Staff

Rev. James F. Hurlbert came to St. Alphonsus as pastor on January 1, 2000, the first diocesan priest assigned to the parish after the Redemptorist religious order passed the parish on to the Archdiocese. Prior to this assignment, he served as associate pastor at St. Anne in Barrington and St. Pascal on Chicago's northwest side. Fr. Hurlbert holds a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the University of St. Mary of the Lake / Mundelein Seminary, where he was trained as a priest and ordained in 1990. He was raised in the suburbs of both Chicago and Detroit, attended Br. Rice High School in Birmingham, Michigan, and received his B.A. in psychology and philosophy from Kalamazoo College in 1985.

A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Fr. Thomas Aschenbrener completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee with a degree in Communications and a minor in Art History. During his studies at the University, he worked as a Youth and Family Specialist at various runaway shelters and crisis intervention centers for juvenile delinquents. As he began working with the youth and their families, he experienced God's call to serve the Church. In 1997, Fr. Aschenbrener entered St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee and after completing his degree in philosophy, he moved to Chicago. In May of 2003, he was ordained to the priesthood by Francis Cardinal George with 14 other men for the Archdiocese of Chicago. He completed his studies in theology and received the degrees of Baccalaureate in Sacred Theology and Master of Divinity. He is currently completing his Sacred Theological Licentiate Degree in Systematic and Liturgical Theology. After ordination, Fr. Tom served as Associate Pastor at St. Luke's Parish in River Forest for almost two years. After hearing that St. Alphonsus was in need of an Associate Pastor, he contacted Fr. Hurlbert and it turned out to be a perfect fit. "What I love about St. Alphonsus Parish so far, is the diversity of people and its zeal and enthusiasm for the Gospel message and mission of Jesus Christ."

Catherine Crino began serving as the Pastoral Associate and Director of Religious Education at St. Alphonsus in 2000. Her responsibilities include oversight of the religious education and formation of adults and children, sacrament preparation, annulment ministry, coordination of outreach ministries including Peace and Justice and the Ministry of Care and responsibility for parish communications. She has worked at various parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago for over twenty years, as well as having experience as a classroom teacher, in retirement home administration and employment counseling. In addition to parish ministry, she has also been a faculty member in various Archdiocesan institutes for ministry training and formation. She is originally from Tucson and lived in Los Angeles for some time. She has a BA in History from UCLA, as well as completing the Graduate School in Education there. She holds a Masters of Divinity degree from Weston Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Brian Bloye graduated with highest honors from the University of Michigan’s School of Music, where he studied organ performance and church music on full scholarship. He received the master of music degree cum laude from DePaul University in piano performance. Brian has been a church musician his entire life, serving Catholic parishes in three Michigan cities and in Chicago and suburbs. He was made the associate organist at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Grand Rapids, MI at the age of sixteen, and played there every week for televised Mass for two years. He moved to Chicago in 1993 to be William Ferris’s associate at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. Brian was an adjunct faculty member in the keyboard department at Concordia University in River Forest, IL for four years. After serving parishes in the western suburbs, Brian became the music director at St. Alphonsus in 2002. During his tenure, he has developed an outstanding music program which includes two excellent and varied choral groups. Brian is also a tenor, and sings with several Chicago choral groups including the choir of St. Peter-in-the-Loop, Richard Proulx’s Cathedral Singers, Bella Voce, and the Schola Cantorum of St. Peter. His compositions include over 30 psalm settings, two Masses, and many choral anthems.

Dr. Megan Stanton became the principal of Alphonsus Academy and Center for the Arts in 2006. She grew up in Chicago, attended the University of Wisconsin and began her teaching career in the Los Angeles area. While in California, she earned a Master's degree in Education at California State University in Long Beach and a doctorate in educational administration at UCLA/UC Irvine (a joint program.)

Jerry Kennedy has been the business manager at St. Alphonsus since July, 1999 and a parishioner since 1995. (Before he came on staff , he was also a member of the Finance Council.) He is also married to Cheryl Kennedy, who has been a member of the parish for nearly 30 years. He is a CPA, holds an MBA and spent nearly 20 years with Stone Container Corporation before joining St. Alphonsus.

Jeremy Dixon, CM, recently joined the staff as the co-coordinator for Young Adult Ministry. He is originally from Ottawa, Illinois, and graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and French. He worked as a consultant in Chicago before entering formation to be a priest with the Vincentians. He currently attends Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park and lives with the Vincentian community at DePaul University. Jeremy has been a parishoner since 2005.

Kathleen Graham recently joined the staff as co-coordinator for Young Adult Ministry. Kathleen is from Washington, Illinois, and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a BA in Modern German Studies. She currently works as a project manager at a signage company in addition to her work with young adult ministry.

Linda Herrera joined the staff in 2008 as the Administrative Assistant in the rectory office.