BRANDON, S.D. (KELO) — Father Andrew Young, the current pastor for Risen Savior Catholic Church in Brandon, is currently deployed overseas, but the church will not skip a beat thanks to his close friend’s willingness to come out of retirement.
Last week was Father Andrew Young’s final Sunday at Risen Savior before a six-month deployment for the National Guard.
“There was a lot of tears, and he’s not only well-liked here at Risen Savior, he’s kind of Mr. Brandon in many ways with the school and with everything, the kids and the high school kids. Everybody has such a deep respect for him,” Risen Savior temporary pastor Father Charles Cimpl said.
“He is pretty amazing. I think everybody loves his energy, his love for people,” Risen Savior member Carla Gross said.
Luckily, Cimpl came out of retirement to fill in for him. Many know him as Father Chuck. He has been ordained for 46 years.
“He asked me if I felt a responsibility to help him out, and he wanted the parish to keep going quite well. He said, ‘Hey, I hope you can do this.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I’ll give it a shot,'” Cimpl said.
“He even married my wife and I years ago and we’ve had lots of opportunities to get to know him, but it’s going to be a wonderful fill-in while Father Andy is gone,” Risen Savior member Michael Jerke said.
Cimpl has already made a good impression on his temporary congregation.
“He just brings such a joyful message, and in that joyful message is what brings us a lot of direction, a lot of calm and a lot of peace,” Jerke said.
Over the next six months, Cimpl will just try to keep the congregation going strong in Young’s absence.
“This morning, as I began mass, I said, ‘We’re all going to miss him, and we’re just going to try to keep it on automatic pilot for six months and get through it together,;” Cimpl said.
While Young is deployed, one of his duties will be to serve as a chaplain.
