Fr. Brandon Farrar

Believe it or not: I wasn’t always Fr. Farrar. :-) I grew up on a small, family farm in southwestern Kansas. St. Helen’s in Hugoton is my home parish. I have an older brother and a younger sister. My dear parents, Richard and Jan, now live in Liberal, KS, just down the street from my brother, Ryan and his family, and about 45 minutes from my sister, Nicole and her family. I’m blessed with six nieces and nephews, whom I don’t see nearly as often as I would like.

I count it a special grace to have grown up in a devout, Catholic home. My brother and I regularly assisted as altar boys. We prayed the rosary, attended CCD classes and parish events, prayed together as a family, enjoyed dinners with our pastor and went to Confessions together, after which we occasionally had the good fortune to get a 32oz pop from the convenience store—a rarity with a mom who disallowed chocolate and sugar. Yeah, that was somewhat traumatic, but hey, none of us kids have a cavity to this day.

Even though I grew up in such a home, I didn’t consider the priesthood until college. I began my studies as an engineering major, but during my sophomore year Providence struck and I began wrestling with God over what I began to think He was calling me to do. I ended up finishing college
with a psychology degree—thinking like Jonah that I might be able to outrun God, or at least strike a compromise. I began graduate school studying counseling psychology, but the Hound of Heaven wouldn’t leave me be.

I entered seminary in 2001, studying in both Chicago and Rome. I was ordained a Priest of Jesus Christ on the Feast of the Birth of St. John the Baptist in 2006. After ordination, I spent three years as a parochial vicar at St. Joseph’s in Shawnee, then six years as pastor in Baldwin City and other
parishes, along with a little ministry at Baker University. Following that assignment, I served for six years as pastor of Sacred Heart in Emporia, before being named pastor here at St. John Paul II in 2021. I couldn’t be happier to have the Patron we do, or to be here with all of you, as we undertake this task of building something holy, beautiful and new.