Sturgeon Bay Native Ordained in Oshkosh

A Sturgeon Bay native was ordained to the priesthood at his Oshkosh church this month, more than three decades after he completed his seminary education. Jake Czarnik-Neimeyer was ordained Nov. 23 at Emmaus parish, 1250 Leonard Point Road, Oshkosh. Czarnik-Neimeyer, a longtime deacon at Emmaus parish, earned his bachelor’s degree in religious studies at St. Norbert College in De Pere in 1977. He then completed his master of divinity degree in 1984 at St. John’s University.

“I had finished my graduate studies in divinity, and I was teaching in a Milwaukee high school, planning to pursue ordination, when I had a change of heart,” explained Czarnik-Neimeyer, “I decided instead to marry and raise a family.

“Then, about a decade ago, I affiliated with the ECC, the Ecumenical Catholic Communion, which permits its clergy to marry, and I began to reconsider my long-ago decision.”

Bishop Raphael Adams, who leads the Mid-America Diocese of the Ecumenical Catholic Communion, traveled from diocesan headquarters in Chicago to conduct the ceremony.

Married with four adult children, Czarnik-Neimeyer and wife Cindy, who is a psychotherapist, now live in Appleton.