Deacon candidates prepare to be installed as lectors during rite at Cathedral of the Madeleine
SALT LAKE CITY — Five local Catholics will take the next step in their journey toward being ordained a deacon Oct. 13 when they will be installed as lectors.
Deacons may officiate at baptisms, weddings and funerals, read the Gospel and preach at Mass, and help with the canonical process for marriage and baptism.
Jeffery Allen, Jeremy Castellano, Robert Cowlishaw, Tom Devereux and Greg Werking are certified lay ecclesial ministers who are part of a new, three-year accelerated diaconate program in the diocese. Normally the diaconate program is about five years, but the LEM program covers much of the same educational and formational material.
As part of the diaconate program, participants complete a practicum in a parish other than their home parish. These candidates are beginning their practica that will be completed next May or June. This group is scheduled to be installed as acolytes on May 11, 2019 and to be ordained in January 2020.
All of the candidates except Cowlishaw came out of the most recent LEM program, in 2017. Cowlishaw, who was certified in 2010, said he first became interested in becoming a deacon 13 years ago. He and his wife, Rocio, attended an inquiry but decided the time was not right for their family to make the commitment. He subsequently completed the LEM program and loved it so much he went on to earn a master’s of theology from Catholic Theological Union. Two years ago, he became part of the accelerated diaconate program.
Through the diaconate program, Cowlishaw’s prayer life has deepened, he said.
“It gave me the framework of liturgical prayer,” he said. “I love the discipline; that’s been the most important thing, a beautiful experience.”
Cowlishaw, a member of St. Vincent de Paul Parish, will complete his practicum at St. Francis Xavier Parish.
“I want people to step up into ministry; that’s what the model is for me as a deacon,” he said of his calling to be a deacon. “I want to find the treasure so I can walk away and the ministry still exists because the community embraces it.”
Castellano’s spiritual journey to deacon began when he was in third grade and he and his family moved from Denver, Colo. to Nephi, Utah. At that time, the closest Catholic church was St. Patrick Parish in Eureka, an hour’s travel away. While Castellano had few friends, a Benedictine priest serving there became his best friend and kept his faith strong.
“I just thought if I could do that for somebody and do it for people who need it, that would be the best thing,” he said.
Originally, Castellano felt drawn to the priesthood, he said, but after he met and married his wife, Melissa, he looked for other ways to serve.
A parishioner at St. Joseph the Worker, he will serve his practicum at the Cathedral of the Madeleine.
Like the others, Allen said he has chosen to become a deacon “because I am being called to service and it is something I’ve been discerning for quite a long time.”
“I want to give back to others, “he said. “I have been blessed by God in life and I want to share that blessing with others through service.”
The couple are members of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Salt Lake City. He will complete his practicum at St. Thomas More Parish.
Some of the candidates found the transition from the LEM program to the diaconate was natural. Werking was drawn to the LEM program after a friend from his Bible study group suggested it to him. As he pursued the program, he said he found the classes very stimulating. Family and friends then urged him to become a deacon.
“I was always talking to people about the Catholic Church,” Werking said. “This program is fitting like a glove. I have a deep devotion to divine mercy; the more I study about divine mercy and the Church, the stronger my faith becomes.”
Werking said he has seen many changes in his life, including a richer relationship with Teri, his wife of 38 years.
Teri Werking, like the other candidates’ wives, is going through the training with her husband.
“We’re closer; we laugh more and finish each other’s sentences more than ever have,” he said.
The Werkings are parishioners at St. Thomas More Parish. He will serve his practicum at Blessed Sacrament Parish.
All of the candidates have felt the pull of the calling for some time. Tom Devereux said he felt the Spirit calling him to a deeper work for several years beginning in 2002, so in 2010 he signed up for the LEM program with “no real understanding of why,” he said.
After he completed the LEM program, he felt called to do something more. Becoming a deacon seemed the next logical step. His wife Maria’s support has been critical on his path to deacon, he said.
“It’s really a team approach,” he said. “Every deacon I know has a very strong support in his wife.”
A member of St. Mary Parish in West Haven, he will serve his practicum at St. Rose of Lima Parish.
Bishop Oscar A. Solis will install the five men as lectors in an Oct. 13 ceremony at the Cathedral of the Madeline.
During the ceremony, the bishop will outline the responsibilities of the candidates to preach the Gospel to the world. He will also present each candidate with a Bible, saying, “Take this book of holy Scripture and be faithful in handing on the word of God, so that it may grow strong in the hearts of his people.”
The five men celebrated the Rite of Admission to Candidacy at the Cathedral of the Madeleine in February.
There are currently 59 active deacons in the diocese, including Director of Diaconate Formation Drew Petersen, who was ordained in 2010.
“It was a major change for me,” Petersen said of the diaconate. “My prayer life and my spiritual life changed significantly. The cause and the calling changed – my whole thrust of doing changed.”
WHAT: Installation of Lectors
WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 13, 5 p.m.
WHERE: Cathedral of the Madeleine, 309 E. South Temple, Salt Lake City
All are invited.
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