Fr. John Costello, Pastor
Fr. John Costello grew up in Flushing, NY. He attended St. Andrew Avellino School, Holy Cross High School, Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception (Douglaston), and the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He earned his Bachelors in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in 1988, and his License in Sacred Theology at the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at the Pontifical Lateran University in 1994. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Francis Mugavero on June 24, 1989 at St. Andrew Avellino Church and has served in several parishes in Brooklyn and Queens. He has also served as Director of Family Life Ministry, Director of the Jubilee 2000 Office of Evangelization, and in priestly formation ministry at the Pontifical North American College and Cathedral Seminary House of Formation. He was appointed pastor of St. Luke in June, 2020, and he continues to serve the Diocese of Brooklyn as Director of Seminarians and Associate Vicar for Clergy.
“In my first assignment as a priest at Our Lady of Miracles Parish in Canarsie, Brooklyn, I met the Apostolic Oblates, a Secular Institute of women dedicated to the Universal Call to Holiness. I have been involved with the Pro Sanctity Movement for all my years as a priest, and the Call to Holiness has always inspired my preaching and ministry. At my ordination, as all priests do, I made a promise of obedience, and I have tried to make myself available to the needs of the Church whenever I have been asked to take on a new assignment. I ask for your prayers that the Lord will help me in my ministry as your pastor.”
Fr. Chin Nguyen, Parochial Vicar
Fr. Chín Nguyễn was ordained in June 2021.
Mrs. Jan Brunswick, Principal
Mrs. Jan Brunswick has been the principal of Saint Luke School since 2016. Prior to becoming a principal, Mrs. Brunswick was an elementary school teacher for 19 years. Mrs. Brunswick began her career in the Diocese of Brooklyn as a second grade teacher at the former Most Precious Blood School in Astoria. She went on to teach in Catholic, public, and private schools in Queens and Long Island. She has a Bachelor's degree from Molloy College, a Master's degree from St. John's University, and her administrative degree from Stony Brook University. She holds NYS certification in Elementary Education, School Building Leadership, and School District Leadership. Mrs. Brunswick has four children. In addition to a passion for education, Mrs. Brunswick runs a successful charity called "Operation: Cheerbox" which provides supplies to needy animals, children, and elderly populations. She enjoys baking, hiking, and scrapbooking.
“Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, And attend to your herds;” Proverbs 27:23
Sr. Katherine Burke, CSJ, Director of Religious Education
Sister Katherine, a Sister of St. Joseph of Brentwood, has served in the Diocese of Brooklyn as an educator and parish minister. Her experience includes teaching at the early childhood and elementary levels and serving as an assistant principal and principal. In the area faith formation. She has had the privilege of working with preschoolers through adults. Sister Katherine has ministered at St. Luke Church since September 2005 and finds it a blessing and a joy to work with both staff and the parish community.
Sr. Theresa Agliardi, RSM, Pastoral Associate
Sr. Theresa Agliardi was born in Brooklyn, New York, and has lived there for most of her life. In 1967, she entered the Sisters of Mercy and has been an active member of that congregation for the past 47 years. She received a B.A. in Education from St. Joseph’s College in 1972 and an M.S. in Urban Education (1976) and an M.A. in Religious Education (1980), both from Fordham University, and has taken part in many updating courses and workshops through the years.
Her ministry began in Elementary Education in the inner city and then continued for some 40 years as a Pastoral Associate, serving the parishes of St. Laurence (25 years) and St. Thomas Aquinas in Brooklyn (5 years), and currently St. Luke since 2013. During the years of 2001 through 2007, she served as an elected member of the Leadership Team of the Sisters of Mercy in Brooklyn.
In addition to parish ministry, she has served on a number of diocesan committees and the Council for Religious, and as a member of the Board of Directors of a sponsored work of the Sisters of Mercy called Mercy Home in Brooklyn.
She is very happy to be the Pastoral Associate for St. Luke Church and finds her ministry to be very enriching and faith producing for herself and those she serves.
I have called you by name: you are mine (Is. 43:1)..
Jessica Tranzillo-Smith, Director of Music
