CHARLOTTE — Effective Jan. 13, 2026, Father Patrick Hoare is returning to active ministry to serve as chaplain of Pennybyrn retirement community in High Point, succeeding Father Stephen Hoyt.
Father Hoyt is moving to serve as temporary administrator at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Morganton as its longtime pastor, Father Ken Whittington, retires.
Bishop Michael Martin, OFM Conv., announced the assignment changes in a Dec. 19 letter.
In his letter, Bishop Martin said Father Hoare had taken the steps necessary for a return to ministry in the Diocese of Charlotte as recommended by the diocese’s Lay Review Advisory Board.
Father Hoare was removed as pastor of St. Matthew Parish by Bishop Peter Jugis in 2020 after the Review Board found allegations of boundary violations with minors observed in public settings at St. Matthew and St. John Neumann parishes to be credible. The Review Board listed several steps – including an assessment and counseling – he could take for a possible return to ministry.
Father Hoare appealed the authority of Bishop Jugis to remove him as pastor through the Church’s canonical processes, and in May, it was announced that the Holy See declined to overturn that decision. During the five-year appeals process, Father Hoare remained on administrative leave, engaging in a period of reflection and counseling and taking other steps as recommended by the Review Board.
“Father Hoare has repeatedly shared with me his remorse, unaware in those moments that his actions with minors might be perceived as boundary violations,” Bishop Martin wrote. “He has also acknowledged the events of the past five years, including completion of the assessment, counseling and course work in respecting healthy boundaries, have helped him understand these perceptions and concerns.”
Father Hoare, the bishop wrote, “has faithfully participated in the non-pastoral life of the Church throughout this period,” and he is “committed to resuming a ministry that will enable him to help others and spread the Good News of Jesus by fostering safe environments and healthier boundaries for all.”
For those reasons, the bishop said, he was appointing Father Hoare to Pennybyrn. In this role, Father Hoare will work with seniors, minister to residents, visit the sick and administer last rites, demonstrating Catholic values to the Pennybyrn community and “the ecumenical spirit for which Pennybyrn is known.”
FATHER HOARE’S SERVICE
HoareA priest for nearly 20 years, Father Hoare has extensive pastoral, leadership and ministry experience. He served for about two years at St. Mark Parish in Huntersville before being appointed pastor of St. John Neumann Parish in 2009 and then in 2017, pastor of St. Matthew Parish, one of the largest Catholic parishes in the United States with over 11,000 registered families. He is also a trained spiritual director through the Institute of Priestly Formation.
He has held numerous diocesan leadership roles, including serving on the Presbyteral Council, which represents all priests of the diocese in administrative and policy discussions.
FATHER HOYT’S SERVICE
HoytFather Hoyt has guided Pennybyrn through its transition of pastoral sponsorship to the diocese from the Sisters of the Poor Servants of the Mother of God, who founded the facility nearly 80 years ago.
Pennybyrn has grown into a 71-acre continuing care retirement community with a range of care services, including independent living cottages and apartments, assisted living and memory support apartments, a nursing care building, a stand-alone transitional rehabilitation center, chapel, and adult day care support center.
Since being assigned full-time chaplain in 2023, Father Hoyt has built a pastoral team of six who attend to Pennybyrn residents’ spiritual needs. He has ministered to the sick, administered the sacraments and carried on the tradition of caring that the sisters built.
Prior to moving to Pennybyrn, he served at parishes in Charlotte and Clemmons and was pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Lenoir for nearly seven years. A priest for 33 years, he also serves on the Presbyteral Council.
— Catholic News Herald