My Name is Ken

“My name is Ken and I will be your waiter for a long, long time . . .”


That’s how Ken Untener introduced himself to the more than 6,000 people who attended his ordination as bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan, on November 24, 1980. The purpose of this book is to let Ken Untener tell the story of his vocation, priesthood, and ministry in his own words. And (ever the teacher), he often used stories of his life as a way to deliver a message from the Scripture and the strength of his faith.


This book is not a memoir. Ken did a lot of preaching and rarely used a prepared text, but often recorded his homilies and talks on a microcassette recorder tucked in his pocket. He spoke from his heart and he used examples from everyday life, sometimes even using an incident that had just happened to him that day.