• Originally baptized into the Lutheran faith, Fr. Ben became Catholic at a young age and attended Catholic schools growing up.

• Fr. Ben has had two other priests in his family in addition to himself.

• He always loved to cook and always considered either being a professional chef or a missionary priest.

• At age 17 he began working for a French chef in Memphis and continued working in kitchens until age 20, at which point he entered Johnson & Wales University culinary arts program in Charleston, SC. There he earned an Associates degree in Culinary Arts.

• After graduating he went to Russia and lived and worked there as a missionary with a religious community for 4 months. It was in Russia working in a small village called Gagarina, that he began to consider more prayerfully a call to be a missionary priest. Since then he has spent time visiting and working in Guatemala, Mexico, Africa, Eastern Europe, and Italy.

• After returning to Memphis he worked as a Pastry Chef for 5 years and went to Paris, France to attend the L’Ecole Lenotre school of Pastry Arts, where he studied chocolate and pulled sugar artistry. During his time in France he often attended mass at rural French churches, again considering more and more a call to be a missionary priest.

• After returning to the United States he attended The New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, whereupon he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Food and Beverage Management.

• After graduating from NECI, Fr. Ben began considering an option he had not yet considered prior: Diocesan Priesthood. After much prayerful discernment, Fr. Ben finally entered the seminary at the age of 27 and was ordained to the Diocese of Memphis in 2006.

• Fr. Ben loves spending time with his nieces and nephew, eating gummy bears, reading about Julia Child, sharing the Catholic faith, and making chocolate chip cookies laden with butter and chocolate chips!