Msgr. Ray East
Ray East, a nationally known speaker and evangelist, was the oldest of eight children. Though born in Newark, he was raised in San Diego, where his father was an aerospace engineer. His mother was a childhood convert and his father was born in South Africa, the son of Baptist missionaries, so he grew to love and appreciate people of other faiths at an early age.
Though he felt called to priesthood from a young age, he initially became a businessman and teacher, in California and in Washington, D.C., before entering the seminary. He attended Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas and Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, and was ordained in 1981.
East has served as pastor at the Church of the Nativity (1997 to 2002) and St. Teresa of Avila Parish, S.E. (1988 to 1997), and as associate pastor at various other parishes. He was named a monsignor in 1991. In 2002, he became director of the Office of Black Catholics in Washington, D.C. before returning to full-time pastoring in 2009 (at St. Teresa of Avila).