We extend a warm welcome to Fr. Chris Cordes as he begins his ministry at St. Vincent de Paul. Most recently, Fr. Chris served as pastor of St. Andrew Parish in Holts Summit and as Vicar for Priests for the Diocese of Jefferson City. As he settles into his new assignment, Fr. Chris looks forward to becoming part of the parish community, celebrating the sacraments, and getting to know the people of St. Vincent de Paul.
Fr. Chris grew up in Jefferson City, at St. Peter Parish, and attended Northeast Missouri State University — now Truman State University. He attended a Teens Encounter Christ (TEC) retreat here in Sedalia shortly before college, which proved to be a pivotal experience in his faith journey. Combined with his involvement in the Newman Center and Bible studies during college, it helped Fr. Chris recognize that his faith was becoming the most important part of his life and eventually led him to discern a vocation to the priesthood.
Fr. Chris comes from a committed Catholic family. His father, Thomas Cordes, Jr., passed away in 2009. His mother, Gerrie Cordes, lives in Jefferson City. He has two sisters, Jenny and Angela. Both are married, and he has three nephews. He spends time with his family as often as he can. He attended Catholic grade school at St. Peter and high school at Helias Catholic.
“A really significant part of my call was in high school,” he says. “My football coach, Ray Hentges, who was also one of my religion teachers, just the way that he taught religion and talked about faith really inspired me. It deepened my commitment.”
In early college, Fr. Chris didn’t really think about the priesthood, but he gradually started to warm up to the idea.
“I just found that the things I was doing with my faith were the most important and what I enjoyed and really wanted to do most of all,” he says.
After he graduated from college, he headed to the seminary. Fr. Chris was ordained in 1995.
“The priests that I knew at my parish and in high school and in college were good examples for me, too,” he says. “I enjoyed listening to them and learning what their lives were like.”
Fr. Chris admits that the biggest hurdle in discerning the priesthood was embracing a vocation that meant giving up marriage and children.
“Eventually coming to a peace with that was the biggest step in getting finally to petitioning for ordination,” he says.
If Fr. Chris had the chance to do it all over again, he would. He most enjoys all of the opportunities a priest has to be involved in the Church and people’s lives. On the flip side, he has been surprised by all the ways a priest is involved. Every assignment is a bit different, too.
“I think that each parish or each assignment is challenging in different ways and involves the priest in different ways,” he says. “So just adjusting to that and adapting to that with each new assignment has been challenging at times.”
Another joy has been simply celebrating Mass and being a pastoral leader in parishes.
Fr. Chris shares that he’s a “mild to medium” introvert and is calm and steady.
“I’m pretty deliberate in making decisions,” he says. “I’m not a high-energy, extroverted kind of person. I enjoy having conversations with people to get to know them.”
His first step at a parish is to listen and get to know the parish and its people. He values collaboration and consultation.
“I look forward to becoming part of the community and celebrating sacraments, building community, and discovering how St. Vincent de Paul uniquely does those things and being part of that,” he says.
Fr. Chris is excited to see what’s in store for him at St. Vincent de Paul. He loves to see strong Mass attendance and a sense of community. He’s always impressed by outreach to those in need. A strong faith formation program is important.
“Those are all good signs,” he says.
In his free time, Fr. Chris enjoys traveling and putting together photo albums of his travels. He enjoys visiting cathedrals, capitals, battlefields, sports stadiums, museums, and more. He also enjoys watching football and baseball.
Fr. Chris has recommendations for young men considering the priesthood — be open to God.
“There are definitely challenges, but there really are a lot of blessings as well,” he says. “If you sense a calling or a pull toward it, it’s really important to follow that, at least in terms of doing the initial discernment and giving it a chance to see if that is what the call is.”