SAGINAW — The following clerical assignments have been announced by Bishop Robert Gruss:
Father Edwin Dwyer will serve as Parochial Administrator pro tem of St. Cyril Parish, Bannister effective the first Sunday of Advent, November 30 – June 30, 2020.
He will be assisting another priest who serves as pastor of St. Peter Parish, Chesaning and St. Cyril Parish, Banister. In order to address his own health concerns, the Pastor has welcomed Father Dwyer to have responsibility for St. Cyril Parish through June 2020.
In addition, Father Dwyer, a canon lawyer, will serve in the diocesan tribunal on a part-time basis.
Bishop Gruss is very grateful for Father Dwyer’s patience and understanding in awaiting a new assignment. Though he has been a priest in good standing, it has been a difficult time for him. The period of time in which Father Dwyer was out of parish ministry was due to the time necessary for Bishop Gruss to assess the situation after arriving in Saginaw and finding a place for him.
“I am sure Father Dwyer will serve the people in Banister well,” Bishop Gruss said.
Father Michael Steltenkamp, S.J., is now serving as parochial administrator of St. John XXIII Parish, which includes churches in Ryan, Merrill and Hemlock.
Father Steltenkamp is a priest of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and is originally from Detroit.
Bishop Robert Gruss and Father Steltenkamp previously worked together when the Bishop was in Rapid City, SD and was preparing a proposal that the Lakota (Sioux) holy man, Nicholas Black Elk, be considered for canonization. Because Father Steltenkamp had authored Black Elk: Holy Man of the Oglala and Nicholas Black Elk: Medicine Man, Missionary, Mystic, he was a prime consultant for the cause. Both books were published by the University of Oklahoma Press while his third book, The Sacred Vision, was published by Paulist Press.
Father Steltenkamp has degrees from the University of Detroit, Indiana University, Loyola University of Chicago, and Michigan State University (where he earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology).
He taught at Red Cloud High School on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and was a teacher and campus minister at Nouvel Catholic Central in Saginaw. He served as pastor of St. Isaac Jogues Parish in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan, and was in campus ministry at St. John's Student Parish while in doctoral studies.
He also taught at Saginaw Valley State University, and Bay Mills Community College on the Bay Mills Reservation in Brimley, Michigan. He comes to us from Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, WV where he was a Professor of Anthropology and Religious Studies.
Bishop Gruss is grateful that Father Steltenkamp reached out to the Diocese of Saginaw and is now part of our presbyterate. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge and many different types of priestly ministry.