FATHER JOHN LEMIRE
Father John Lemire was born and raised in Timmins, ON. He is the son of Maurice and Norma Lemire and brother to Natalie and Kevin. He was baptized at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish on July 13, 1969. While growing up his home parish was Nativity of Our Lord Parish.
He attended St. Paul's School (K to Grade 6), St. Theresa's School (Grade 7 and 8), and graduated in June 1988 from O'Gorman High School (Grade 9 to 13).
In September 1988, he entered St. Peter's Seminary (London, ON) to begin his formation and studies to the priesthood. In June 1991, he graduated from King's College (University of Western Ontario) with a Bachelor of Arts (Philosophy). Continuing his studies, he received his Masters of Divinity from St. Peter's Seminary (University of Western Ontario) in October 1995.
Fr. John completed his internship at Holy Name of Jesus Parish (Kirkland Lake) and was ordained to the transitional diaconate on March 31, 1995 by Bishop Gilles Cazabon, omi.
He was ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Timmins on May 4, 1996 at St. Anthony of Padua Cathedral by Bishop Gilles Cazabon, omi. He celebrated his Mass of Thanksgiving the following day at Nativity of Our Lord Parish.
After his ordination, he served as Associate Pastor of Holy Name of Jesus (Kirkland Lake, ON) from May 1996 to May 1999. He was appointed Administrator of Nativity of Our Lord Parish (Timmins, ON) for the month of June 1999.
From July 1999 to June 2014 he served as Pastor of Our Mother of Perpetual Help Parish (New Liskeard, ON). From September 2002 to June 2014, he also served as Pastor of St. Patrick's Parish (Cobalt, ON) and ministered to both communities simultaneously.
In addition to his Parish responsibilities, Fr. John is Coordinator of Vocations for the Diocese of Timmins (English Pastoral Region) as well as Director of Liturgy (English Pastoral Region). He was appointed to the Presbyteral Council of the Diocese as well as to the College of Consultors in January 2008 and continues to serve in this capacity. Since June 2017 he has been a member of the Permanent Diaconate Committee. In May 2020 he was appointed the Diocesan Spiritual Advisor of Catholic Women's League (CWL).
From 1994 to 2012 he served as the primary instructor for the OECTA / OCSTA AQ Courses in Religious Education for the Northeastern Catholic District School Board. In April 2008, he was appointed as the diocesan representative on the Catholic Faith Advisory Committee of the Northeastern District Catholic School Board. He also serves as a member of Tragic Events Teams for the Northeastern District Catholic School Board.
For several years Fr. John was involved with Northern Ontario Catholic Curriculum Cooperative (NOCCC). He was a member of the writing team that produced the resource "Celebrating the Jubilee 2000 In Our Catholic Schools" (1998 - 2000). He was a contributor to the booklet "Let Us Pray ... For Leaders in Catholic Education" (2000). He served as the liturgical and theological advisor for the publications "Celebrating Our Faith" (2002) and "The Way of the Cross" (2004).
In 2004 Fr. John was a founding member of Grief Support Temiskaming, a local partnership with the area funeral homes and Community Cancer Support. From 2005 to 2010 they organized yearly workshops for professionals in the north focusing on a variety of topics related to death, grief, and bereavement.
Outside of his diocesan ministry, Fr. John is the President of the Ontario Diocesan Vocation Directors Association (ODVDA), a member of the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops Commission for Priests and the President of the Diocesan Vocation Directors of Canada (DVDC). Since 2006 he has served as Chair of the Planning Team for the Ontario Bishops' Symposium of the Recently Ordained. He has organized the province-wide symposium for priests ordained six years and under every three years since 2007.
Since May 2008 he has served as Chair of the Board for Priests for Life Canada, a national pro-life organization that works with Catholic clergy to build a culture of life.
In January 2017 he completed a certificate in "The Spirituality of Diocesan Priesthood and Spiritual Direction" through the Institue for Priestly Formation at Creighton University (Omaha, NE).
He is the proud uncle of one niece (Sarah) and four nephews (Cameron, Andrew, Alex, and Nathan). Cameron and Nathan live in Timmins and Sarah, Andrew, and Alex reside in Newmarket.
On June 30, 2014 he was appointed Pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish and looks forward to his time and ministry with the Parish. Parishioners can contact Fr. John by phone (705-268-3053), email (frjohnlemire2@gmail.com) or by arranging an appointment with him.
