Leadership
“God led me to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit and to experience my Catholic faith in such an open and freeing way. And I grew to know that, as one of His Creation, created in His image, God loves each of us unconditionally.
Through His grace, we receive certain gifts for a specific purpose, to serve him. I discovered that women could serve the Church according to our calling and without restriction. God does not ask us to suppress a call that He’s given to us to serve Him, even in Ordained Ministry.” ~Mother Barb
Mother Barb Fichter
(Reverend) Mother Barb Fichter considers herself a nontraditional Catholic. She was baptized as an infant into the United Church of Christ. Still, that faith tradition did not seem to resonate with her. She felt like something was missing - that there was something more.
Recognizing the strong pull to the sacramental Church, Mother Barb’s faith journey began in the Roman Catholic Church in the 1980s. In 2005, she came upon what she’s described as “one of God’s best secrets” - the vast community of non-Vatican, Catholic sacramental churches. She recognized immediately - she found home at last.
During Mother Barb’s sacramental journey, she served in parish lay leadership, music and liturgical leadership, church planting, and outreach ministry. In discerning her call, in 2016, she enrolled in St. Cyprian’s School of Theology in Orange, California.
She was ordained to the Transitional Diaconate in 2019. Upon completing her theological studies with the Catholic Apostolic Church in North America (CACINA) ’s* Saint Charles Seminary, she was ordained to the priesthood in 2021. Mother Barb served as clergy at St. Teresa of Calcutta Catholic Community, St. Petersburg, Florida - another CACINA parish - until relocating to Vermont in February 2022.
Mother Barb obtained her undergraduate degree from Gwynedd Mercy College, Philadelphia. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Work from Rutgers University, New Jersey.
*The Catholic Apostolic Church in North America (CACINA) welcomes ALL to discern their path of service to the Church, including becoming deacons or priests without restrictions such as gender identity, sexual orientation, or marital status. For further information www.cacina.org/index.php/vocations.
“Our faith teaches us that God maps a spiritual journey for each of us, and that journey may come with perfectly crooked lines. He’s given us free will. Yet, He’s extremely patient as He waits for us to walk with Him and discover the path, He’s created for us.
That discovery is one of the joys of faith but can also be filled with many surprises. Following the Holy Spirit’s promptings, we might discover an entirely different path – entirely unexpected – and even unimaginable, as first. But dots do become connected as we discover who we are in Christ and what He’s calling us to.” ~Mother Barb
