Like many young men considering the priesthood, Father Matthew Hoover wasn’t sure he wanted to serve the church in a full-time role. But when his idle thoughts kept leading in the same direction, he knew God was calling him.
“I graduated from Lancaster Fisher Catholic High School in 1987 and had been encouraged to consider the priesthood by several priests who were in Lancaster at the time, including Father (Paul) Noble, who was principal, Msgr. (Robert) Noon and Msgr. (William) Dunn,” said Father Hoover, pastor of Columbus Immaculate Conception Church.
“But I was uncertain about the priesthood, so I began college classes at Ohio University-Lancaster (OUL).
“My major was computer programming. Not that I had any great interest in computers or anything else. It was more like I had this long list of possible majors, closed my eyes, aimed my finger and saw where it pointed, and it landed on computer science,” he said.
“OU was on the quarter system then. In the spring quarter, I was sitting in computer class without the least bit of interest. I kept daydreaming, and the dreams were all about the priesthood. The thought occurred, ‘What am I doing here at OUL when I keep feeling the call to be a priest?’ So, I left school, applied to the (Pontifical College) Josephinum and started there in 1988.”
Father Hoover’s first thoughts about the priesthood came long before that. “My vocation story actually began at Jackson Holy Trinity Church, where most of my religious education occurred in CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) classes because Jackson didn’t have a Catholic school,” he said.
“The third-grade catechist asked the class to draw pictures of what they wanted to be when they grew up. I drew a picture of a church, with an altar and a priest celebrating Mass. That excited the catechist, and she told the pastor, he told my parents and they told their friends. Jackson’s a small town, so before you know it, everyone was saying, ‘Matt’s going to be a priest.’”
Father Hoover, 54, was born in Warsaw, Indiana. He has an older sister, born in Canton, and two younger brothers, born in Michigan and West Virginia. He said the family lived in 17 places in five states (also including Oklahoma) over the years because their father, Daniel, a meat inspector, now deceased, was constantly being reassigned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Their mother, Diane, who lives in Lancaster, worked in several nursing care facilities.
The constant moves meant Father Hoover was a one-person First Holy Communion class in Jackson and wasn’t confirmed until he was in 10th grade. He attended three high schools – Southwestern High School near Rio Grande, Ohio; Jackson High; and Fisher Catholic. His only other year of full-time Catholic education came in kindergarten at Portsmouth Notre Dame Elementary School. The family lived in several southeast Ohio communities before settling in Lancaster about 35 years ago.
After Father Hoover completed seminary studies at the Josephinum and the Pontifical North American College in Rome, he was ordained on June 24, 1995 at Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral by Bishop James Griffin, who also had confirmed him.
His first assignment was at the New Albany Church of the Resurrection, which at the time was celebrating Masses and having all other parish functions in what is now the parish center.
“We had to change setups in the building all the time,” he said. “We converted a spare room into a confessional by setting up a screen, a kneeler and a chair in it. Father Jerry Rodenfels was pastor, and right before I was to hear confession for the first time, he gave me some instructions on using the room.
“He left, I heard footsteps, and I thought, ‘How will I handle my first confession as a priest?’ I opened the screen, saw Father Jerry on the other side and thought, ‘Oh no! My pastor is my first penitent!’
“It turned out he just wanted to tell me one or two more things, but I never forgot that moment. I was at Resurrection for only two years, but I learned a lot from Father Jerry that has served me well,” he said.
That was followed by one year at Columbus St. Peter Church, a year of studies in Rome and five years as diocesan vocations director, with residence at Gahanna St. Matthew Church.
“Father Noble, my former principal, was pastor, and Msgr. (Stephan) Moloney (now diocesan vicar general) was also in residence. That was a great blessing because living with them gave me a real sense of priestly fraternity. It’s also the last time I was part of a community with other priests,” he said.
Father Hoover’s first pastorate was from 2004 to 2009 at Wheelersburg St. Peter in Chains and New Boston St. Monica churches. “That was a good time to be in a rural community as a pastor,” he said. “Those were wonderful small towns with many faith-filled people.
“St. Peter has a long, long history and is one of the few parishes with a cemetery next to the church. St. Monica and St. Peter were great places to be a first-time pastor.” St. Monica was closed as part of the parish consolidation that created the Scioto Catholic community.
“Bishop (Frederick) Campbell called me in the summer of 2009 and said he needed a priest at Dover St. Joseph,” so Father Hoover went from the diocese’s southern edge to its northeast corner in that year. “That was a challenging summer because the parish schools at Dover and next door in New Philadelphia were being combined into Tuscarawas Central Catholic Elementary School,” he said.
“We worked that out and were dealing as well with the continuing growth of the Latino population, primarily immigrants from Guatemala coming to work in poultry farms. A priest is always learning and growing, so to serve the people here, I learned Spanish beyond what I was taught in school and had picked up in Italy.
“I began to say Masses in Spanish, then to deliver homilies in the language with the help of an interpreter. People were very appreciative of what I was doing, and I’m grateful for their patience and their willingness to teach me the things I needed to know.”
Father Hoover was in Dover from 2009 until he was transferred to Immaculate Conception in 2013. His 11 years at the parish in Columbus’ Clintonville neighborhood are the longest time he has lived in one place. He was there for the parish centennial in 2016 and will be celebrating the parish school’s 100th anniversary during the coming academic year.
“I’m blessed to be in a community of generational faith, where people have sent their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and beyond to attend school. Many diocesan priests have been nurtured here, including Fathers (Brian) Beal and (Jacob) Stinnett, both recently ordained, Father David E. Young, Msgr. (Thomas) Gallen, Father Kenneth Grimes, Msgr. (Edward) Trenor, Father (Charles) Cotton and Father (Charles) Klinger, among others,” he said.
“I’ve had many priests who were influential in my life. One who stands out is the late Msgr. Noon, who was pastor at Lancaster St. Bernadette, helped guide me toward the priesthood and is much beloved by many people.
“Another is Msgr. Tony Frecker, who is in residence with me at Immaculate Conception. He has known me since I was a seminarian and has provided an example and a witness of faith throughout his priesthood.
“What’s given me the greatest gift and blessing during my priesthood is the ability to be intimately involved in the lives of people on their own spiritual journeys, especially in times of both great joy and great need. I don’t think any other profession allows you so closely into people’s lives,” Father Hoover said.
“The biggest challenge for a pastor is the day-to-day operations for which he must be responsible. This is something priests aren’t really trained for in the seminary. I couldn’t handle managing the parish without a well-trained staff to help take care of its physical needs. A pastor’s responsibility is caring for souls, but you need a building where those people can gather.”