ST. GEORGE — When Rev. Robert Willmann first visited St. George in early 2023, he said he was “awestruck” by the beauty of the area and felt a calling to move to the southwest corner of the state from southern Ohio.

“I felt I must live here,” Willmann said while sitting down to speak with St. George News.

Known as “Father Rob” to parishioners across three Episcopal churches in Washington and Iron counties, Willmann began leading congregations at Grace Episcopal Church in St. George, Spirit of the Desert Episcopal Church in Ivins and St. Jude’s Episcopal Church in Cedar City at the start of the year.

Willmann was officially installed as the vicar of Grace and St. Jude’s and the rector of Spirit of the Desert in April.

Yet how did he go from originally serving parishioners in the Episcopal Diocese of southern Ohio to being a priest in charge of three separate churches in Utah?

Moving to Utah

Willmann said it started in late January 2023 when he accompanied his partner to St. George for the Rural Water Association of Utah’s annual conference. His partner was slated to speak at the conference held at the Dixie Convention Center, and it was during that visit that Willmann said he felt impressed by the Almighty to relocate to the Southwest.

“I actually heard the voice of God saying, ‘You need to come here,’” he said.

After returning home, Willmann called the Grace Episcopal Church and found out they did not have a pastor, which is when he began the process of transferring by filling out an online survey to see if he would be a good fit for the church members. He was then interviewed and vetted by committees from the three churches, which went very well, he said.

“From there it was a go,” Willmann said.

The process of moving to a new church (or three churches in this case) is handled differently in the Episcopal church versus the Catholic church from which he originally hailed, Willmann said.

In the Catholic faith, a bishop will assign a priest a position to fill, while the Episcopal church allows a priest to transfer to another church if the congregation wants them.

“They got to choose me, and I got to choose them,” Willmann said.

Concerning the St. George area in general, Willmann said he finds it to be a welcoming and faith-centric community.

“The whole area – the whole state – is a very faith-filled state,” he said, crediting The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for their influence.

Willmann said he has had “wonderful” interactions with the St. George Interfaith Council since his move.

“That has been the most welcoming organization,” he said. “They’ve really made me feel at home.”

Running three churches

When moving to Southern Utah, Willmann was told the churches he’d be overseeing were considered “challenging.”

“I’ve been in challenging churches; these churches I serve now, I would say, are three of the most incredible, happy churches I have ever served,” he said. “I’ve found no challenge so far but only love and welcoming.”

When asked how he is able to juggle overseeing three churches, Willmann said he does it with the aid of the divine and his parishioners.

“I’d say first (it is) with help from God,” he said with a grin, adding that parishioners are aware that they are a part threefold collaboration between the churches.

Since settling into the role as the priest over three churches, Willmann splits his time between the Cedar City and the St. George area. He presides over St. Jude’s on the first and third Sundays of the month and then Grace and Spirit of the Desert on the second and fourth Sundays.

He also tends to pastoral calls and hospital visits as much as possible while also noting there are aspects of church outreach that parishioners need to engage in more.

“A little bit of a paradigm shift is necessary,” he said, adding that people no longer walk into churches like they used to.

Church members need to represent their faith and be willing to reach out to others more, he said.

A part of church outreach and “new mission territory for the Christian Church” is ministering to young people.

“It’s a ministry to go out and just be with them,” Willmann said, adding that churches, in general, need to reach out to them more as they tend to “have a lot of questions.”

Catholic to Episcopal

While touching on points of his life and ministry in St. George, Willmann also spoke of his time as a Catholic priest and the similarities between the former and current churches he serves.

The Episcopal church is a part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, which is headquartered in England and has its origins in a break from the Roman Catholic church in the 1530s. The church is estimated to have over 80 million members and is counted as the third-largest Christian faith.

Willmann, 58, has been an ordained priest for over 30 years and said he felt the calling to become one when he was a boy. He was ordained in 1992 and assigned to a parish in Arlington, Ohio, where he was subsequently sent to Rome to further his studies. He eventually became the secretary and vice chancellor for a bishop during which time he said he “had to deal with some very hard things.”

“I just made a decision that I wanted to move to a very similar church, but I think a much happier church,” he said. “It was a very easier transition.”

An element that was key to Willmann’s decision to transition to the Episcopal church was the “existential sorrow among the priests in the Roman Catholic church who are mandated to be alone.”

Priests in the Episcopal church are allowed to marry or “be partnered,” as Willmann is.

“I think it’s a happier situation in the Episcopal church,” he said.

“The key thing that stands out as a shining light to the Episcopal church is that it is Catholic,” Willmann said. “It is rooted in the foundation of apostles, but it is the most welcoming and open church.”

Anyone is free and “absolutely welcome” to attend the church and take part in the communion without questions or judgment, he said.

The church is very inclusive, as represented by the diversity of the church’s clergy and membership, Willmann said.

Women and LGBTQ-plus individuals are able to become priests within the church. A woman, Right Rev. Phyllis Spiegel, currently serves as the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Utah.

Another part of the church’s welcoming spirit that Willmann said he loves is its emphasis on welcoming members of the LGBTQ-plus community, and called it “an authentic welcome and hospitality.”

“People of all walks of life exist in the churches, but many are afraid to make themselves known because there will be consequences,” Willmann said. “Not so in the Episcopal church. People are free to be themselves and free to be the human being God created them to be.”

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