St. John the Evangelist to Welcome New Pastor

The Rev. Larry Duncklee has made many moves in his life, all in the name of God.

On Wednesday, he left behind  in Inwood, his home for the last six years, to make his way out east. His latest calling: .

While faithful and trusting in God, Duncklee said he was sad to be leaving Inwood.

“You never want to go because you never want to leave where you’re at, but that’s part of the promise you make — obedience and respect to the bishop,” Duncklee said. “[The Diocese of Rockville Centre knows], they have the whole eyes, you trust that and you go. Usually, somehow, some way, God works in strange ways, and for me it’s always turned out well.”

Saint John the Evangelist will be the seventh parish that the pastor has worked at since he was ordained at the age of 26 in 1980, he said. He will replace the Rev. Thomas Coby, who has served at St. John's for 13 years.

Duncklee has also served as the director of pastoral care at two Long Island hospitals, where he was part of a program that taught 1,000 people to be chaplains who  visit the sick. Working with communities and the curing nature of God are the aspects of being a priest that has always brought fulfillment to Duncklee, he said.

“The area that is most rewarding is the area where I’d call healing,” he said. “Only a priest can experience that. When someone is away and they can come back to church when they’ve done something terribly wrong, you’re giving them God’s embrace. There’s nothing more powerful, wonderful or joyful than that experience. That comes with the time spent with the Lord Jesus.”

While he was the pastor of Saint Luke’s Church in Brentwood, Duncklee co-created Brentwood Community Partners, an organization to help the poor and needy of the area.

In Brentwood, he also had the chance to speak Spanish, which he picked up while at seminary in Guatemala. That helped prepare the pastor to work in Inwood, where some 40 percent of the population is Latino.

“It’s the mission of the Catholic Church to help you, whoever you are,” Duncklee said. “I would estimate that 80 percent of the people [in Inwood] that we assist are not parishioners and they’re not Catholic. That’s the community and you always help the community.”

His capacity to want to help people is what attracted Duncklee to a life in the church, he said. When he was in middle school, Duncklee’s family was very close to their priest.

“The priest always seemed happy,” he said. “They were there in the most important moments.”