Father Michael A. Perry
Written by Kujegi Camara
Our Lady of Refuge Church is a beautiful house of worship that sits on the corner of Foster and Ocean Avenues, beckoning all that come its way to glance up and smile. That’s exactly what I did when I visited for the first time and seeing the sign outside “All are Welcome,” which warmed my heart. Father Michael Perry, the current priest of the church who has been there for 15 years, personifies the warmth of his church.
“Listen, say yes, and say thank you,” is the first thing Father Perry said to me when I sat down to interview him. He said as Pastor and Father of this church that was his motto. His words struck me because in a few short words Father Perry was able to demonstrate his leadership style.
Father Perry was born a second generation Ukrainian to an immigrant family, who grew up during the McCarthy Era. He came from a working middle class family who lived in Queens. His grandparents were religious and he remembers growing up in a house where a stranger was always welcome, where the needs of other people come before their own. In witnessing how some of his parishioners talk about him, Father Perry also definitely leads his church in the same way. In deciding that he wanted to become a priest, he wrote a 30 page letter to his father to explain the reasons he wanted to choose this path. In 1971 he was ordained as a priest in Brooklyn. He served as a chaplain at Pratt Institute for 23 years and after that he became Pastor of Our Lady of Refuge Church.
Our Lady of Refuge sits in the Midwood section of Brooklyn. The church was established in 1911 by German immigrants but after WWII, more people started coming from the West Indies and the Caribbean. The neighborhood consists of Orthodox Jews, Pakistani Muslims, and Christians. The Parish consists of West Indians, Latinos including Puerto Ricans and Mexicans, and Haitians. The languages used in services include English, Spanish, and Creole to accommodate the diversity of the parish. Father Perry also has an assistant Haitian-born priest that speaks Creole, Spanish, and French. There are about 1500 families involved with the church.
Becoming Pastor of Our Lady of Refuge Church did not come without its difficulties. As told by Father Perry, the priest before him was very popular and so when Father Perry came, he received a lot of pushback from the community. He preferred horizontal leadership and that transition for his parish was very difficult. In the beginning, he was very offended but had to realize that it wasn’t personal. Father Perry had to come to grips with himself and said that the Serenity Prayer helped him get through this transition. Now, after 15 years Father Perry is loved by members of the Parish and local community.
Father Perry is heavily involved with his church and as a leader he sees his job is to empower, to see, to hear, to listen, and to act. For Father Perry, this means as he said earlier, listening to people and helping them with what they want to do. For example, one of the members of his church was really committed to health issues and with the help of Father Perry and other members of the church she is now putting on a ten week program to help other church members learn about taking care of the heart. Because most of the people in his church are immigrants, Father Perry works with them to integrate them into American society. He even used to give lessons on how to buy effectively. And when the Haiti Earthquake hit, and many of the members were affected or had family members affected the church came together and provided support. Father Perry sees his role as building community in his church and when you meet the members of his church you learn they function as a family with Father Perry playing the role of a beloved father.
Father Perry is also a very busy man. He gets up at 8 every morning and if he is not praying, he is meeting with people talking about community issues. He says that one thing that gets him through the day is laughing, which he did a lot of during our interview. When I asked him what are his motivations for doing the work that he does he gave me a personal anecdote. “I went to a national conference of Christians and Jews and there was a presentation about Jerusalem in Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. At one moment, a Jewish man stood up during the presentation of another rabbi who talked about not really believing in God but in the ethics that Judaism allowed him to follow, and this man stood up, rolled his sleeves and showed his holocaust number and said I survived this for God.” Father Perry believes Jesus is God and wants to be like him and extend himself in love to people. He wants his relationship with Jesus to be revealed in the relationships he has with other people.
In terms of interfaith, his church has a relationship with the East Midwood Jewish Center and as a matter of fact Father Perry had lunch with the Rabbi recently. He also has a good relationship with the Makki Mosque on Coney Island Avenue and even spoke at their previous leader’s funeral. On the 10th anniversary of 9/11, his church hosted a big interfaith service and invited clergy from the neighborhood to come participate. When asked of the importance of interfaith, he said it is important because it helps one become aware. “Interfaith helps to remember that you live in NY and you can’t help but believe in God in NY.”
Photo from: http://www.olrbrooklyn.org/
