About Father John

Welcome to the Ancient Hopes website. My name is John Worgul, your host. I have been in theological education all of my adult life, serving mainly in seminaries. My wife is a counselor, and we have two teen-age children.

As far as education is concerned, I graduated from a Baptist college (Bethel in St. Paul), a Presbyterian theological Seminary (Westminster in Philadelphia), and a Jewish grad school (The Dropsie College in Philadelphia) where I received a Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible (1987). I have been formed spiritually and academically by a wide variety of persons and institutions. My pastor of in my hometown of Lansing Michigan, South Baptist Church, always preached the grandeur of God and how He can do great things in small people. My New Testament professor in college impressed upon me that rigorous intellectual activity can and must be wedded to a profound love and passion for God. My doctoral advisor taught me how to think, and what is more, how the ancient Hebrews thought. The importance of understanding how the ancients thought underlies the method and philosophy of this website.

I have also been blessed to have been a part of two additional institutions. The first is Seminary of the East (now Bethel Seminary of the East). There could not have been a better place for me to start out teaching back in the 1980s and 90s. It was founded on an innovative model of mentoring, adult education learning principles, and spiritual formation. Our small faculty formed a wonderful learning community where we were free to explore spirituality from all different Christian traditions, ancient and contemporary. It was there I gained respect for the Church, the glorious bride of Christ.

The second was the Life in Jesus Community in Maryland. Based on a modified version of the Benedictine Rule, our lives were centered on prayer, worship, and ministry on a daily basis. The worship was a blend of the charismatic, evangelical, and sacramental/liturgical, drawing on 2000 years of Church history. It was here that I learned to be a pastor as well as a teacher. My wife andwife and I were part of Life in Jesus for nine years, and though the community met an unfortunate end, we are so deeply grateful to God and our fellow members for the exceptionally valuable and formative time it was for us.

I presently serve Christ the King Catholic Church as an associate priest in the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, ordained September 21, 2013. I continue teaching Bible for various institutions online.