Our Community

Father Anthony "Fr. Tony" Lackland

When Pope St. John Paul II was elected to his pontificate, my Catholic aunt, Louise said that he was a “very holy man.” Though I was not at that time Catholic myself, her statement intrigued and inspired me. I became a Roman Catholic in 1982 at Ft. Jackson in South Carolina while serving in the United States Army and Pope St. John Paul II has not ceased inspiring me, especially with the exhortation to “be not afraid.”

After military service, I studied voice and piano performance and received a Bachelor of Music from the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. I went abroad as a Rotary Foundation Ambassadorial Scholar to Germany, where I received a diploma in the German Language Program from Sprachinstitut in Tübingen, going on to further studies of German at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität and musicology at Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, both in Freiburg im Breisgau. After my time in Germany, I returned to the USA and had the great pleasure of being Director of Music and Music Educator at Prince of Peace Catholic Community before discerning that God had something else in mind for me.

I answered the call to the priesthood and entered seminary studies at the Theological College of the National Seminary of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. I was ordained to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ on June 3, 2006. My first assignment was Parochial Vicar at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Richardson, Texas followed by the position of Chaplain and Director of the Catholic Campus Ministry at SMU (and Priest in Residence here at Christ the King Catholic Church) and concurrently functioning in the role of Associate Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Dallas.

After completing Executive Education at the Cox School of Business at SMU, receiving certificates in both Management and Leadership, in July of 2013, I was assigned as Pastor to the All Saints Catholic Community in Dallas. There I continued my pursuit of leadership formation, receiving a diploma from Stagen Leadership Academy in Dallas, taking part in an intensive 52-Week Integral Leadership Program. In July of 2017, I accepted an assignment to Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, Texas, taking on the role of Vice-Rector and Director of Student Life.

In 2020, I was named Pastor of Christ the King, which has been a kind of coming home. It is a vibrant community with deep faith and a National Blue Ribbon School as well. I am so excited to be here. Words cannot express it. I also feel a deep responsibility to foster the community life of our parish, to see us serving with even greater fervor, deepening our spirituality, and calling on our wider community to join us in the worship of the true God, Christ, our King. Let us approach him boldly as we walk the road of faith together. I make the words of Pope St. John Paul II my own: “be not afraid.”

Father Kevin Kolker

I was born in July of 1993 to Mike and Cathy Kolker. I grew up with my three older siblings in Coppell, Texas, where we attended St. Ann Catholic Parish. I went to school at St. Luke in Irving, where I received the Sacraments of Initiation and first became aware that “Christ Jesus has made me His own” (Phil 3:12).

I graduated from St. Luke in 2007. Then I learned about being a man for others and doing all things for the greater glory of God (AMDG) at Jesuit Dallas. After graduating in 2011 I set out for Aggieland, where I obtained degrees in Mathematics and Philosophy in 2015. After college I worked in Houston as a software developer and volunteered in a local youth group. As joyful as my life was there, I knew there was something more that the Lord wanted from me and for me.

Despite my many efforts to run from the Lord’s call, He patiently persisted in inviting me to become a priest. I entered formation in the Spring of 2017 for a small community in Kansas City. After 6 months there, it became clear that God wanted me to be a diocesan priest. I then completed my philosophy studies at Holy Trinity Seminary in Dallas before going to Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans to study theology from 2018-2023. After writing on Pope Leo XIII’s political theology and Vatican II’s declaration on religious liberty, I obtained a Master of Arts in Theological Studies.

I was ordained a priest of Jesus Christ on May 20th, 2023 alongside 7 other men here in the Diocese of Dallas. What a joy it is to be one of God’s fellow workers (1 Cor 3:9)!