Greetings! My name is Fr. Coady Owens (please feel free to call me either Fr. Coady or Fr. Owens, dealer’s choice) and I am beyond excited to be coming back to Muncie. While I grew up in Fishers at St. Louis De Montfort Catholic Church, I was born at Ball Memorial Hospital in 1989 and my mom and her family are all from Cowan. Growing up I would frequently travel up I-69 with my parents and my three younger siblings for family gatherings at Pizza King, or to watch Bonzi Wells and the Ball State Men’s Basketball
team take down lesser teams from the MAC. I studied Vocal Music Education at Ball State for two years before I joined seminary and my younger brother graduated from Ball State less than ten years ago. Because of all this, in some ways, this assignment feels like coming home!

I entered seminary in the Fall of 2010. I attended St. John Vianney College Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota and graduated with a double major in Philosophy and Catholic Studies. I continued my formation at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland where I received an M.Div and an MA in Theology with an emphasis in Church History. I was ordained in 2017 and served my first two years of priesthood in my hometown at Holy Spirit Parish at Geist. I’m just wrapping up a one year assignment at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Lafayette.

One of my favorite things about the priesthood (so far) is sharing the good news of the Gospel. I believe it deep in my bones and I love being able to preach and teach and witness to Christ present in the world. I’m in awe of the supernatural and I love walking with people as they encounter God in new ways.  

What so encourages me about the Muncie Pastorate is that in so many ways the foundation has already been laid and the edifice built. The Church in Muncie has not been lazy and the Spirit has not been dormant. So many good things exist in this place and it’s evident for everyone to see! At our first meeting in Muncie last week, I witnessed a community that was joyful and exciting! I saw parishioners from St. Lawrence, St. Mary's, and St. Francis who all had hearts on fire, hearts united. 

I love singing 90s music in my car, picking bluegrass music on my porch, drinking dark, earthy coffee on cool, rainy days, and watching late-night Cubs games in the middle of the summer. I’m addicted to stories and I’ve watched ABC’s hit series “LOST” more times than you. I’m largely influenced by the writings of C.S. Lewis, St. John Henry Newman, Luigi Giussani, Louis Bouyer, and Romano Guardini. Consider me enthused and grateful for the opportunity to be with you and pray for me - that I might be just  caffeinated enough to help bring the Gospel to life!