University of Mary Welcomes New University Chaplain

Father Paul Gardner Named University Chaplain at the University of Mary

The University of Mary has named Father Paul Gardner as its new University chaplain and director of the Saint John Paul II Center for University Ministry, bringing back a former student who left campus for the seminary and is now returning as a priest. For Father Gardner, the appointment is both a homecoming and a mission — to offer students the same encounter with faith he experienced on campus.

From New England North Dakota to the Altar

Father Paul Gardner grew up in New England, North Dakota, the youngest of nine children in a family he describes as rooted in daily Mass and a deep life of faith. Homeschooled through most of high school, he balanced track, cross country, and basketball before enrolling at the University of Mary as a math and chemistry double major. Two years into his time at Mary, he went to seminary.

He spent three years at Saint John Vianney Seminary in Denver before completing his theological formation at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis. Ordained four years ago, he served as a parochial vicar at Saint Anne’s and as chaplain at Saint Mary’s Academy before his appointment to this new role.

Coming Home

For Father Gardner, the appointment is personal. He credits his two years at the University of Mary with reshaping how he understood his own faith, and he returns now wanting to give students the same experience.

“It’s certainly like coming home in many ways. I had a deep encounter with the Lord when I was going to college there, and it transformed me from seeing the faith as something that was necessary to something attractive as well. It’s a place that taught me what it means to give your heart to something.”

That transformation, he says, happened in ordinary places: daily Mass, late nights with fellow students who shared his hunger for something deeper, and a growing sense that he was not alone in wanting to live the faith seriously. He comes back to campus with that same offer on the table for anyone willing to take it.

A Mission Rooted in Beauty and Joy

Father Gardner is clear about how he sees his role. Intercession comes first, he says, but prayer gets lived out in the Crow’s Nest, on the Shire, over shared meals, and in the small conversations most people write off.

“I see my role as a chaplain as being particularly a spiritual one—a priest who intercedes on behalf of those under his care, praying for their good, their well-being, and their own encounter with God. I love sharing meals with people, and it’s an environment that fosters community in a really direct way. I’m a big believer that small talk is not small.”

At the center of his vision for student ministry is beauty. He wants students to encounter a faith that appeals to them, not just one that makes demands of them.

“There’s a beauty inherent in our faith that I constantly want to uncover for them and reveal, so that Jesus can speak to them directly through that. Young people are craving beauty more than ever.”

He leaves students with a simple charge drawn from Saint Paul; one he says carries its own grace:

“Rejoice in the Lord always. That word ‘always’ doesn’t leave any room for exceptions. If the Lord commands us to do something like to rejoice always, it means he’s also giving us always the grace to do just that.”

Father Gardner begins his role at the University of Mary this summer, returning to the place where his own faith took deeper root and his vocation began to take shape. Now, as chaplain, he steps into a mission not far removed from his own story—walking with students in the same spaces, inviting them into the same encounter, and trusting that the same grace will meet them there as well.