During his 40 years of priestly ministry, Father Tom Ivory has been blessed with a variety of pastoral experiences.  He has served in ten different  parishes, both in the Archdiocese of Newark, N.J., and in Europe.  He has been responsible for seminary formation at The American College, Leuven, Belgium, first as Spiritual Director and later as Rector (President).  He obtained his Doctorate in Theology and Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the Catholic University of Leuven, and was appointed Newark Archdiocesan Director of Religious Education from 1975 to 1985.  He represented the Newark Province on the Board of the National Conference of Diocesan Directors of Religious Education (NCDD, now become NCCL), and was elected President of NCDD between 1983 and 1987.

Most Reverend John W. Flesey from 1969 to 1983 was assigned as an Associate Pastor as St. Bernard’s Church, Plainfield, NJ. While there, he completed an M.A. in Pastoral Counseling from Iona College, New Rochelle. In 1983, Bishop Flesey was sent to Rome to study Spiritual Theology. In 1985, he received the STL degree from Gregorian University. In 1988, he was assigned to the faculty of the Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University.

In 1990, Bishop Flesey completed his doctoral studies and received STD degree form the University of Saint Thomas, Rome. In July 1995, he was named Rector and Dean of Immaculate Conception Seminary.

On May5, 2004, Archbishop John J. Myers named bishop Flesey Pastor of Most Blessed Sacrament Church in Franklin Lakes, NJ. On August 4, 2004 Archbishop Myers ordained Bishop Flesey to the Episcopacy and assigned him as the Regional Bishop of Bergen County.