New Sacred Heart priest has Wyoming roots

Published by admin on Thu, 09/05/2024 - 9:38am
By: 
Nathan Oster

Father Andrew Kinstetter recently started a six-year term as pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Greybull and St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Lovell, both of which are in the Archdiocese of Cheyenne.

Kinstetter is a Moorcroft native who grew up on a 20,000-acre ranch, where his family raised about 500 head of cattle. “I fit the definition of a cowboy, but I’m not really a cowboy,” he said with a laugh. “I became a priest; my older brother and cousin are the ones taking over the family ranch back home.”

Kinstetter’s path to the priesthood was a long, winding one. He grew up Catholic and was active in his church, saying, “Even from a young age, priests were never foreign to me.”  While some put them up on pedestals, Kinstetter recalls betting sodas with his priest on the outcome of Viking-Packer games.  Their priest at the time was a Minnesota fan, his earthly father a Green Bay fan. 

Kinstetter initially went to college to study computer science, opting for the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. He spent three years there.

“At the time, I liked computers and was good with them,” he said. “The School of Mines gears you to be a programmer. Every summer, I interned with Peabody. But I did more IT work than anything else -- fixing computers, troubleshooting when printers didn’t work, that sort of thing.

“I found that I liked that better than coding. For me, that life — being in a cubicle, writing all the time — it was too antisocial for me. I needed more interaction with people.  I basically realized that what college would prep me for wasn’t quite what I wanted to do.”

More than anything, he simply wanted to help people and couldn’t dodge a seed a seed that had been planted in his mind at an early age.

“When I was confirmed in the ninth grade, the bishop told me he felt the Holy Spirit wash over me, and he invited me to be open to the priesthood,” said Kinstetter. “At that point, I was in high school and was like, ‘OK.’  I didn’t think much about it.

“In college, though, I got active with the cathedral parish. I participated in a youth retreat.  As time went on, I was doing more and more with the church.  That’s where I was finding my joy. 

“I was a straight A student, had an A in advanced calculus, the most difficult math course on campus, and was going to minor in math, but something was lacking.  I didn’t feel content. I would dread going to classes.  That’s when God hit me with a 2x4.”

It was on a weekend visit to a seminary, which made with a group of other perspective students, that Father Andrew made the decision to listen to what he felt God was calling him to do.

In the spring of 2010, he applied for seminary. Aiding him along the way was Father Ray Rodriguez, who used to be the pastor in Big Horn County.  In 2012, Andrew graduated from Conception Seminary College in Missouri with a liberal arts degree, emphasis in philosophy.

From there, Kinstetter attended St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver, graduating with a masters of divinity in May of 2016.

His first year of priesthood was spent at St. Stephens outside of Riverton, the next three at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Cheyenne followed by two at St. Laurence O’Toole in Laramie. At the urging of the bishop, he went back to school to pursue a canon law degree, which he earned earlier this summer.

When asked how he ended up here, he explained, “When you are ordained a priest, you are ordained for a diocese. The diocese in Wyoming is the diocese of Cheyenne.  And when it comes to where you serve, it’s up to the bishop to decide.” 

Andrew said he was excited to learn that he’d be serving the people of Big Horn County. “Growing up in Moorcroft, we’d vacation in Yellowstone and drive through here,” he said. “We never stayed here for any length of town, but it’s small town Wyoming, people are down to earth.”

He said he’s looking forward to being an active member of the community.  

Andrew said he’s holding Mass, in English, at 5:30 p.m. Saturdays, and in Spanish, at 8:30 a.m. Sundays at Sacred Heart.  Mass at St. Joseph’s in Lovell follows at 11 a.m.

While that is the official account, Andrew acknowledges that there’s another side to him.  

“I’m a geek and I embrace that fully,” he said.  “Living in Wyoming, I’ve tried hiking, getting out, seeing nature, backpacking, that sort of thing, but it’s just not my thing.  Tried them, don’t need to try them again.”

His real passion is “Star Wars.” For three years, hosted a podcast on SQPN, talking extensively about the intersection of faith and  pop culture. 

The obsession started in high school, when he saw episode two in a theater.  That inspired him to read the books. “When you’re in high school, you have a lot of free time on your hands,” he said.

“The more personal reason (I got into it) was because I was bullied in high school and junior high. I was a goody two shoes, a teacher’s pet, the smart one.  It’s sort of easy to think, just shrug it off and don’t let it bother you.  But it really does harm, especially to someone in junior high.  I was made fun of ... so I became a closet ‘Star Wars’ fan.  The one thing I loved and enjoyed, I was scared to broadcast to the world.

“Going through seminary and getting ordained, you do a lot of healing. Part of the goal isn’t jus to teach theology, but also to form you as a human person. I didn’t love myself the way God or my parents loved me because of the bullying.  I thought I was broken.  But I learned it was what made me unique. Now it helps me relate to all kinds of people.  It wasn’t until I was able to love myself and embrace my geekiness without seeing it as a fault, that I was able to share it and not care what people think."

 

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