Three men begin discernment as seminarians, class at 20

Newest Arkansas students studying for priesthood come from Rogers, Stuttgart, Conway

Published: August 29, 2022

By Malea Hargett
Editor

Arkansas Catholic File Photo

(Left to right) Elijah Bailey, Phil Necessary and Steve Wilson have entered seminary training to become priests.

Arkansas Catholic File Photo

(Left to right) Elijah Bailey, Phil Necessary and Steve Wilson have entered seminary training to become priests.

Three men were accepted as diocesan seminarians this fall, bringing the seminarian class to 20.

They are:

Elijah Bailey, son of Steve and Jamie Bailey and member of St. Joseph Church in Conway. Bailey, 20, will live in the House of Formation and study at the University of Arkansas Little Rock and take some courses online through Newman University in Wichita, Kan.
Phil Necessary, son of Kevin and Denise Necessary and member of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Rogers. Necessary, 24, will attend St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana.
Steve Wilson, son of Robert Wilson and Libby Beliew and member of Holy Rosary Church in Stuttgart. Wilson, 27, also will attend St. Meinrad Seminary.

Returning seminarians are:

Cody Eveld of Charleston
Duwan Booker and Joshua Osborne of Conway
Kevin Medina of Glenwood
Quinton Thomas of Jonesboro
Deacon Nathan Ashburn, Christopher Elser, Deacon John Paul Hartnedy, Hong Dai Nguyen, Sam Ray and Pedro Alvarez, all of Little Rock
Tuan Do and Minh Phong Nguyen of North Little Rock
Samuel Stengel of Paris
Jackson Nichols of Pocahontas
Andrew Schaefer and Joel Brackett of Rogers

Ashburn and Hartnedy are scheduled to be ordained priests May 27 at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock. Eveld is scheduled to be ordained a deacon May 19 in his home parish.

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