Music led to his vocation, and his priesthood led him home

by Moira Cullings
moira.cullings@theleaven.org

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The beauty of the Catholic faith drew Father Brent Stull to the priesthood.

But his journey there began with a trumpet.

In sixth grade, Stull took up the instrument while growing up in rural New Strawn, just a few miles north of Burlington.

“When I was a kid, we had really great music programs even though they were small schools,” he said, “because we could attract good music teachers.

“So, I had a really good experience with music, even though I was in a small town.”

At age 15, he began playing the organ, and Father Mike Hawken, pastor of his home parish of St. Francis Xavier in Burlington at the time, was his first teacher.

Father Hawken became a mentor to Stull and eventually brought up the idea of him becoming a priest.

“I was thinking in my head, ‘Nah, Father. That’s weird. I’m not doing that,’” said Father Stull.

“Because the world tells you that is weird — an entire life of service, no marriage, no kids,” he continued. “As a 15-year-old, that was very much not in my line of sight.”

But eventually, the seed that had been planted began to grow.

Father Stull was ordained a priest on March 19, 2021.

He originally joined the Congregation of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri in Cincinnati, but after feeling called to come home, he was incardinated into the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas on Nov. 26, 2024, by Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann.

Listen to the music

Father Stull was born in Wichita, but his family moved to the Burlington area when he was 3 years old.

“Nearly all of my mom’s family lives within 15 minutes of where my parents live,” he said. “So we were very close with our cousins.”

His grandparents also lived close by.

“They had a farm there — cattle, crops, the whole bit,” said Father Stull. “So, we got to go out there and help with all that kind of stuff, stay on the farm in the summers.”

Father Stull has one sister, Bridget, who’s 6-and-a-half-years older.

His father Bruce was a water treatment plant operator, and his mother Annette worked in HR as a vice president at the nuclear plant in Burlington. Both are now retired.

Bruce isn’t Catholic, but he went to Mass with the family every Sunday.

“Even though my dad wasn’t Catholic, him going to Mass with us was a good example when we were kids,” said Father Stull. “He thought it was important for the family to go to church together.”

Stull went on to attend the University of Missouri-Kansas City for one year, where he studied organ, and transferred to the University of Kansas, Lawrence, to finish that degree.

While he was in college, Father Hawken had moved to St. Joseph Parish in Shawnee and hired him as an interim director of one of the choirs there.

Stull also worked at Christ the King Parish in Kansas City, Missouri, while doing master’s work in church music at KU.

Eventually, he felt an undeniable call to the priesthood.

“Of course, there are times when you think, ‘Am I really meant for this type of thing?’” he said. “But I never had a serious doubt.

“It was always hands to the plow and here we go.”

Home sweet home

Stull was drawn to the Congregation of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri after it was featured on the New Liturgical Movement blog.

“I researched that particular oratory, and they were very much focused on liturgy and music and bringing beauty back into the Mass,” said Father Stull. “I thought, ‘I’ve got to go visit these people.’”

He visited for the first time in January 2013 and moved there in August of that year. He completed his seminary studies at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary of the West in Cincinnati.

Near the beginning of 2022, Father Stull wanted to make a change. He reached out to Archbishop Naumann, requesting to be accepted into the archdiocese on a trial basis.

“I wanted to come home and be with my people in my diocese where I was raised and help my local church that raised me in the Catholic faith,” said Father Stull.

He let the oratory know about his decision, and they offered him a three-year period of exclaustration so he could live outside the order.

“I knew very shortly after arriving here that this was definitely for me — that I was back home,” he said.

Father Stull is now the associate pastor at Church of the Ascension in Overland Park, where he’s been serving since July 2022.

“What I like to say about Ascension is that it’s a massive parish,” he said, “but it feels like a small one because the community is so great here.”

He’s enjoyed teaching adult faith classes each year in the fall, spring and summer.

“That has been very rewarding,” he said. “And it also helps you get to know the people very well.”

Father Stull is grateful to be back in his home archdiocese and continues to find joy in the Catholic faith — and the music that led him to the priesthood.

Father Brent Stull

Age: 36

Born: Wichita

Raised: Burlington

Home parish: St. Francis Xavier, Burlington

Parents: Bruce and Annette Stull

Siblings: Bridget Stull

Education: BM Organ Performance, University of Kansas; MA and MDiv, Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary of the West, Cincinnati

Favorite food: Pasta

Least favorite food: Fresh onions

My favorite activity as a child was: Playing outside

Best job I’ve ever had: Priest, haha!

The quality I admire most in people is: Responsibility/accountability

Favorite musical artist: Jean-  Baptiste Lully (composer)

If you were making a movie of your life, who would play you and why? I suppose myself because I’d be the most authentic version of myself!

 Aside from Christ and his mother, the biblical character I most want to know more about is: St. James the Less because it would be interesting to know what the day to day was like being the first bishop of Jerusalem. 

Favorite Scripture passage: Mt 25:1-13

I deal with failure by: Analysis and planning how to succeed the next go-around

If I have an important decision to make, I start by: Prayer and consulting close family and friends

When I wind up with free time and have no plans, I usually: Visit family, watch TV or practice the organ

My favorite type of social event to attend is: Small family gatherings at home

The one thing I’ve always wanted to do but never tried: Actually, learning Latin, German or French. . . . I took all those in college and seminary, but it was more basic vocab and function regarding music and liturgy, than actually learning the language.

If I hadn’t felt called to become a priest, my dream job would have been: Organist/music director (which I actually was before and during seminary, and for the first year of my priesthood)