Welcome

Welcome to the Deep Dive into Scripture Blog. I am Fr. John Worgul, your host, a Catholic priest in the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter. Presently I am pastor of Saint Joseph Catholic Community, Eldersburg, MD.  Though now serving a church, I have been in theological education most of my adult life, teaching on a seminary level. A relatively recent Catholic, I am married to Kathy (they let me keep my wife when ordained), and we have two adult children. Please feel free to view my website AncientHopes.org for more information and to read articles and books.

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 people and institutions. My pastor Howard Sugden of South Baptist Church in my hometown of Lansing Michigan, always preached the grandeur of God and how He can do great things in small people. My then college professor John Piper impressed upon me that rigorous intellectual activity can and must be wedded to a profound love and passion for God. My doctoral advisor Stephen Geller taught me how to think, and what is more, how the ancient Hebrews thought. The importance of understanding the ancient Hebrew soul and mind underlies the method and philosophy of this website.

I have also been blessed to have been a part of two additional institutions. The first was the conservative Baptist Seminary of the East (later Bethel East) which now no longer exists. 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. In this rich environment, I explored the Church Fathers and the great mystics of the Church, which no doubt impacted my journey to Rome.   

The second was the Life in Jesus Community in Maryland. Based on a modified version of the Benedictine Rule, our lives were centered on daily prayer, worship, and ministry. 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 family 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.