepherd’s Pantry for those who needed groceries. He added the alliance also came together for Terry Courville on Memorial Day for the blessing of the veterans graves.
As administrator at St. Philip Neri, he said he is pleased with the renovated hall and new pavilion. He said he enjoys the Harvest Festival, which can now be held despite the weather. A new kitchen and renovated rectory office was completed, and the ground work for the renovation of the church was proposed. He will be passing the project on to the next pastor.
Father Pellerin said it was important to be a good steward of buildings to help maintain them. He said it was important to pass on the history of these buildings to our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren for generations.
Due to COVID-19, the congregation did a walk-through reception for him at the end of mass. He said parishioners walked by him and bid him farewell.
In last Sunday’s bulletin, his new address and phone number was printed in the bulletin for those who hoped to keep in touch. He hoped members of his congregation would call him.
“It has been a privilege, truly a privilege, to be welcomed into people’s lives – to be trusted from womb to tomb,” he said. Father Pellerin said a priest travels the journey of life with a parishioner from baptism to marriage to death, and he was honored as a servant of God to be welcomed to do just that in very intimate and different moments as people share with God. “Being invited, I don’t take lightly. It’s a privilege to walk with them during different times in life.”
Father Pellerin was born in Church Point on August 22, 1961. At the age of two, his family moved to Lake Charles. His father worked at PPG for approximately 34 years. He graduated from La Grange High School in 1979, the Gators. He attended college at McNeese and then joined the Air Force for four years. He spent two years in Germany and two in Biloxi, Mississippi, as a medic. It’s what led him to the priesthood. He went back to college on the G.I. Bill.
“As a medic, I received this particular calling. After finishing his degree, he entered the seminary and after five years of study he was ordained a priest in 1998 in Lake Charles. He said Tuesday, June 30, was the 22nd anniversary of being ordained as a priest.
Father Pellerin is returning to his first assignment where he once spent 11 months as an associate priest. in Jennings. He is looking forward to the challenges associated with the school, Our Lady Immaculate School, and church, Immaculate Conception Church. His fourth assignment was six years ago when he came to Kinder.
As he reflected on his time in Kinder and thought about his next assignment, Father Pellerin said he was looking forward to new challenges. He said, “Challenges teach us something about ourselves and our relationship with God. It’s not a problem but an opportunity to grow.”
