ABOUT OUR PARISH
St. Bartholomew's is a small but vibrant and enthusiastic congregation who love the Lord and love each other. We enjoy deeply reverent worship, solid Biblical preaching, and lively fellowship. Drawn from the New Bern area and other surrounding communities, we are a diverse group that includes babies, children, teens, young adults, and older folks. We come from a wide variety of denominational backgrounds and non-religious upbringings. We would love to have you visit and worship with us.
Fr. Thomas Ricks is a native North Carolinian who returned home in 2017 after many years of living in other places. He holds degrees from Duke University, Christendom College, and The Catholic University of America and is a veteran of the United States Army. Fr. Ricks is a bi-vocational priest, serving as what he calls a "self-supporting missionary priest" (a bit like the Apostle Paul?) while making his living as an executive in the software industry. He is a married man and the father of eight sons and three daughters. With his upbringing in the Free Will Baptist tradition and fourteen years spent in the Roman Church, Fr. Ricks relates easily to people from a wide variety of backgrounds.
