NESS CITY - Father Stephen F. Schuler, SVD, a native of Ness City and a graduate of Sacred Heart School will celebrate his silver anniversary Mass of thanksgiving on Dec. 19 at 10:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church. A reception will follow in the school.

Father Schuler is a member of the congregation of Divine Word Missionaries. He was ordained to the priesthood on Dec. 15, 1979, at the North American Motherhouse in Techny, Ill.

Father Schuler has served in several pastoral assignments. He spent 14 years in the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, where he served at Immaculate Heart of Mary, Lafayette; St. Benedict de Moor, Duson; St. Joseph, Maurice, and Our Lady of the Lake and St. Martin de Porres, both in Delcambre. He was also served as chaplain and chair of the religion department at Holy Rosary High School in Lafayette.

In 1993, he was assigned to the Provincial Office in Bay St. Louis, Miss, where for 10 years he oversaw the entrance of new missionaries to this country and worked in other positions for the religious community.

In February 2003, Father Schuler was assigned to the Divine Word Missionary community at Bordentown, N.J., where he is pastorally active in two parishes and assists in the administration of the order’s complex there.

Recently, Father Schuler was been appointed Superior Delegatus, the direct contact for missionaries on leave as well as for their Religious and Ecclesiastical Superiors. His main concerns are missionaries on home leave, newly appointed missionaries, and students from provinces abroad.