JANIE GOULD

The Rev. Michael Goldberg, rector at St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church in Vero Beach, is celebrating a triple play this fall: the 40^th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood, his 65^th birthday and the 25^th anniversary of his church.

The baseball analogy would make sense to anyone who is acquainted with the affable priest or has heard some of his sermons. A die-hard baseball fan, he’s followed the New York Yankees since he was a kid living in the Northeast. He played baseball, basketball and football in high school and college.

“I was no star,” he insists. “I had the heart of the athlete but not the skills.”

Goldberg moved to Vero from New Jersey in 1997 to head the church at 475 43^rd Avenue. Under his watch, the parish undertook a $1 million renovation project and finished it ahead of schedule. He says it “left us nearly debt free.”

Walter Burns, a charter member of St. Augustine’s, served on the committee that offered Goldberg the job.

“We needed to grow,” he said. “Father Mike was able to make that happen.”

Goldberg says St. Augustine’s is unique among Episcopal churches.

“We have a diverse group of Christians who are welcoming and caring. I know that’s a cliché’, but it’s true. We work hard to make this a safe place, a caring place and a place that reaches out to people, and all that was here when I got here.”

Goldberg grew up all over the map as the son of a career chief petty officer in the Navy, who was Jewish. His mother was Episcopalian. He didn’t really have a hometown until his father retired and the family, which included a brother and sister, moved to Old Bridge, N.J., when Michael was in the eighth grade.

By that time, he had already found his calling. When he was nine and the family was living in New York City, their parish priest made a lasting impression on him.

“He was roughly the same age as my father,” he said. “He was a pastor who knew his people and visited his people and liked his people. In those days, church was a place where you could find your identity. It was a safe place. That’s where I had my first encounter with Christ.”

After graduating from high school, Goldberg went to St. John’s University, a Roman Catholic school in New York City, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature. Then he went to seminary at the Philadelphia Divinity School, in Philadelphia. He earned a Master of Divinity degree and was ordained in 1974.

He served as a curate, or assisting priest, at the Church of St. Uriel the Archangel, in Sea Girt, N.J., and then, just two years out of seminary, he became the rector, an Anglican term for pastor, at St. Matthias’ Church in Trenton, N.J. He said he had a steep learning curve during his five years there.

“I learned a lot,” he said. “I learned how to balance the books when the treasurer died and nobody else wanted to be treasurer. I learned to listen. Making parish calls daily allowed me to listen.”

Then, he served 16 years as rector at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Ocean City, N.J. It happened that seven families there spent winters in Vero Beach, where they were members of St. Augustine’s. So when the church had an opening for a rector, the search committee asked Goldberg to come down for an interview.

Goldberg said Vero Beach was a perfect fit for him and his wife, Sharon. St. Augustine’s parishioners were welcoming, Sharon had family in the area, and it didn’t hurt that the Los Angeles Dodgers did their spring training in Vero Beach at the time.

Parishioners know Goldberg as an articulate preacher whose sermons are grounded in scriptural teachings. With his booming voice, he has no trouble getting people to hear him. He injects humor, often of the self-deprecating variety, into his topics, and sometimes slips in a baseball reference or two. He leads the adult Sunday school session each week and teaches Bible classes as well. Teaching must be in his blood: his father, who worked for IBM and earned advanced degrees after leaving the Navy, taught mathematics until he was 85.

Goldberg also has an uncanny gift for knowing people’s names and remembering something about them, even if they’ve only visited the church a time or two.

Sandy Mauro of Vero Beach visited St. Augustine’s a few times before joining in July. Goldberg never forgot her name after the first time they met, she said.

“He’s interested in what you have to say.” she said. “I did have a lengthy conversation with him after I joined. I was looking for a church where there were opportunities to participate and get to know people.”

She was quickly recruited to sing in the choir, joined the Daughters of the King prayer group and helped out at events such as the church’s international food tasting festival. She said everybody has been friendly, reflecting their pastor’s way of dealing with people.