John Utecht

Greetings in Christ,

My name is John Utecht and I am a seminarian in Third Theology at the Saint Paul Seminary in Saint Paul. I grew up in St. Paul and Hastings, Minnesota, with my mom and dad, Joe and Margaret, and my three sisters and one brother. I have always enjoyed any kind of outdoor activities like hunting, fishing, rock climbing, and playing sports. One of my favorite activities is camping in the boundary waters. My home parish is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, and it was there that I first encountered God and his great love and mercy. After graduating from Hastings High School,l I served with a missionary organization called NET ministries. It was while serving on NET where I learned to pray and grew a lot in my relationship with the Lord, to the point where I felt that God was calling me to make my life one of service as a priest. I was very reluctant to enter seminary at first, but slowly and through lots of prayer I began to see my call as a gift. My time in seminary has been very blessed with lots of opportunities to pray, study, and grow in pastoral experience. I have especially grown in pastoral experience by spending time, teaching, praying, and learning at my teaching parish, St. Michael’s in St. Michael, MN. I am now in my seventh year of seminary and with only a year and a half before I am ordained a priest, I can’t wait to receive that gift of priesthood. 
Christ’s Peace, John Utecht