The Rev. Erich Rutten, director of Campus Ministry and University of St. Thomas chaplain, has been offered a new job with the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Although Rutten does not know exactly where his new position will take him, he knows that reassignment within in the archdiocese is normal for priests.

“Priests move around all the time in various assignments,” Rutten said. “Currently, we’ve had several parishes within the archdiocese that have been open, so they’re looking for help. So the archdiocese is thinking that they would put me into a parish.”

The experience Rutten has gained during his nine years at St. Thomas is part of the reason he was chosen for the position.

“It’s harder with some of the more recently ordained priests; they just don’t have the experience to put them into a particular parish or a challenging role,” Rutten said. “So I take that as an honor or a sign of some confidence that they’re drawing on me.”

Rutten will leave for sabbatical next week and return in April. He will then finish out the academic year as director of Campus Ministry and university chaplain. During his absence, other staff members will take over his responsibilities.

Vanessa Walsh, associate director of Campus Ministry, has worked with Rutten for the past five years and hopes everything will still run smoothly in his absence.

“I hope that during his sabbatical there’s not much change,” Walsh said. “We are divvying up his responsibilities while he’s gone. So I’m stepping in – taking over some of this responsibilities. We are covering his sacramental responsibilities and that type of thing.”

Rutten has impacted many people at St. Thomas who say his presence will be missed.

“I’m sad to see him go, because he’s been a great director of Campus Ministry and a great leader in our office,” Walsh said. “He’s had a great tenure here, but this is how things work, being an archdiocesan priest who takes vows to his local ordinary.”

Sophomore Derek Vetsch, a peer minister at St. Thomas, has enjoyed working with Rutten this year but knows the Lord has called Rutten to leave the university for a reason.

“The Church and Her wisdom just know the best place for him to be. And you know that when a priest gets assigned somewhere it’s not forever,” Vetsch said. “So I’m just really excited to see what the Lord has in store for him as he moves on.”

Rutten is grateful for the opportunity to serve the St. Thomas community.

“I feel honored and privileged to have served here at the university, and I know not a lot of priests get the opportunity to do this, so I feel very lucky,” Rutten said. “It’s mixed emotions, and I’m certainly sorry to leave, but I’m also excited that someone else gets a nice opportunity to do this work.”

Although he will be on sabbatical during most of the spring semester, Rutten is looking forward to having April and May as a time to wrap up his work at St. Thomas, offer goodbyes and see students again before he leaves.

A new Campus Ministry director has not yet been chosen.

Even though Rutten’s place will be hard to fill, Vetsch is eager to see what the next director will add to Campus Ministry.

“His [Rutten’s] leadership will be missed, especially in his willingness to just be a father to all the students, but surely Campus Ministry will still be a strong organization,” Vetsch said. “We’re just really thankful that we had him, and we’re really excited for him and for whoever’s next.”

Theresa Bourke can be reached at bour5445@stthomas.edu.