Drawn in by the Eucharist

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of feature stories about the lives and careers of our diocesan priests before they answered the call to their true vocation—proving that God calls from all walks of life.
 
Father Terry Wipf’s faith journey has taken him from Presbyterian to Catholic; and his vocational journey from music teacher to the priesthood.
 
Father Terry is currently parochial vicar at the Church of Corpus Christi in Bismarck where he has been for eight years.  Although he was born into a Baptist family and grew up Presbyterian in Cavalier, North Dakota, he became a Catholic priest 18 years ago at the age of 42.
 
The attraction began with Jesus. “It’s because of the Eucharist especially,” he said.  “As Christians, we are all about Jesus and the Eucharist is the maximum amount of Jesus.” The first 42 years of his life, were a journey of faith and sometimes challenges, that ended up bringing him to where he is today, “feeling privileged to be a priest.”
 
Born in 1958, Wipf was one of four children raised by parents who were originally Baptist and later became Presbyterian. His father went to a Baptist seminary, but became a Presbyterian minister after he decided he liked their theology better.
 
Journey to the Church
 
In 1981, Father Wipf earned a degree in music from North Dakota State University with a major in voice and minor in band. He taught in a couple of high schools, at Dakota Boys Ranch, and then at Cardinal Muench Seminary High School before it closed. It was while teaching band and helping out with choir at a Cardinal Meunch’s in 1986 that the Catholic faith began to enter his mind and heart, almost through osmosis.
 
“I got exposed to the Catholic faith there,” Wipf explained. “The Presbyterians were getting radical and were pro-choice—although my dad was not—but the more I learned about the Catholic faith, the more sense it made to me.” In addition, some of his favorite political writers and commentators were Catholics such as William F. Buckley and Pat Buchanan.
 
Although the logic and the history of the Catholic faith drew him in, it was ultimately the Eucharist that Father Wipf could not resist. “I wanted the Eucharist,” he said. “Jesus said, ‘This is my body,’ and He meant, this is my body. Why wouldn’t you want to have that?”
 
Another attraction for Father Wipf was belonging to the Church that goes back to Jesus and is the same anywhere in the world—one, holy, Catholic and apostolic. 
 
Father Wipf entered the Church in 1989. At that time, he felt called to be a priest. He was drawn to the thought of presiding at the liturgy. “But I thought it would be presumptuous to convert and say here I am,” he said. “I wanted to be sure it was not just the newness of being Catholic, so I decided to wait five years and see where I was at then.”
 
Treatment and healing
 
After Cardinal Muench high school closed in 1991, Father Wipf found another teaching job, but soon lost it. It was at that point when he had to confront the fact the he had a drinking problem.
 
“It was either move under a bridge or go to treatment,” Father Wipf said. “I was hiding my empties in my trumpet case; it was bad. I did not realize that I had depression and was self-medicating, but in treatment it came out.”
 
Looking back, he said that when he was younger, he always knew something was wrong. “I wasn’t very social and had a hard time getting things done,” he said. “It would go up and down, but since then, I had to deal with my depression and I am better.”
 
After treatment, Father Wipf took a job in Minot working with developmentally disable adults at the Minot Vocation Adjustment Workshop as a residential trainer. “It was a place where I learned to love people for who they were,” he said. “It was a very good experience for me and helped prepare me for the priesthood. It was about giving and not getting, although I did get back in many ways.”
 
When his self-imposed five-year wait was up, Father Wipf still felt called to the priesthood. He was accepted and attended Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio and was ordained on May 25, 2000. His family was supportive and attended his ordination and first Mass, although his father had since passed away. “I think my father and I would have had fun discussing things when I went to the seminary had he still been alive,” Father Wipf said. “He had friends who were priests. I like to think we could have brought him home to Rome.”
 
About 10 years ago, Father Wipf had a relapse and spent time at Guest House, in Lake Orion, Michigan, a center specifically for religious. After treatment and returning to his duties as a priest, he said he has learned to handle his depression when it comes on. “I intellectualize it,” he said. “I know what I should be doing so I’ll do what a non-depressed person would do and it gets easier. One person who heard one of my talks said, ‘We call that fake it till you make it.’”
 
Father Wipf said that his love of the priesthood has brought him much happiness. “I always thought the liturgy would be the most enjoyable part—and it is great—but the people of God are just incredible. People keep me going, it’s been a very rewarding part of my priesthood.”
 
Working for Jesus as a priest has been a privilege, according to him. “I love Him more every day,” he said. “After Communion, I always thank God for letting me be a priest, and I ask Him to help me to be a good priest for the people.