Rev. Paul Walker serves Christ Church as spiritual leader and head of the parish. Father Paul came to Christ Church from upstate New York, where he served as priest for the yoked parishes of Grace Church in Scottsville, NY, and St. Andrews Church, Caledonia, NY. In addition to his work with those churches, he was also a member of the clergy association for both communities and served as the dean of the district for Monroe County for four and a half years.
Rev. Walker was involved with the Rochester Institute of Technology. For three years he served as the school chaplain and was part of its Interfaith Center, where he helped develop the Student Advisory Board, giving the students input into campus event planning. While in New York, he served as vice moderator for the Diocesan Council and he chaired the Department of Social Ministries.
Rev. Walker also chaired the task force on AIDS and helped to establish the Interfaith Network for the region. This network became the AIDS Consortium, which oversaw AIDS funding for the region's nine counties. As part of his community involvement in Rochester, he was the fire department chaplain. He also chaired the Wheatland Police Task Force, whose job it was to determine whether a local police force should be maintained or reliance should be put on the county sheriff's office. He was also trained as a substance abuse counselor for the Wheatland-Chili school district.
Rev. Walker is working to develop a shared
ministry at Christ Church. He wants the members to share the responsibility
of the church and to make a difference in the community. The parish
needs to get to know the community and its needs and then "more
fully grasp its call to mission, as part of its baptismal covenant."
He came to Christ Church, Belleville, because he "felt drawn to Christ Church. I had the internal feeling that God was calling me to Belleville." Since coming to the church, he has encouraged us to renew our involvement with the Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN). IHN is a program that uses churches to house homeless families for a week at a time. Christ Church hosts families twice per year.
Additionally, the church has become involved with the Belleville Police Department through the Investing-N-Kids (INK) program. We have hosted a haunted house, a Christmas workshop, and an Easter Egg Hunt. Other programs are in the planning stage.
Anoter program is the development of a Soup Kitchen at the Church. Father Paul has been instrumental in obtaining grant money for this project and has prevailed upon the service organizations in Belleville to provide manpower for this program.
Rev. Walker has a Master of Science degree from Marywood College in Systematic Theology and Christian Education. He also has a Master of Divinity from Bexley Hall. He was ordained as a Deacon at the Church of the Nativity Cathedral in Bethlehem, PA in 1986 and ordained as a priest in 1987.
