New priest will lead seminarians in House of Formation

Published: May 12, 2016

By Aprille Hanson
Associate Editor

Taryn Whittington

Taryn Whittington was the typical college student — study for years, earn a diploma and start a career. After earning his master’s degree and doctorate from Baylor University in Texas in 2008, his “journey to the other side of the desk,” was complete, becoming a teacher at Malone University in Ohio.

“I already kind of struck out on that path … living an independent adult life,” Whittington said.

But after four years, God turned the proverbial desk. He called Whittington to be a student again, this time at the seminary.

“It was hard in some ways to give up what I had, like a car for example, and go back to school,” Whittington said. “ … But I never had any second thoughts after I made the decision to being open to the process of formation.”

On May 28, Whittington, 38, will be ordained to the priesthood at Christ the King Church in Little Rock.

“I am so excited about what’s coming and it’s hard to believe I’m already at the end of the process,” he said. “… I am really grateful for all that God’s given me.”

It isn’t the first time that God put Whittington on a different path. Whittington was raised in Scott, attending a Pentecostal church where his father was a minister.

“They’re very lively. The emphasis is on the sermon. So you’d have music and the sermon, only now and then would you have something like communion,” Whittington said. “I learned personal piety, personal prayer, reading the Scriptures.”

After high school, Whittington “wasn’t going to church anywhere” while attending Hendrix College in Conway, until he went with a friend to the Episcopal church, getting a taste of a more liturgical-driven worship.

“I was reading just for my own education, my own attempt to understand better the Christian tradition, the theology of St. Augustine, St. John of the Cross … It all kind of came together,” Whittington said. “I just felt drawn to (St. Joseph Church). I found myself driving out of my way to drive past it.”

He joined the Catholic Church in 2000 and felt called to be a priest. Though he always thought about following in his father’s ministerial footsteps, it was important to make sure his “new convert zeal” was not a mistaken call for the priesthood, he said.

“I think it’s good to integrate yourself into the life of the Church at the parish level first, before thoughts of ordination or religious life,” Whittington said, adding school “gave me the chance to push the pause button and continue discerning.”

While at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana, Whittington said he learned greater patience and trust in God.

“One (Scripture verse) that comes to mind a lot is ‘you did not choose me, I chose you,’” he said. “I’ll often find myself thinking that throughout the day — you’re chosen by God to be here.”

Looking back, Whittington said his time in college and as a teacher prepared him for his first priestly assignment.

“I think it turned out to be providential — what I studied in graduate school, philosophy, is what I’ll be teaching the seminarians” at the House of Formation, he said.

Whittington said he’s grateful for his parents support and for the unique gifts God has given him for a priestly life.

“I think I’m pretty empathetic or sympathetic to people; according to the feedback I’ve received, I’m very approachable. I think people want that from their priest, not that you can solve all their problems, that’s not something they expect of a priest, but not only does he truly care, but is able to show it,” Whittington said, learning that lesson most vividly from his time in hospital ministry. “When you go into a person’s room in a hospital, your impulse may be to assure them everything is going to be OK. Often that’s not the case ... Be the presence of God to them and let them see that.”