Those who are students of John Sullivan know him as their middle school art teacher.

Sullivan recently started his ministry at Christ Church in Austin, and was officially ordained as a new priest on June 26 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Minneapolis.

When Sullivan was 10 years old, he wrote a paper about what he wanted to be when he grew up. When his classmates probably chose some careers like firefighters, police officers, doctors or teachers, Sullivan picked something slightly different.

“I wanted to be a priest,” he said. “I felt drawn to liturgy and sacrament. The altar had this mysteriousness around it that intrigued me and there was something that drew me. I had a sense of awe in that mystery in what it was. I thought ‘I wanted to do that.’”

However, life got in the way and the dream Sullivan had about becoming a priest slowly faded in the back of his mind. There were instances in his life where his own faith was challenged, and then, realized again.

“Sometime in high school there was a significant spiritual experience when I found my faith again,” Sullivan stated. “I like church, and was really into it.”

He married his wife and had four daughters. Sullivan started teaching in the Austin Public School District at Ellis Middle School and IJ Holton Intermediate School. Life was moving ahead, but the thought of becoming a priest still remained in the back of his mind.

It was several years ago when Sullivan began to pray and reflect on his life’s purpose, and what God had intended for his life. He was still in Austin and at the same church. Sullivan started thinking if he should start serving the church in some sort of fashion or at least become involved.

“I wanted to serve,” he said. “I felt this question inside and it made me wonder. I then began to get involved in my home church. I wanted to help serve, but I was wondering ‘how can I serve best?’”

It took some personal reflection and many prayers, but Sullivan began serving in some aspects of church services. He was an acolyte, a person who assisted in religious services and events, and then became a deacon at Christ Church and served in that capacity for five years.

Then, he started embarking on the journey to become a priest. Instead of taking the traditional route of going to seminary for theology, Sullivan was able to take online courses and training through the Episcopal Church in Minnesota as part of a “homegrown” seminary experience for non-traditional students. He also spent four months interning at a church in Rushford and attended monthly cohort meetings.

“It took a lot of prayer, some reading and it can be pretty rigorous,” he said. “It made me wonder, but I began thinking about my role and what God was calling me to do.”

Balancing act

Now that Sullivan serves as the priest for his home church, the question raised was whether he’d commit serving full time at Christ Church and quit his job with the school district.

The answer: he’s not packing up his art supplies.

“No, I’ll be working full time on both ends,” he said. “It’s very much a balancing act. I got a great team here of lay leaders who will help lead this church and minister this church. It’s a slightly different model but you don’t see it very often.”

Sullivan’s family had been supportive throughout his journey to become a priest. They weren’t necessarily “surprised,” Sullivan stated, and that they had seen the progression of his faith to reach this point in his life.

“Church was what we did together as a family,” he shared. “They were happy for me.”

However, Sullivan remained pretty much the same throughout the transition. He doesn’t refer to himself as the “leader” of Christ Church, rather he says he’s part of a team.

“The church is moving onto the team approach,” he said. “Some doubt this, but I think everyone is excited to see how it’s going to work out.”

To him, being able to grow up in his home church, and then now helping lead it as its priest was one that completed Sullivan’s dream.

“You’re in a team,” Sullivan said. “These people are friends of mine and see me in that role. I grew up here. I served here. Now I’m given this opportunity to lead in my local faith community. It’s been a full circle, and here I am.”

He’s not much for titles, however, preferring to have his friends and colleagues call him John as opposed to “Father,” though some have opted to refer to him with that moniker.

“I’m just John to me, I leave it up to people,” he said. “They’re my friends, so it’s a little weird for them to call me ‘Father.’ They can call me John, that’s perfect.”

When he now interacts with students and staff over in the district, there were some interesting interactions such as disbelief or sometimes hilarious antics. For the most part, Sullivan hasn’t been hit with negativity and has been supported by his colleagues on his new leadership role.

“It’s been a whirlwind,” he said. “My students knew me as a teacher, now when some come in to see me at the church, that’s gotta be weird to them. This whole experience has been transformative and I found my true self, and it has been my crucible in some ways and made a big impact on my teaching.”

“It hasn’t necessarily made me nicer,” Sullivan quickly added.

Now with the new school year approaching this fall, and the fact that Sullivan now has to balance teaching students along with preparing for sermons on Sundays, the Ellis Middle School teacher felt that it’s something that can be done.

However, he’s not expecting his students and co-workers to call him “Father” anytime soon.

“No one has called me ‘The Rev’ yet,” Sullivan joked. “That’d be cool though.”