Father Michael Lankford-Stokes

A priest of the Trenton Diocese for more than 32 years, Michael Lankford-Stokes was raised Episcopalian and in a military family that lived abroad in Athens, Greece, where his father, Charles Lankford, was stationed with the U.S. military as a Navy engineer, and his mother, Carol Stokes, was a professor of military history and an historian for the Army Signal Corps. The family, which also includes Father Lankford-Stokes’ brother, David, also lived in Spain, Morocco, Panama and England before settling in Michigan where the boys attended public school and worshiped with their parents in the Episcopal tradition.

As a youth, Father Lankford-Stokes became drawn to the Catholic faith and the idea of religious life. That desire persisted into his young adult years and it was during his college years at Michigan State University that he began attending Mass and eventually realized his desire to become Catholic, which he did in 1979. He entered Pontifical College Josephinum Seminary, Worthington, Ohio, in 1986 and was ordained a priest May 16, 1992, by Bishop John C. Reiss in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton. As parochial vicar his assignments included St. James, Red Bank, and St. Anthony Parish, Hamilton, where he was also temporary administrator. He was then appointed administrator of St. Jerome Parish, West Long Branch, in 2000, and then pastor the following year.

After 15 years serving in parishes, Father Lankford-Stokes discerned a change in his vocation, moving to chaplaincy work with the United States Armed Forces. He became a fulltime Catholic chaplain for the Department of Veterans Affairs in East Orange, in which much of his focus was on ministering to veterans, many of whom were navigating complicated circumstances impacted by war.

On July 1, 2025, Father Michael warmly embraced the chance to return to parish work as the newly appointed pastor of Holy Cross Parish and was installed as pastor during the November 17 Mass celebrated by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M.