Fr. Chris in two hundred and fifty words (or less!).
Fr. Chris Uhl, OMV, was born in Berea, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.
I have five siblings, still in the Cleveland area, and a total of 44 nieces, nephews and great-nieces and nephews. My Dad was a bus mechanic in the Cleveland Transit System, eventually becoming a foreman at the Westside garage. My Mom stayed at home in our early years, then worked as a school secretary. Both Mom and Dad are deceased.
All of us Uhls went through twelve years of Catholic education. I graduated from Padua Franciscan High School in Parma, another suburb of Cleveland. Most of my young adulthood I worked as an electronic bench technician. I was never far from the classroom, however, earning an Associate of Technical Study Degree and a B.A. from Cleveland State University. I graduated CSU in 1993 and in my work and prayer felt that God had another plan for me.
In 1994, I entered the Oblates of the Virgin Mary and made my first vows in 1997. I will not forget what drew me to the Oblates, because they remain the pillars of our Order — The Eucharist, The Blessed Virgin Mary, and faithfulness to the Church. I was ordained in 2003, and spent seven years as a parochial vicar at St. Mary’s in Alton, IL. From there I became the Director of the St. Francis Chapel in Boston for a little over a year, and then was made pastor of our parish in Denver, CO — Holy Ghost, where I served for eleven years. In 2022, I returned as pastor to St. Mary’s in Alton and God has led me to San Pedro in North Port, Florida.
In my yearly retreat, early in November, gratitude was a primary theme. In one prayer session I looked at my priesthood and my different assignments as works of art, painted by God in small or grand ways. My hope at San Pedro’s is for another beautiful masterpiece…I think it will be sunny….
FC
