"Navy veteran is new pastor at Our Lady of Good Counsel"

From The Eagle Tribune (New Hampshire)

By Yadira Betances
Staff Writer

METHUEN — The Rev. Marc Bishop has left the war in Iraq behind him, but is taking memories of that service with him as he settles in as pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel.

Bishop, a former lieutenant in the Navy Chaplain Corps, was installed as pastor on Saturday.

"It's a privilege to be put in this position," he said. "We have a wonderful gift with the Augustinian and Marist traditions that merged here. There's a lot of learning ... and potential for growth."

The installation ceremony was conducted by the Rev. Arthur Coyle, vicar for the Merrimack Valley. During the service, Coyle presented Bishop with the keys to the church, the purple vestments priests wear during confession, holy oils and a French chalice donated to the church in 1954. The Revs. Peter Gori and Bill Waters, the first two pastors at the parish, attended the service.

Our Lady of Good Counsel was created eight years ago after the merger of St. Augustine Church on Ames Street in Lawrence and St. Theresa Church on Plymouth Street in Methuen. The parish has 1,180 members. The Augustinians led the parish until this summer when they withdrew from the church due to a lack of priests.

Bishop was born in Saugus. He was studying political science at Seton Hall University in New Jersey, when he decided to become a priest.

"As I was discerning different vocations and different ways of serving the Lord, I realized I could only be happy as a priest," he said.

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