Staff

Msgr. Michael Flanagan is the pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish.

Fr. Ron Kreul, O.P. joined us as Associate Pastor in August of 2011. He comes to us from Madison, Wisconsin. He is very excited to be at Our Lady of Lourdes. You can email him at: frkreul@ourladyoflourdes.org.

Deacon Fritsch is "retired" but still very active in the parish. He was ordained in 1984. He runs the nursing home ministry with the deacons from the other parishes in town. In addition, he makes sure we have enough sacramental wine and hosts for our Masses. He and his wife, Nancy, have 3 grown children and many grandchildren.

Deacon Puglis was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate in 2004. He is active in our Youth and Religious Education Programs. He also teaches our monthly Baptism class. He and his wife, Mary Ann, have 4 grown children and 3 grandchildren.

Deacon Miller came to us from the Diocese of Biloxi (MS) in 2007. He is an active member of the Knights of Columbus, the Fix-It Crew, and organizes the 50+ Catholics with his wife, Patricia. They have 3 grown children -two of which live here in Columbia and are members of Our Lady of Lourdes.

Deacon Jim Leyden was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate in 2007. He is a Manager at the Hy Vee Store on West Broadway. He is very active with the Altar Server Ministry. He and his wife, Joan, have 4 children. They came to Columbia from South Dakota.

Lisa Meyer came to work in the parish office in July of 2011. She and her husband, Chris, have 2 children at Our Lady of Lourdes Interparish School. They have lived in Columbia for 6 years ago from South Dakota. You can email her at office2@ourladyoflourdes.org. 

Teresa has been in the office at Our Lady of Lourdes since 1994. She currently oversees all of the finances for the school and parish including payroll, deposits, bill paying, etc. In addition, she completes the weekly church bulletin.Teresa and her husband, Tom, have been members at Our Lady of Lourdes since 1985. They have 3 grown daughters.

Debbie Portell has been the Adult Education director since 2007 but has been a member of the parish since 1988. She and her husband, Ed, have 3 grown children. If you have questions about R.C.I.A. or Why Catholic? give Debbie a call.

Kathleen Armistead has been Director of Religious Education since 2005. Her program involves Religious Education for Pre-K through 6th grade for those students that do not attend the Catholic school. She and her husband, Johnathan, have 2 children. She has been a member of Our Lady of Lourdes for a number of years.

Paul Fell has been the Director of Music & Liturgy since 2004. He and his wife, Jennifer, moved here from Illinois. He is in charge of all the Liturgical Ministers, minister schedules, musicisians, musician schedules, special Masses, funeral liturgies and altar servers.

My name is Miriam Lynch and I am the youth minister at Our Lady of Lourdes. I moved to Columbia in June, 2009 from the state of Michigan. It has been a great year so far. The youth at the parish are wonderful. The youth group has grown and new friendships have been made. It is great to make friends that have the same beliefs you do. I was very involved in high school youth group in high school and made great lasting friendships.

I really enjoy being a youth minister. It is one of the best jobs in the world. When I am not working, I love to play tennis and sing. I also enjoy spending time with friends and visiting my family back in Michigan. I thank God everyday for bringing me to this great parish and city.