St. Francis of Assisi Church, Bend’s Catholic parish, will see all new faces among its clergy beginning Oct. 4.

The Rev. Joseph Reinig, pastor since 2006, will leave St. Francis to take an administrative role for the Bend-based Diocese of Baker. He will become the vicar general for the diocese, a role formerly held by the Rev. Jim Logan. Logan has been on an extended leave from that role, and Bishop Robert Vasa decided to replace him, Reinig said.

The Rev. Daniel Maxwell, associate pastor, is also leaving St. Francis. He will become the pastor of St. Bernard Church in Jordan Valley, as well as performing other duties at parishes in rural Eastern Oregon.

The new St. Francis pastor will be the Rev. Francis Ekwugha, a Nigerian priest who has been working at Holy Family Church in Burns. Joining him will be two associate pastors: the Rev. Joseph Levine — formerly a deacon at St. Francis, who was ordained Tuesday — and the Rev. Saul Alba-Infante, who will handle St. Francis’ Spanish-speaking ministries. No date for Alba-Infante’s start with the church has been set, but the other two priests will begin their duties Oct. 4, Reinig said. Reinig will say his final Mass as pastor of St. Francis on Oct. 3.

The staffing changes represent the second time in four years that St. Francis has seen an entirely new slate of priests. In 2006, three Capuchin Franciscan priests — members of the same order that had served the St. Francis parish for 96 years — left Bend, their order’s numbers too low to support the Bend outpost. Reinig was appointed pastor at that time.

Reinig characterized the staffing changes as the result of a ripple effect beginning with his own move to the diocesan office.

“When one priest needs to make a change, it starts a cascade,” he said.

But the result for St. Francis will be a net increase in the number of clergymen.

“It will be good for the parish and good for the priests,” he said. “They can go out and expand some of their duties,” including visiting the ill and elderly at area hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living facilities. Reinig said that with only two priests for the parish, such visits had become more rare than he liked.

“We want to serve as much of the Catholic community as we can, but it all takes time,” he said. “When you only have two priests to carry on the Mass schedule and do things like baptisms. … An additional priest will certainly be good for the community as a whole.”

Clare Hayes, a member of St. Francis parish since 1997 and a lifelong Catholic, was excited by but saddened about the staff changes.

“We hate losing the ones we’re losing, but we’re welcoming the ones we’re getting,” she said. “They’re all great.”

Hayes said she met Ekwugha through her membership in the Serra Club of the Baker Diocese, a group that promotes and prays for new priesthood and sisterhood vocations and supports and loves current priests and the bishop. The club has visited many other Eastern Oregon parishes, and Hayes got to know Ekwugha in Burns.

“He’s just a joy,” she said. “He’s very outgoing and faithful to the teachings of the church, which is what we all want so badly, not the watered-down version.”

She described Levine as an intellectual, but a humble man, and said the Latino community would appreciate Alba-Infante.

Bishop Robert Vasa was unavailable for comment about the changes.