Meet our Clergy
Father Chris Koehn
PastorFr. Chris is from a military family, born in England and raised in Virginia, the youngest of four brothers. He earned a B.B.A. in Accounting with a minor in History from James Madison University. Fr. Chris had a full career as a project manager and took an early retirement from Chesapeake Hospitality before receiving a Master of Divinity degree from Pope St. John XXIII Seminary in Massachusetts. Since his ordination in 2018, he has served as parochial vicar at St. Thomas More Church in Chapel Hill and, since 2020, as administrator and pastor of St. Mary Magdalene, in Apex.
Email: chris.koehn@stfrancisraleigh.org
Call: 919-847-8205 ext 224
James Singarayar, HGN
Parochial VicarFather James was born to Catholic parents in Tamil Nadu, India. He is the third and youngest child in his family. His parents and brothers still live in India. His brothers are married and Father James has two nieces and two nephews. Primary and high school education took place at catholic schools. The priests and religious sisters who worked in those schools inspired Father James to become priest through their witness and support. He entered the seminary in 1999 in the state of Andhra Pradesh, South India, and was ordained in 2009 for the Heralds of Good News (HGN), a missionary society of apostolic life founded in India in 1984 to promote vocations to the priesthood, to train seminarians, and to send missionaries to dioceses throughout the world where there is a need.
After ordination, Father James served as a parochial vicar for one year and then was sent for advanced studies for two years. After completing a master’s degree in philosophy, he taught in his major seminary for four years where he also served as Dean of philosophy for three years. He was then sent as a missionary to the United States in 2016 where he served as parochial vicar, administrator, and pastor in the Archdiocese of Mobile, AL and the Diocese of Baton Rouge, LA.
Though some people may perceive Father James as a very serious person, in reality, he is not. He is a fun loving person who enjoys the friendship and company of others and also likes to play badminton. When none of the above are possible, he enjoys listening to music, reading, and playing with his toys (electronic gadgets), exploring their functions and operations.
Email: james.singarayar@stfrancisraleigh.org
Call: 919-847-8205 ext 226
Stephen Andrews
Deacon In ResidenceDeacon Stephen Andrews is from Rochester, NY. He was married to his wife Lois for over 60 years. She passed from this life to her next life in February of 2025. He is the father of three children, and was educated and worked as an engineer. In the early 80s he moved to New Jersey, where he became involved in the Catholic Charismatic Movement and entered formation for the diaconate. In 1987 he was ordained a deacon for the Diocese of Trenton, NJ. He served at St Dorothea’s in Eatontown, NJ. He then became involved with the St. Vincent de Paul Society in NJ and here at St. Francis. Because of damage from Hurricane Sandy in 2015 he moved from NJ to Raleigh. His primary ministry is to help parishes in the Raleigh Diocese to form St Vincent de Paul Conferences, to serve people in need.
Email: stephenwandrews@outlook.com
Cell: 732-213-0104
Deacon Thomas Costello
Deacon In ResidenceDeacon Thomas Costello was born and raised in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. and is a descendant of Maryland’s earliest Catholic settlers. He is the sixth child of seven in an Irish Catholic family. He has been married to his wife Janine for thirty years and they have two grown children, who live out of the area. He was ordained a permanent deacon by Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama on June 27, 2026, and was assigned to St. Francis, his home parish since 2017.
Deacon Tom earned a bachelor’s degree in speech communication and a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Maryland. In addition, he holds a Master’s Degree in Theology from St. Leo University. He is a licensed clinical social worker and is a retired officer of the U.S. Public Health Service. During his career, he worked with the Native American population, federal prisoners, psychiatric patients, and military personnel and their families. Also, while on active duty, he deployed to provide humanitarian assistance and behavioral health services to victims of natural disasters, such as wildfires, hurricanes and earthquakes. He was deployed to assist Kosovar refugees during the war in the Balkans and was a first responder to the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. He attributes his time at Ground Zero as the beginning of his call to the diaconate.
Deacon Tom has recently adopted part of the ordination rite as his personal motto: “Believe what you read, teach what you believe, practice what you teach.” He is an avid swimmer and treasures family time, travel, and playing with Gemma, his Spanish water dog.
Yeison (Jason) Guerrero
Seminarian
Email:
Cell: 919-268-2192
Monsignor Michael Clay
Pastor EmeritusMonsignor Clay was born in Philadelphia PA, the first child of George and Mary Ann Clay. After several moves in connection with his father’s naval duties, his family finally settled in New Bern, NC where he attended elementary, junior high, and senior high schools. He earned the Bachelor of Music Education, the Master of Liturgical Music, the Master of Divinity, and the Doctor of Ministry in liturgical studies degrees from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He prepared for the priesthood at the North American College in Rome and at Theological College in Washington. He was ordained on November 15, 1980.
Within the Diocese of Raleigh, he has previously served as vice-rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral and pastor of St. Peter Church in Greenville, St. Thomas More Church in Chapel Hill, St. Ann Church in Clayton, and St. Francis of Assisi Church in Raleigh. At the diocesan level, he has served as vocation director, director of the permanent diaconate, director of liturgy, and legislative lobbyist at the NC General Assembly.
Between 2012-2020 he served as associate professor, department chair of Pastoral Studies, and associate dean for graduate ministerial studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC where he taught courses on baptismal priesthood at the undergraduate level, courses in pastoral theology, homiletics, and ritual praxis at the graduate seminarian level, and multicultural ministry at the doctoral level.
For over 30 years he has been an internationally recognized authority on the implementation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and has presented workshops on the RCIA in over 70 dioceses in the United States and Canada. He is the author of A Harvest for God: Christian Initiation in the Rural and Small-Town Parish published by Liturgy Training Publications and over 12 articles on Christian initiation and liturgy. Since 2013, he has served by appointment of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity as a member of the Catholic team on the bilateral commission for international ecumenical dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) Church.
He received the Bishop’s Medal from Bishop Gossman in 2005 and was named a Chaplain to His Holiness with the title, Monsignor, by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.
Resources for initiation ministers, visit: https://www.harvest4god.com/
Going Going Gone: The Great Departure From Catholicism by Msgr. Michael Clay
Understanding The Mass: A Four Part Series by Msgr. Michael Clay
Know Believe Live (KBL 1) by Msgr. Michael Clay
Know Believe Live (KBL2) by Msgr. Michael Clay
Father Fr. Joseph Ita-Sam, CM
Rev. Fr. Joseph Ita-Sam, CM, is a Roman Catholic priest of the Congregation of the Mission (Vincentian), Nigeria Province. He was born into a Catholic family of seven, five boys and two girls, in Cross River state in Calabar, South-South of Nigeria, on April 2nd, 1984. He is originally from Central Uruan in Akw in Akwa-Ibom State and South-South Nigeria.
Fr. Joseph Ita-Sam was ordained into the Catholic Priesthood on July 13th, 2018, in Enugu State Nigeria. He had his first pastoral experience as a missionary to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, where he worked with the Vincentians in the Eastern Province.
Fr. Joseph Ita-Sam is a Psychotherapist with a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from La Salle University of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He is working his way into licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist.
For recreation, Fr. Joseph loves to play soccer, walk, and hang out with friends. He is the author of Confronting Situations, published in December 2023.
Email: joseph.ita@stfrancisraleigh.org