Ken Barker

Not to be confused with Ken Baker.

Ken Barker
Born	1948 Murrumburrah, New South Wales
Nationality	Australian
Citizenship	Australian
Education	B.Sc., Ph.D
Alma mater	St Patrick’s College, Goulburn Sydney University St Columba's College, Springwood St Patrick's College, Manly Catholic University of America, Washington D.C.
Occupation	Roman Catholic priest
Years active	1974-2020
Known for	Founder of the Missionaries of God's Love religious congregation
Notable work	His Name is Mercy, Becoming Fire, Radical Way of Love, Amazing Love, and the best-selling Young Men Rise Up

Ken Barker is an Australian Roman Catholic priest. He is the moderator of the Missionaries of God's Love religious congregation and founder of the Young Men of God Movement.^[1]

He received his training to become a priest from St Columba's College, Springwood, NSW and St Patrick's College, Manly. He finished a degree in theology, graduating with honours. He then returned to the University of Sydney and finished his science degree.^[2]

The Missionaries of God's Love (MGL) came into being in 1986 with a base in a suburban house in Canberra. 20 years later, the MGL has more than 40 members, 13 ordained priests, two deacons, 16 at its seminary in Melbourne which is overseen by Fr Chris Ryan.^[3] In addition to Canberra and Melbourne, in 2019 the Missionaries of God's Love have missions in Darwin, Sydney, the Philippines and Indonesia.^[4]

He is the author of 5 books His Name is Mercy, Becoming Fire, Radical Way of Love, Amazing Love, and the best-selling Young Men Rise Up.^[5] His sixth book is called Go Set the World on Fire.^[6]

In 2018, after being re-elected as head of the order he told members of his congregation that this would be his last term.^[7]

References

1. Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese Archived 2010-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
2. Catholic Weekly 25 May, 2008 Archived 2009-10-05 at the Wayback Machine
3. AD2000 November 2007 Archived 7 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
4. Sheehan, Catherine (19 September 2019). "The Beat of Faith". The Catholic Weekly. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
5. Connor Court Publishing
6. Catholic Leader March 11, 2019
7. "MGL founder Fr Ken Barker re-elected". Catholic Voice. 26 November 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2023.