Reverend James Doherty, C.S.C., Pastor
Goodbye, Father.
We thank you for the three marvelous years you spent with us.
May he give you your heart's desire
and fulfill every one of your plans.
May we ring out our joy at your victory
and rejoice in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your prayers.
Psalm 20
Father Jim Doherty, C.S.C. came to St. John the Baptist Parish with 27 years experience as a priest. For 15 years Father Jim ministered in Catholic higher education at Stonehill College in Easton, Massachusetts and at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, both founded and staffed by the Congregation of Holy Cross. There he was a Campus Minister, a Director of Student Volunteers and a resident counselor in the resident halls. He also served for 5 years as the Vocation Director for the Congregation of Holy Cross, the religious community of which Father Jim is a member. In that position he helped young men, mostly of college age, to discern whether they were being called to serve the church as a priest or brother of Holy Cross.
In 1997 Father Jim discerned a calling to minister to older people – people his own age. After a sabbatical at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley California, he became the pastor of Most Holy Trinity Parish in Saco, Maine. There Father Jim says the people of that parish formed him as a pastor. He served them enthusiastically for seven years.
The Congregation of Holy Cross helped Father Jim prepare for his life of ministry. He earned a Bachelors in biology from Stonehill College, a Masters in Theology from the University of Notre Dame and a Masters in Education from Harvard University. The Congregation of Holy Cross has also helped him with his spiritual formation providing constant opportunities of community prayer and spiritual direction and formation. He has been mentored by a host of Holy Cross priests and brothers whose example has modeled for him how to be a compassionate priest and religious for the twenty-first century.
This is not Father Jim’s first time living in the Bennington area. During the early 1970's he spent several months as a novice at the Holy Cross Novitiate both at the old Everett estate that is now Southern Vermont College and the campus that is now the Bennington School. His class were the ones who moved from one property to the other.
Father Jim is a native of Boston, Massachusetts. He grew up in Milton, a suburb to the south of Boston. He is the third of seven children, having 5 sisters and a brother. As a youth he was active in a variety of community and religious organizations. He was the recipient of community service and leadership awards. Father Jim is an avid swimmer. His interests include reading, classical music, art appreciation and meditation. He enjoys excellent health.
