Staff Member: Father Stephen Buting
Father Stephen Buting
Associate Pastor
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I am very excited to be with you in the south of our Archdiocese beginning my ministry at the three parishes. I’ve been praying for you all for months now, and I’ve been relying on your prayers as I’ve wrapped up my ministry at Lumen Christi. Since introductions are always a little awkward, hopefully this short story of my life can give us something to chat about when you first meet me:
A long (not so long) time ago in a county far (not that far) away, I was born in Milwaukee to two loving parents, Jerry and Kathy. They have worked as criminal defense attorneys together for most of their career and began raising me and my sister Grace on the east side of Milwaukee. When we got to grade school we moved out to Brookfield and started at St. Dominic Catholic School. After grade school, I went back downtown to Marquette High, where I specialized in Lacrosse and as many Social Studies classes as I could take. I went off to UW-Madison in 2010 and got my Bachelors in History and Religious Studies. While at Madison, the seeds of faith planted by my parents and faith community began to sprout at the St. Paul University Catholic Center. After a life-changing retreat my freshman year, I dove headfirst into learning about my faith and growing in my relationship with our Lord. By the time I reached junior year, I was ready to begin asking the question about vocation and discerned my call at the St. John Paul II House at St. Robert’s Parish in Shorewood during the summer of 2013. It didn’t take long for me to realize how easily the idea of seminary and priesthood fit my desires and goals for my life. After finishing up at UW-Madison in 2014 I lived another summer at the JPII House, where I met a (not quite as) young man named Jordan Berghouse who was also joining St. Francis de Sales Seminary later that fall. I spent one year at St. Francis and then accepted the invitation to apply to the Pontifical North American College (NAC) in Rome, Italy, where I spent 5 years away from home, family, classmates, and WI community. Though my fellow seminarians were excellent men and the opportunities to explore abounded, I was eager to return to serve the Archdiocese of Milwaukee as a priest. After being ordained a transitional deacon in September 2018 in Rome, I came back to Milwaukee to be ordained with my classmates on May 18th, 2019. After one more year in Rome to finish up studies, I was sent home in the midst of covid in March 2020 and began my assignment up in Mequon at Lumen Christi in July 2020. Through three excellent years of ministry as an Associate Pastor, I learned a lot about myself and priestly ministry. I look forward to continue learning from you all in these communities of St. James, St. Theresa, and St. Peter, and I ask your prayers as I begin my service in your midst. God bless!
