Father Eric Barr is leaving the Newman Catholic Center and church after serving the DeKalb community for more than two years.

Barr said he is unsure where his next mission will be, except that it will be somewhere in the Rockford Diocese. He said he is going to miss the life he’s made at Newman.

“I have mixed emotions about leaving,” he said. “On the one hand, I’m very sorry to leave a challenging group of people, but I’m also looking forward to new challenges in the future.”

Odds are Barr’s next assignment will not be at a youth oriented church like Newman, one of the aspects Barr said he liked best about DeKalb.

“The people at Newman have been challenging and I’ve grown from working with them,” Barr said.

Barr said his favorite duties include the Loyola theology classes he taught at Newman and giving homilies.

Students who worked closely with Barr are going to miss working with him.

Jason Ranieri, 20, a finance major, said he liked that Barr didn’t fit the “stuffy priest” stereotype.

“He was refreshing because he would always joke around with the students. He was a breath of fresh air,” Ranieri said.

Deena Kocina, 23, a community health major who will be taking over some of Barr’s responsiblities said, “I’m trying to run it my own way because he’s really unique and I wouldn’t want to be compared to him because I could never run it the way Father Barr did.”

In addition to serving mass, Barr’s primary functions included directing the religious studies and working with the peer ministry group and outreach program.

Barr often gave talks on campus about satanism, which he has studied for about four years.

He was ordained in 1984 by the Rockford Diocese and holds a master’s degree in theology from Catholic University of America. He previously was assistant principal at St. Edward Catholic High School in Elgin.

There is no replacement for Barr at this time.