Fr. Thomas Ricks is a native North Carolinian who returned home in 2017 after many years of living in other places. He holds degrees from Duke University, Christendom College, and The Catholic University of America and is a veteran of the United States Army. Fr. Ricks is a bi-vocational priest, serving as what he calls a "self-supporting missionary priest" (a bit like the Apostle Paul?) while making his living as an executive in the software industry. He is a married man and the father of eight sons and three daughters. With his upbringing in the Free Will Baptist tradition and fourteen years spent in the Roman Church, Fr. Ricks relates easily to people from a wide variety of backgrounds.