In this warm, honest, and inspiring book, Father Treacy tells of the people and experiences that filled his 60 years of ministry in the Pacific Northwest.  Always the pioneer, the Irish-born priest is best known for his work with Rabbi Raphael Levine on the ground-breaking, interfaith discussion program, "Challenge," which aired on KOMO-TV from 1960 to 1974.  In 1967, Father Treacy and Rabbi Levine founded Camp Brotherhood, a place where people al all religions and races can feel at home and share with each other.  Fr. Treacy's memoir tells a story and teaches in honest, unassuming language.  The story is of Fr. Treacy's own life and priestly ministry, of the challenges he faced, the graces he received, and the people whom he served; people who, in turn, provided to him glimpses of God. The teaching is about how to live with openness, gratitude, imagination and a heart expanding ever wider in its capacity to love. 

Rabbi Raphael H. Levine was born in 1901 in Vilnius, Lithuania. At the age of eight, he immigrated with his family to the United States. They settled in Duluth, Minnesota. He graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree as well as a Law Degree from the University of Minnesota. After practicing law for a short time, Rabbi Levine decided to pursue his interest in teaching about Judaism. Though raised in an Orthodox Jewish family, Rabbi Levine chose to train as a Reform rabbi at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. He graduated from rabbinical school in the midst of the Depression. His first position was in Liverpool, England. In 1942 he became the rabbi of Temple De Hirsch in Seattle where he served until his retirement in 1970. He died in 1985 from injuries suffered in a car accident. Throughout his career, Rabbi Levine was committed to promoting a dialogue between faiths.

Father Treacy's Reflections

"I am not a scholar, but a Catholic priest who has spent almost 60 years attempting to live the message of Jesus and to communicate my understanding of that message to others. It was said of Jesus that he grew in wisdom, age, and grace. I hope to some degree this is true for me. That means there are insights and understandings that I have after almost 60 years as a priest that I did not have at the beginning of my ministry. During my 14 years on television, I tried to communicate my insights to a mixed audience of about 300,000 people every week. I attempted to do this with a pastoral, rather than an academic emphasis. Their regular viewing of the program gave me some assurance that I was on the right path. It is in that spirit that I present this book."

 - Fr. William Treacy, from the introduction to Reflections of a Pioneering Priest

About Rabbi Levine and Father Treacy

Rabbi Levine and Father Treacy were friends for 25 years. They met in 1960 when Father Treacy was chosen to the Catholic representative to the award winning interfaith television program, Challenge, which had been organized by Rabbi Levine. The program aired for fourteen years. Their friendship sprang from those meetings and together they wrote, Wild Branch on the Olive Tree, a book about their relationship.

Rabbi Levine was inspired to found Camp Brotherhood and asked Father Treacy to join him. Through the Camp and other projects, they strove to reach as many people as possible with their message encouraging interfaith and interracial dialogue and understanding.

When Father Treacy was appointed to St. Patrick’s Church, Rabbi Levine carved a beautiful altar for him inscribing it with ancient Christian symbols. At Rabbi Levine’s death, Father Treacy committed himself to carrying on the interfaith work they had been doing together for so many years.