Born: August 6th, 1975

Hometown: Esmond, ND. Grew up on my family's 4-generation farm & ranch eight miles south of Esmond. I am the youngest of four children from a loving and devout Catholic family. My parents are Jerry and Marvelyn Leier.

High School: Graduated from Harvey High School in 1994. The Esmond school closed in 1992 at the end of my sophomore year. I finished high school in Harvey.

College: University of Jamestown, graduated in 1998 with B.A. degrees in Computer Science and Management Information Systems, and a minor in Business Admin. Played football for the Jimmies while there.

Secular career: After college I moved to Bismarck and worked as a software engineer at NISC (National Information Solutions Cooperative) for three years. Then I moved to Colorado in 2001, continued working in the tech/engineering industry. My last job was with Trimble Navigation Ltd. located in Westminster, CO.

Priestly Vocation: In 2011 my beloved mother, Marvelyn, passed away from cancer. Through that sorrowful experience, and the prayers and suffering my mom offered to God for me, the Lord pierced my heart and brought me back to the faith and the Church in a radical way. I began seriously discerning the priesthood about a year after my mother’s death.

Seminary: I applied and was accepted by the Archdiocese of Denver and started seminary in August of 2013, I was 38 years old. I completed my first year at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver, the first year there is what’s called Spirituality Year. After that I attended Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary in Boston for my four years of Theology studies and formation.

Priestly Ordination: May 19^th, 2018 by Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver, CO.

First Assignment: In June of 2018 I started as an associate priest in a three-parish cluster in the mountain towns of Edwards, Eagle, and Minturn, CO.

First Pastorship: Appointed pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Aspen, CO in Nov of 2019.

Transfer to ND: In February of 2023 I requested a transfer to the Diocese of Fargo so I could come home and be closer to family, especially my elderly father, Jerry Leier. He is currently living in the St. Aloisius nursing home in Harvey. I am so very grateful I am able to see him often now as his health declines.

Diocese of Fargo: Beginning July 1, 2023, my first assignment in the Fargo Diocese was as the associate priest of St. Michael's Church in Grand Forks. On June 26, 2024, Bishop John T. Folda appointed me pastor of Sacred Heart (Carrington), St. Elizabeth 's (Sykeston), and St. John's (Kensal).