LAKEWOOD — For the last nine months, parishioners at St. John Bosco Parish have been joining their priest administrator, Father Thomas Tran, for regular Ping-Pong games.

“It’s really fun and brings everyone a little closer,” said Lori Domingo, who comes to the sessions with her husband, Manny Domingo. Some children accompany their parents and join the fun, Domingo said. “It’s heartwarming to see their involvement,” she added.

Father Tran said he started the Ping-Pong club at St. John Bosco in September 2022 to get to know parishioners and build community after the pandemic. Some eight to 16 people play twice a week during the school year and are playing once a week this summer.

Members of St. John Bosco Parish in Lakewood get together to play Ping-Pong once or twice a week, a  after their priest adminstrator, Father Thomas Tran, started the club in 2022. (Courtesy Father Thomas Tran)

“It’s a good sport. You exercise your whole body, and you focus your mind,” said Father Tran, who started playing Ping-Pong with fellow seminarians at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon. Some of those seminary competitors are now also priests, including Father Ben Bray, priest administrator at Holy Trinity Parish in Bremerton, and Father Chad Green, pastor of Mary, Queen of Peace Parish in Sammamish.

After his ordination in 2020, Father Tran played Ping-Pong with people at the parishes where was assigned as parochial vicar — All Saints Parish in Puyallup in 2020 and St. Michael Parish in Olympia in 2021. When he was appointed priest administrator of St. John Bosco in 2022, he purchased a couple of used Ping-Pong tables, which are set up in a parish classroom for the club sessions. He said he is considering including Ping-Pong at the parish picnic in August and maybe organizing a tournament.

Besides being fun, Father Tran said the Ping-Pong club is a way to get parishioners more engaged in the parish, whether that’s serving as an extraordinary minister of holy Communion or helping with projects like cleaning up the campus or taking care of the lawn.

Manny Domingo said he enjoys the camaraderie of the Ping-Pong group. “I think he’s drawn in a lot of parishioners,” Domingo said of Father Tran’s efforts.

“He’s really brought everyone back,” Lori Domingo added.