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Biography: Fr. John Patrick McGovern  John Patrick McGovern was born in 1940 in Jersey City, New Jersey. The son of Irish immigrants, he is the youngest of two boys. Though his parents met each other in this country, they were both raised in Swanlinbar, Ireland. He is a graduate of St. Peter's Prep High School in Jersey City. He attended Seton Hall University and Immaculate Conception Seminary where he received his master's degree in Divinity. He also earned a master's degree in education from Fordham University.
In 2005, Father McGovern celebrated his 40th year as a priest. His first assignment was to St. Theresa's in Summit (during which time he also served as chaplain of Overlook Hospital), where he served for 13 years. Next he was Chair of the Religion Department at Mother Seton High School Growing up, Fr. McGovern didn't plan on becoming a priest. However, after he graduated from high school, he just couldn't get it out of his mind that maybe he should do something for God and for people. He credits the deep faith of his parents for instilling in him a great respect for and devotion to God that developed into an interest in doing something to serve God. He still wasn't quite sure what was pulling him in that direction, but while attending college, he decided to enter the seminary where he was almost hoping he wouldn't find a vocation. Though he attended church, he was never an altar boy. Even at the seminary he wasn't extremely active in the parish church, but the more time he spent learning about the priesthood the more he became drawn toward it. In retrospect he says "that was The Call, and I was trying to fight it" He knows there were times when his mother wondered if he would stick with his work in the church. He was ordained during a time when many were leaving the diocese and active ministry. But the more he became involved with the parish and the other priests, the more he enjoyed it. Shortly after he had been ordained 10 years, he went home on a day off and thanked his parents for supporting him and told them he was more convinced than ever that he wanted to be a priest. In his free time, Father McGovern enjoys spending time with his family, which includes his brother, his brother's children and grandchildren. He admits that along the way, there were some regrets about not having a family of his own. He knows he would have loved being a grandfather. On his days off he does errands, catches up on paperwork and reading that needs to be done. He also writes his homily for the upcoming weekend - he still writes it out by hand. Another weekly ritual he enjoys is getting together for dinner with his friends - a group of priests. One of his favorite things to do to relax is reading novels. His favorites are anything by James Patterson or John Grisham; he's read every one of their books. He enjoys playing a little golf once in a while, and when football season comes around, he attends Giants games with his brother and nephews. He also enjoys the opera and tries to get there several times a year. Each year he likes to find time to take a course to continue his education.
Now as he approaches his 40th anniversary Father McGovern says, "It's been a great life. A tremendously satisfying and fulfilling life." He does feel that unfortunately it has become very much like a business. He spends too much of his time doing administrative work and not enough time "just being a priest." It's an issue he struggles with, but he doesn't know if it will ever change. As he contemplates the future of the Catholic Church he says the parishioners have to become even more involved. He says "My job as pastor is to lead and hopefully inspire. The church is the people that make it up. I've just been entrusted with it for a while.
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in Clark. His third and fourth assignments were as Pastor of the Church of the Little Flower in Berkeley Heights and then Pastor of the Church of the Ascension in New Milford before coming to St. Michael's as Pastor in 2001. He says his favorite thing about St. Michael's and the Cranford community is the friendly people. It makes him happy to see such large crowds and so many young families fill the church each week. Because such a large number of families make up the parish (approximately 3500) he feels it is very important for St. Michael's to be very involved with the community and available to its people. That is part ofthe reason he became chaplain for both the Cranford police and fire departments.