Huncote: St James the Greater

My lovely journey (adventure) with the faith in the Church.

My journey began Cheong do, S. Korea in 1965, 54 years ago. I am an Italian of Korean origin. I am married to Sara and I have two children, John and Anne. John is 12 years old and Anne is 9 years old. I am very happy to live as a priest and thank God that he has both called me to be a priest, and given me this opportunity to work in Huncote and Eyres Monsell in Leicester Diocese.

During my time in the Seminary in Rome between 1993 and 2000 I obtained a BA in Philosophy, a BA in Theology and an MTH in Theology at Pontifical University, Gregorian, Italy. I served as Assistant Curate at the Parish Church of St Anselm for 7 years and finally as Parish Priest at the Parish Church of St Patrick in Rome for 1 year.

I am an Italian of Korean origin and am married to Sara and we have two children, John who is 12 years old and Anne who is 9 years old. During my 8 years of parish work in Rome I met Sara who I fell in love with and we were married at all Saints Anglican Church in Rome in 2006.

My next move was to England where I had experience as a Parish worker in Peckham, London and have been a member of St James in New Malden since March 2010. From there I went to St Stephens House in Oxford and it was with great joy that I stayed in this college where I could learn about the Church of England and English culture through the college life and personal studies which I did for 2 years.

Having now ministered in South Korea, Italy and England I am very much aware of the cultural and religious differences between people of different nationalities and believes that I am quite able to adapt and learn from each new situation.

I was appointed Assistant Priest at the Parish Churches of St John and Mary Magdalene, Goldthorpe and St Wilfrid, Hickleton in the Diocese of Sheffield in July 2012. After one year and half, in March 2014, I was appointed Priest in Charge at the Parish Churches of St Nicolas, Ryecroft and Holy trinity, Dalton and has really enjoyed working as a Priest, Missionary, and Evangelist in South Yorkshire.

I believe that prayer is very important in the life of priest. I am very pleased and feel continually loved by the Church and Our Lord Jesus Christ. As St Francis of Assisi said “everyone wants to meet a Saint, but nobody wants to be one”: I think it is very important to have good relationship with Jesus in daily life. I can’t think about being a priest without prayer. To some people, the word ‘priest’ is synonymous with prayer. I remember that Pope John Paul II wrote of the priesthood as a ‘gift and mystery’, which meant that the priest is charactierised by an element of mystery, sacredness and holiness when he is sent into the world and into the everyday lives of people.

I hope and pray for people of Huncote and Eyres Monsell and also wish to meet you all and abide with Jesus’ Love.

God bless you all and you are all lovely in Christ!

Fr Andrew Lee

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Huncote: St James the Greater

Welcome Fr Andrew to St James Church Community here in Huncote