Fr. Bryan Brooks
Biographical Information of Fr. Bryan Brooks – July 2018
I was born in Oklahoma City more than fifty years ago. My parents are Mary Brooks and the late
Bob Brooks. I am the third of four children, three boys, and one girl. I was baptized and raised a Methodist and attended public schools. My Dad was an auto mechanic who started his own company of car repair and remanufacturing of engine parts. It was the family business and at different times I and my siblings worked with our parents in some form. As a child and adolescent, I was active in Boy Scouts. While in high school I was a member of a Disciples of Christ congregation.
My sister and I were fortunate to be the first members of the family to attend and graduate from college. In 1984 I earned a Bachelor Degree in Forest Management from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. While at OSU I was received into full communion with the Catholic
Church shortly before my 21st birthday. The two main factors in my decision to become a Catholic was first the belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. The second was the sense of community I experienced among the Catholic students at St. John University Parish. The late Fr. Bob Schlitt received me into the Church. He would later have a great influence in my vocation to the priesthood.
After graduation, I worked briefly for the Horticulture Department of the City of Tulsa and attended the Church of St. Mary before working for a lawn and tree service company in Oklahoma City. During this time there was a deepening discernment concerning becoming a priest. It finally reached the point that only by entering a seminary could I understand if this was what God was calling me to be.
I began formation for the priesthood in 1987, first at Conception Seminary College in Missouri and then at St. Meinrad School of Theology in Indiana. I was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Tulsa at Holy Family Cathedral on May 28, 1993, at the age of 31. For twenty-five years I have served at various parishes in northeast Oklahoma; St. John University Parish in Stillwater (1993-1996) as an associate pastor, St. Anthony and Uganda Martyrs Parishes in Okmulgee (1996-2001) as pastor, St. Joseph Parish in Muskogee (2001-2011) as pastor, and the Church of the Madalene Tulsa (2011-2018) as pastor. I was appointed pastor of the Church of Saint Benedict in July 2018.
In 2016, I was appointed the Vicar for Priests for the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma. In this position, I act as a representative of the priests to Bishop Konderla as well as his representative to the priests. As such, I currently serve on the Priest Personnel Board, the Priest Retirement Board, the Presbyteral Council and am the chair of the Priestly Life and Ministry Committee. I am also on the Diocesan Vocations Team and am the current chaplain to the Serra Club, a lay group which fosters vocations.
My family has been wonderfully supportive of my entering the Catholic Church and later becoming a priest. My Dad, who had been raised a Holiness Pentecostal, said that the day I was ordained was one of the happiest days of his life. A few days later, while he was undergoing treatment for a recurrence of cancer, he suffered a series of strokes. He died on February 14,
2011, at the age of 81. Since then, Mom has moved from the Oklahoma City area to Mansfield, Texas, where my sister Karen lives with her husband Cliff and their daughters Katie and Carly.
My brother Dan lives in Oklahoma City where he manages the family business. My brother Mark died in 2007 after a long illness. His wife Deanne lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. Their oldest son Ryan lives in Oklahoma City with his wife Cheridan and daughter Chloe. Their youngest, Kyle, currently lives in Tyler, Texas. Mark’s daughter, Christi, and her husband Harry lives in Missouri.
I am happy to be at the Church of Saint Benedict. Please pray for me in this responsibility to serve you as your pastor and parish priest. You are in my prayers daily. Together, may we continue to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!
Fr. Bryan