
Fr. Jim Chamberlain is an ordained Catholic priest with the Diocese of Austin in Texas. Ordained in 1986, Fr. Jim served as Catholic campus minister at Baylor University and in several parish assignments within the Diocese before being called into teaching. During the 8-hr workday, Fr. Jim can be found teaching and assisting students in their water-related research at the University of Oklahoma (OU). But during the rest of his waking hours he serves as Pastoral Administrator of two Catholic parishes - Our Lady of Victory in Purcell and St. Catherine of Siena in Pauls Valley.
His training in Ignatian spirituality and his work under the Jesuit fathers have prepared him well for a full life of pastoral ministry and academia. He lives according to the Ignatian motto of "A man for others". The motto comes from Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., who in 1973 said "Today our prime educational objective must be to form men for others; men and women who will live not for themselves but for God and his Christ - for the God-man who lived and died for all the world; men who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbors; men and women completely convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for others is a farce."
In 2005, Jim started a professional chapter of Engineers Without Borders in Austin, Texas, and has been working on water system projects in El Salvador ever since. Fr. Jim graduated with a PhD in Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences from Clemson University in 2011. He is beginning now his third year as research faculty and environmental engineer with the WaTER Center at OU. The WaTER (Water Technologies for Emerging Regions) Center’s mission is to develop and promote sustainable drinking water and sanitation technologies in emerging regions. It currently has water projects in Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Bolivia, and is engaged in research, teaching and service activities with college students on the OU campus.
Fr. Jim is a musician (guitar and banjo) and enjoys kayaking, backpacking, running, and cycling. He has fulfilled a lifelong dream by building a log cabin with a friend in the mountains of western North Carolina.
His training in Ignatian spirituality and his work under the Jesuit fathers have prepared him well for a full life of pastoral ministry and academia. He lives according to the Ignatian motto of "A man for others". The motto comes from Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J., who in 1973 said "Today our prime educational objective must be to form men for others; men and women who will live not for themselves but for God and his Christ - for the God-man who lived and died for all the world; men who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbors; men and women completely convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for others is a farce."
In 2005, Jim started a professional chapter of Engineers Without Borders in Austin, Texas, and has been working on water system projects in El Salvador ever since. Fr. Jim graduated with a PhD in Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences from Clemson University in 2011. He is beginning now his third year as research faculty and environmental engineer with the WaTER Center at OU. The WaTER (Water Technologies for Emerging Regions) Center’s mission is to develop and promote sustainable drinking water and sanitation technologies in emerging regions. It currently has water projects in Cambodia, Ethiopia, and Bolivia, and is engaged in research, teaching and service activities with college students on the OU campus.
Fr. Jim is a musician (guitar and banjo) and enjoys kayaking, backpacking, running, and cycling. He has fulfilled a lifelong dream by building a log cabin with a friend in the mountains of western North Carolina.
205 W. Bert, Pauls Valley, OK 73075
Phone: (405) 238-3741
Fax: (405) 238-5325
Phone: (405) 238-3741
Fax: (405) 238-5325