September 6, 2026

Dear Saint Peter’s community,

I hope you all had a blessed and nice summer. Thank you for your continuing prayers for my health. When you tell me “I’m praying for you” it means a lot to me on my journey with chronic illness. It is because of God, your prayers and support, and a great medical team that I continue in ministry as your pastor.

I am writing to inform you that I need to have one to two more surgeries. For two years my SI (sacroiliac) joints (which connect the spine to the pelvis) have degenerated causing acute and radiating pain. Until a few months ago, periodic steroid injections made the condition manageable. The injections are no longer working. 

On Monday, October 26, 2026, I will have fusion surgery on my left SI joint at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. Thankfully it should be minimally invasive, so the length of the procedure and the initial recovery is shorter than my prior surgeries. I expect to gradually return to ministry two weeks after the surgery. (There is a small chance that once they are in the joint, if damage is more extensive than tests have shown, it could be a more invasive procedure.) In the months following the procedure, bone will grow in the joint to form complete fusion of the joint. If the outcome is successful, I will then have fusion surgery on my right SI joint. 

While facing more surgery is another part of my cross that I would rather not face again, I count the many blessings that have come to fruition because of my cross. I trust in God that it all has purpose and that He has allowed me to help others through my priestly ministry, especially with people who are dealing with their own cross they carry in their journey of life.

Every day I give thanks for our thriving and blessed community. I thank you for your support of Saint Peter’s parish and school and your support of each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. Please keep me in your prayers and know of my prayers for you. May God continue to pour His blessings upon us. 

Yours in Christ,

Reverend Daniel B. Carson

Pastor