To My Sisters and Brothers in Christ at Saint Leonard and Saint Frances of Rome…

Grace to you and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ.

How good it is to be with you through the next months until the arrival of your new pastor in mid June. As the temporary administrator I’m here to walk with you, to pray with you, to work with you and serve you a priest. I hope to get to know you as we walk along toward the Kingdom of God together. I hope we won’t be strangers for long.

If anyone is wondering what to call me, Fr. Pepper will work well enough. The whole thing is Trumie Culpepper Elliott. But don’t worry about that. I get mail addressed every way imaginable.

To begin with, I was bred and born in the briar patch and I grew up in Barnesville, Georgia. I’m sure you would guess that when you hear me talk. I’ve been in Kentucky for nearly fifty-four years and I ran away to the seminary from Louisville, so I’m here for the duration.

Briefly, here’s the course of my priesthood which commenced on May 28, 1988 after five seminary years at Saint Meinrad. I was as associate priest first at Saint Edward in Jeffersontown and then at Saint James in Elizabethtown. I was first a pastor at Saint Gregory in Nelson County from 1995 to 2003 and then at Saint Dominic in Springfield from 2003 until retirement as pastor in 2019. I still claim to live in Springfield, though in the last five years of “retirement” it has been a great grace to serve as the temporary administrator in six different parish assignments from three to ten months.

It is so good to begin my time with you during Holy Week and Easter. I’ll be in residence at St. Frances of Rome’s Parish House, and available for any and all pastoral needs. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. At least pull on my sleeve and wave at me as you leave mass.

Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. Pepper Elliott