I became pastor of St. Ann on June 22, 2010.  I am happy to be here serving the people of Mamou and I hope to be here for many years.

Native of Lafayette, Product of Catholic Schools

I am the son of Kenneth and Barbara Melançon, of Lafayette.  I have one sibling: a younger brother named Todd.  Born and raised in Lafayette, I attended Our Lady of Fatima Elementary and St. Thomas More High School.  I am the first graduate of STM to be ordained a priest.  It was during my senior year at STM that I first heard a call to the priesthood.

It was 1995 and our religion class made a mission trip to General Cepeda, Mexico.  We worked with Mexicans who were monetarily poor, but were rich with faith.  They lived in houses with dirt floors, but their faith was built on solid rock.  In the face of this paradox, I was inspired to want a deeper faith.  In this setting of serving Christ in the poorest of the poor, a desire to spend my life serving Him was awoken.

For three years I attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana, which is now called University of Louisiana at Lafayette.  During this time I developed friendships with others who also wanted to live a life of service to Christ and His Church.  Some from our group found the vocation of marriage, but a small group of us entered seminary, feeling called to the vocation of priesthood.

In 1998 I began my fall semester at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana.  During my six years of seminary formation, I grew in my knowledge of Church teaching and understanding of Sacred Scripture.  During that time I also grew in my knowledge of myself and understanding of how the Lord made me.  I came to believe that I was created by the Lord to serve in His Sacred Priesthood, that I was given the gifts and talents that were suited to priestly ministry.

During the summer months I served as a seminarian in local church parishes: Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary in Kaplan, Our Lady of the Assumption in Mire, and St. Peter in Carencro.  Another part of our formation was to spend one summer as a hospital chaplain in a CPE program (Clinical Pastoral Ministry) which I completed in Charleston, SC.

Ordained a Priest in 2004

Bishop Jarrell called me to Holy Orders and ordained me a deacon in 2003.  I served as a deacon in St. Anthony of Padua in Eunice for 5 months.  After this diaconal internship, I returned to the seminary to complete my classroom work.  In 2004 I graduated from Notre Dame Seminary with a Master of Arts in Theological Studies (MA in Theology).

Finally, after six years of prayerful discernment, pastoral experiences, and academic study, Bishop Jarrell ordained me a priest of Jesus Christ on June 12, 2004, at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist.

My first assignment was as Associate Pastor to Fr. Gil Dutel at Sts. Peter and Paul in Scott.  I served there for over three years.  During my first year as a priest, while Fr. Gil took a three month sabbatical in Rome, I was the lone priest in a 2000-family parish during Lent and Holy Week as well as the death of Pope John Paul II.  This was a difficult learning experience, but one that taught me much about the work of a pastor.  It filled me with a hunger to be a father to my own congregation.

Became Pastor in 2007

On February 12, 2007 Bishop Jarrell appointed me pastor of St. Peter in Grand Prairie.  This was quite an adjustment for me on many levels.  I was a city-boy who had a hard time adapting to rural life.  I was trained to be a pastor of a parish with a large staff, not a parish with a staff of one secretary/bookkeeper.  Nevertheless, over the course of the next three and a half years, I fell in love with the beautiful community of Grand Prairie.

During my time at the little church on the prairie, I faced several difficulties.  All of the buildings needed much work.  The hall, the rectory, and the church needed major repairs.  Over the course of my time there was painted and refurbished the rectory one room at a time.  During my time as pastor we faced a fire at our Mission chapel of St. Andrew in the Andrépont community near Plaisance.  After much emotional debate, I recommended to the bishop that we close this chapel and sell the buildings and land there.  This was a very painful chapter in my priesthood.  Doing the most fiscally responsible thing was the right decision, but it hurt several families very deeply.  I continue to pray for the healing of that community.

Although my time there was brief, leaving the Grand Prairie community was difficult.  They had become dear friends and like family to me.  Getting to know them was getting to know an aspect of my bride, the Church.  I am grateful for all that they taught me about Christ and about myself.

Transferred to Mamou in 2010

On June 22, 2010, Bishop Jarrell appointed me pastor of St. Ann in Mamou.  I have been warmly welcomed.  This new chapter of my priesthood will once again reveal to me another aspect of my Bride, the Church.  As I begin this new assignment, I pray that Mary, Mother of Priests, and her mother, St. Ann, might watch over me as I shepherd God’s people in Mamou.