Father Bill Lucas currently serves as the pastor of Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church in Pell City, but just over 50 years ago, he was a student at St. Francis Xavier (SFX) Catholic School in Birmingham’s Crestline neighborhood.

During school Mass on May 1, the school honored Father Lucas by awarding him the 2024 Reverend Robert J. Sullivan Alumni Recognition Award.

Now in its 70th year, SFX Catholic School serves students from PreK through 8th grade and is committed to educating children using the time-tested approaches of the Catholic intellectual tradition, forming them in virtue through the pursuit of academic excellence and service toward God and neighbor.

SFX Catholic School’s advisory board created the alumni award in 2021 to recognize alumni who have excelled academically and professionally and have significantly impacted their communities.

Father Lucas was born in 1958 to Alfred Lucas and Winnefred Strohmeyer. He was one of six siblings, all of whom attended and graduated from SFX Catholic School.

After his time at the school, Father Lucas attended John Carroll Catholic High School, where he graduated in 1976. Four years later, he received a degree in speech communication from Auburn University, and in 1990 he was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama.

Father Lucas has served multiple parishes within the diocese, including St. Francis Xavier, where he was parochial vicar from 1990 to 1993. He became the pastor of Our Lady of the Lake in 2018 after two years at St. Aloysius Parish in Bessemer.

He currently sits on the College of Consultor for the diocese and has previously served on the Presbyteral Council, Deposit and Loan Committee, and the Priests’ Retreat Committee.