Introducing Our New Children’s Minister, Jacob Farni: Led by God’s Providence

By now, many parishioners have likely noticed a new smiling, energetic face around the St. Francis Xavier campus. We are pleased to welcome Jacob Farni as our Children’s Minister! Jacob brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the position, as well as the most important quality in a faith formation minister — a great passion for helping others grow in their faith through meaningful personal encounters with the Lord.

Jacob grew up on a farm in western Oklahoma. His family attended St. Matthew Catholic Church in Elk City, and Jacob went to a small school in Canute. Still today, he likes to call his grade school a “public Catholic school” because the majority of his teachers were Catholic. While going to Mass and receiving the sacraments was always an important part of his life, Jacob had never really considered applying to a Catholic university until he learned that he would be able to play college basketball if he went to St. Gregory’s University in Shawnee.

Jacob may have gone to St. Gregory’s for the basketball, but he graduated four years later having gained so much more.

“It was God putting me in the right place at the right time,” Jacob says of his college experience. “The monks there were amazing, and I had really faithful friends. By my sophomore year, I had this kind of reconversion. I just realized what I believe and how amazing it was. My heart moved from being almost obsessed with basketball to a passion and zeal for the Church, and I knew that ministry was something I had a talent for.”

This realization led Jacob to the position of Director of Religious Education at his home parish of St. Matthew. He loved forming children in the faith so much that after three years, he began to wonder if God was calling him to one day be able to offer them the sacraments by following a path to the priesthood. Jacob explored that possible vocation at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary.

After a year of seminarian studies and a lot of prayer, Jacob discerned that lay ministry in the Church was his true calling. Not long after making that decision, he realized just how perfect God’s plans for him really were.

“It was God’s providence that led me to St. Francis Xavier,” says Jacob. “Fr. O’Brien told me that the parish had put out the notice for the Children’s Minister job opening before the lockdown but hadn’t found what they were looking for. So they had closed it and then reopened it again in October, right when I discerned out of seminary. If that’s not God’s grace, it’s hard to say what is!”

As soon as Jacob started as our parish Children’s Minister, he could see that great things were happening in our faith community. This became even more evident when Jacob had the opportunity to join a trip that our RCIC — Rite of Christian Initiation of Children — students took to meet the bishop.

“That was an amazing day with a great group of kids,” Jacob says. “Seeing all the work Fr. O’Brien and Stacy and the staff are doing for evangelization is so energizing. A lot of these kids are in families where the whole family is coming into the Church, and that was really incredible to see.”

One of the highlights of being a Children’s Minister is witnessing a time of great spiritual growth in our youngest parishioners, especially as they prepare to receive the sacraments.

“I love First Communion preparation,” Jacob says. “You have the most fun, and you can see the children’s excitement. The second-graders prepare for First Reconciliation the first semester and then focus on the Mass and the Eucharist, getting ready to share a meal as a family of God. Our catechist has been doing this for 15 years and is just amazing.”

Energized by the many ways he has seen the Spirit moving here at St. Francis Xavier, Jacob feels blessed to be serving our parish families and children as the Children’s Minister.

“Our parish motto is, ‘Encounter Jesus Christ, form a relationship with Him, and go make disciples,’” he says. “My goal with the kids in pre-K through fifth grade is to get back to the basics, teaching children that God loves them and He sent His Son to be with them. My goal is to lead them into an encounter with Jesus so that they know His love and can go to Him at any time. I want to give them the opportunity for that encounter and growth.”

Jacob Farni is the new Children’s Minister at St. Francis Xavier.