Since his ordination to the priesthood Beckman has served in a variety of pastoral and educational roles in the Nashville Diocese.
He was assigned as associate pastor of Holy Rosary Church near Nashville and taught at the city’s Father Ryan High School, where he served as associate principal for pastoral affairs.
He subsequently served at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Springfield and St. Michael Mission Church in Cedar Hill. For several years he also served as director of the Diocesean Youth Office.
Beckman’s appointment comes after a tumultuous few years in the eastern Tennessee diocese.
Stika, who was appointed to the diocese in 2009, was at the center of a scandal over the purported cover-up of the alleged abuse of a seminarian. He was also criticized over his leadership of the diocese.
According to Catholic outlet the Pillar, in 2021 nearly a dozen Knoxville priests sent a letter to Cardinal (then Archbishop) Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, asking for “merciful relief” from Stika’s leadership, arguing that it was “detrimental to priestly fraternity and even to our personal well-being.”
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