Father Lambert Nieme Prepares for a New Assignment

Having served St. Martha Parish and St. Mary Parish for five years, sadly Fr. Lambert’s time with us will soon be coming to an end. Assignments for recently ordained priests are typically three to five years, so this is not a complete surprise, but anytime a parish priest is transferred it is a major change both for him and for the community he serves. Like most of the priests who are transferring this spring, he is not sure yet where his next assignment will be, but we anticipate Fr. Lambert will be leaving near the end of May. We do not know for certain when we might get another full-time priest, but we are hopeful that one may be assigned on or around June 1st. If there is any gap between these assignments, our weekend assistant, Fr. Bernie Baris, and other priests from the La Salette Shrine are ready to assist us in any way they can.

From his first Masses with us, Fr. Lambert has been a powerful inspiration and challenge for us to raise the bar in our worship, joy, and enthusiasm in our faith! He quickly began the first of several Bible study programs he offered over the years, helped to get our Masses online from the first weekend of pandemic cancellation of public worship, and was a driving force in restoring public worship as early as possible. We have all learned a lot from Fr. Lambert – myself included – and he has learned from his experience with us. The first couple of assignments for a new priest are very significant in helping one to get acclimated to the ministry and life of diocesan priesthood. Thank you all for helping to welcome Fr. Lambert into our collaborative parish community, to know he loved and appreciated, and to grow in the experience of parish ministry as a priest.

Hello’s and Goodbye’s are important times in our lives and relationships, so please take advantage of the remaining weeks we have with Fr. Lambert to express your appreciation for his ministry and wish him well. While we had started plans for appreciation socials in his honor, Father Lambert has requested that we not have any receptions for him – he wants his final Masses in the parishes to be his celebration. Unless he changes his mind, when we know the date of his transfer and times of those Masses, we will of course let you know as soon as possible.

Please pray for Father Lambert and our collaborative parishes in this time of transition, as I know you will. We will update you as more information becomes available.