Our Staff

A native of Florissant, Missouri, Rev. J. Friedel, M.A., M. Div., was ordained a priest for service in the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau in December, 1986.  He served as associate pastor at two parishes in Springfield, MO, prior to becoming pastor of a large mission territory (three parishes, roughly three counties, 4000 square miles) in the Piedmont/Van Buren/Williamsville region of the state.

In 1993, he was appointed Director of Catholic Campus Ministry at Southeast Missouri State University, where he served for thirteen years.  In 1997, Fr. J. added classroom time to his duties at the university, teaching part-time in the Department of Political Science, Philosophy and Religion. 

In the summer of 2006, Fr. J. was named Director of Vocations and Seminarians for the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau and was assigned as pastor of St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Joplin, Missouri. While moving on from his position as Vocation Director in July of 2016, he continues to serve as the Diocesan Director of Campus Ministry for the diocese, since as part of his duties as a pastor Fr. J. is the Director of the parish-based Catholic Campus Ministry at Missouri Southern State University.

In 2011, Fr. J. added “Disaster Specialist” to his job description, serving a community that was devastated by an F-5 tornado on May 22, 2011. While that work was both challenging and fulfilling, his best piece of advice about surviving natural disasters is, “Avoid them!”

In the past four years, Fr. J.  has added St. Ann parish in Carthage and Sacred Heart parish in Webb City to his pastoral duties, along with coordination of Sacramental care to the Catholic patients at Mercy-Joplin.  He is enjoying serving with a collaborative team of associates in an emerging regional ministry!

Fr. J. is a former Chair of the Executive Board for the national Catholic Campus Ministry Association and still serves that organization as a member of the Executive Board and as the “Ambassador for Certification” on the Certification Committee, which assists the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in promoting and certifying campus ministers for the United States.  He has just survived his third round of assisting in the “re-certification” of CCMA with the USCCB!

Fr. J. is well known as a preacher and speaker and has given numerous national presentations for both students and campus ministers, ranging from Ritual and Greek Life to Catholic Identity and Engaging the Academy.  He laughingly reminds his students and parishioners, “I talk for a living!”  After thirty-five years as a priest, his favorite work is still to preach and preside at Sunday Eucharist.

Currently, Fr. J. is the pastor to two parishes in southern Missouri, Our Lady of the Lake in Branson and Our Lady of the Ozarks in Forsyth. He has been well received by parishioners and visitors. Fr. J. has lovingly embraced the tourism in Branson and all of our "Parishioners-for-a-Day!"

Fr. J. says he has thoroughly enjoyed his time as both a pastor and a campus minister and is grateful that he can remain active in both fields of ministry.  Along with his responsibilities in the training of new priests for the diocese, the three areas of ministry provide a wonderful crossroads where his commitment to his faith and his love for learning and teaching come together in a rewarding manner.

3 Things You Didn't Know About Father J.

He worked for the NFL

He had his own TV Show

He once played Nana in Peter Pan

Father Dhaneesh is from the District of Kannur, which is in Kerala, India. He has an older sister and a younger brother. He gets to see his family once a year. His plan was to be a fashion designer, but God had a different plan. In May 2006, he was invited to attend a vocational camp for Priestly formation, and you can guess what happened next. 

Father Dhaneesh became a priest in 2019. He spent 3 months in India, fo lowed by a two ½ year assignment in Italy. He

returned to India for an additional two ½ years. He began his assignment here at Our Lady of the Lake, Our Lady of the

Ozarks and Our Lady of the Cove in December 2024. He speaks Malayalam (the language spoken in the Indian state of

Kerala), Italian, English and is currently learning Spanish. In his freetime, Father Dhaneesh likes to read, play basketba l,

vo leyba l, and soccer. He also enjoys fishing and swimming. His favorite sport to watch is soccer, especia ly Lionel Messi

whose current team is Inter Miami.

Fr. Johny is from the District of Ernakalam, which is in Kerala, India. He has six brothers (one of which is his twin) and three sisters. His road to priesthood started when he was 13 years old. He was an altar server and attended mass daily as he lived close enough to walk there. Father Johny was selected to attend a vocational camp which led him to the seminary. After 12 years of seminary, he was ordained a priest on January 3rd, 1989. His first assignment was in India as a Parish Pastor & Director of a boy’s home for 8 years. He then spent 3 years as the Rector of Seminary in AP, one of the states of India. From there he was the Finance Administer of Marymatha Province of

the Vincentian Congregation. In 2013, he moved to New Jersey to become the Superior Administrator of the Vincentian

House & Divine Retreat Center in Washington, NJ. Father Johny then moved to Branson in July 2024 to become Associate Pastor for Our Lady of the Lake, Our Lady of the Ozarks and Our Lady of the Cove. He goes back to India once a year to visit his family. In his freetime, he enjoys reading. He also likes to watch basketball. 

Deacon Dan is a lifelong Catholic and disciple of Jesus Christ. In other words, a repentant sinner that keeps on trying to do God’s will. He is the Parish Administrator at Our Lady of the Ozarks Parish in Forsyth, Missouri, and also does ministry work for Our Lady of the Lakes Parish in Branson, and Our Lady of the Cove in Kimberling City.

Deacon Dan and his gracious wife Beth have three adult children and four grandchildren. Dan has degrees in both engineering and business, and studied theology at the Diocese of Tulsa. He is passionate about his family and his faith. He often speaks before he thinks and is known to talk faster than a New York minute. He was ordained to the diaconate in May 2014 for the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau by Bishop James Johnston.

Deacon Dan does a weekly blog, Hey Deacon. These nuggets of the faith are inspired by the Holy Spirit for whatever reason known only to God. Dan typically writes the intro and ending of his article and pulls the rest from a variety of Catholic resources. He edits and downsizes into 500 words or less. The primary websites tapped are Catholic Answers; Aleteia; Catholic Link, and Simply Catholic.