Parish Staff

Rev. Jeffery Ott, O.P.

Father Jeffery Ott, O.P., is a friar of the Order of Preachers (also known as the Dominicans) serving as Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, the first African American Catholic Church in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. He also serves as board member of the Interfaith Community Initiatives, Incorporated, a nonprofit which unites people to…

Rev. Thomas Jackson, O.P

Fr. Thomas Jackson, O.P. was assigned to Our Lady of Lourdes in January 2023, as Associate Pastor. Fr. Tom, as he likes to be called, hails from Houston, TX and brings 30 years of experiences serving in parish ministry, campus ministry, as a teacher, and as an itinerant preacher throughout the Midwest, primarily.  As a form of relaxing…

Rev Bruce Shultz O.P.

Fr. Bruce Schultz, O.P., is a Dominican Friar who returned to Our Lady of Lourdes in August of 2010 as associate pastor. (He had been ordained a priest at Lourdes in 1988 by Archbishop Eugene Marino.)  Fr. Bruce, who has spent most of his three decades as a Dominican serving in the African American community, earned a Masters in…

Chester Griffin

Deacon Chester is a native of Lubbock, Texas and has been a member of Our Lady of Lourdes since 1977. He was ordained to the permanent Diaconate in February 2003 and assigned as deacon at Lourdes. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education from Howard University and a Master’s Degree in Music Education from…

Lennison “Lenny” Alexander

Deacon Lenny joins Lourdes as its newest permanent deacon. He was ordained February 4, 2017 as the Cathedral of Christ the King. His areas of focus are adult faith formation, men’s ministry and Stephen Ministry. He also has an interest in homeless and hunger ministries. Lenny was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago…

LeRell Ross

LeRell Ross is an Atlanta, GA based musician. Born and raised in Camden, New Jersey, he traveled to Atlanta to study music at Morehouse College with a concentration in vocal performance. Since his matriculation through Morehouse, he works as both a stage performer and pianist in metro-Atlanta and beyond. After serving as an Organist for the past 10 years, Mr. Ross recently…

Theresa Bowen

As the Director of Religious Education at Our Lady of Lourdes, Theresa plans and organizes the faith formation of the children and youth of the parish. She handles Sunday School registration and preparation to receive the sacraments for children and youth. She has been a member at Lourdes for more than 60 years and is…

Carmen Rancifer Jenkins

Carmen Rancifer Jenkins joined the Lourdes staff in May 2022.  A parishioner for over 30 years, after retiring from AT&T, she decided to lend her managerial expertise to the Lourdes family as the part-time office manager.  Carmen has volunteered as a collection counter, she is a Lector, Eucharistic Minister and trainer; she is active in…

Carol Ann Pinard

Carol Ann joined Lourdes in 2007, after relocating to Atlanta from her native, Trinidad and Tobago. In 2010, she began volunteering as a Counter and in 2012, started volunteering in the Church Office when needed. Carol Ann joined the staff of Lourdes in 2016 and some of her duties include: registering all new parishioners; maintaining…