Father Joseph Raymond Ferrara, 67, former teacher and administrator in Catholic schools and current pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in Margate, will retire Dec. 1.
Since 2010, Father Ferrara has been pastor in Margate. Born on July 11, 1951 in Philadelphia, he undertook studies at Saint Francis seminary in Loretto, Pa., before being ordained a priest of the Diocese of Camden by Bishop George H. Guilfoyle on May 20, 1977.
For the first three decades of his ministry, he served at high schools throughout South Jersey, teaching religion at Holy Spirit, Absecon, and Paul VI, Haddonfield (where he was also chairman of the Religion Department), and, later, vice-principal at Saint James, Carneys Point and Saint Joseph, Hammonton.
In 2004, he was appointed the diocese’s Vicar for Clergy, a role which lasted until 2007.
In addition to Holy Trinity, he was pastor of Saint Katharine Drexel Parish, Egg Harbor Township, 2000-04; Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Berlin (2006-09), and Saint Simon Stock, Berlin (2009-10).