Deacons

This page features minutes and other information about the Deacon Council and the Deacon Personnel Board for the Diocese of Toledo.

Deacon Council

The Deacon Council is made up of one representative from each of the Deaneries of the Diocese of Toledo. Along with the Vicar for Clergy and the Delegate for Permanent Deacons, the Council ordinarily has 17 members. The Council meets approximately three times each year to advise the bishop on policies that pertain to deacons.

Current Members and Deanery: Bruce Alge (St. Juan Diego), John Bialorucki (St. John Neumann), Jeff Compton (St. George), Kevin Coulter Vice Chair (St. Katharine Drexel), Paul Feasel *Secretary (St. Francis of Assisi), Scott Graham (St. Maximillian Kolbe), Leon Holmer (Senior Status Rep.), Michael Marcum II (St. Junipero Serra), Denver Mossing *Chair (Our Lady Queen of Peace), Paul Nungester (St. Teresa of Calcutta), Tom Soper (St. Agnes), Michael Swanson (St. Kateri Tekakwitha), Jose Zamora (St. Philomena), Fr. Michael Dandurand (Vicar for Clergy), and Daniel Brahier (Delegate for Permanent Deacons)

Executive Summary of Minutes - October 8, 2024

Chair - Deacon Denver Mossing

Election of a Vice Chair – Deacon Kevin Coulter was nominated and unanimously elected.  Deacon Denver Mossing continues as Chair, and Deacon Paul Feasel continues as Secretary.

Guidelines/Expectations distributed in terms of expectations for Deacon Council members.

Vicar for Clergy Report - Fr. Michael Dandurand

Fr. Mike issued a flyer of the recent arrival of the Diocese International Priests.  There are currently 18-20 international priests serving the diocese.

Survey was sent to all pastors regarding their input for deacon assignments.  Next September, there will be 13 new permanent deacons on track to be ordained from the Diocese of Toledo. The Deacon Personnel Board is assisting in the appointment process.

Software systems are being evaluated to upgrade the diocesan database.  A new service is being implemented to upgrade the current system.

Delegate for Permanent Deacons Report - Deacon Dan Brahier

Handbook Revision process – The group has met twice to review the entire document.  An outline of the handbook is being reviewed.  The changes will allow the handbook to be condensed to a much smaller document.  At the January meeting, a rough draft will be presented to the Deacon Council.  The handbook should be completed for Deacon Convocation next June.

·Ministry to Widows of Deacons – The committee has been reaching out to widows of deceased deacons.  The current data base is outdated and is being updated with the information gathered from the committee.  These widows will be contacted on an annual basis as established with the Senior Status Deacons.

Inquiry Sessions for Diaconate – Two online Iinquiry sessions recently had 80 people express interest in the next deaconate class.  2nd inquiry meeting will be October 13th at St. Wendelin Parish in Fostoria beginning at 7:00 pm.  There is a three-step process beginning with initial screening (background check, pastor recommendation, wife consent, and a spiritual autobiography).  Deadline for the screening is November 4, 2024.  Once completed, many will be invited to move on to the application process.

Old Business

Contacting Senior Status Deacons this year – Once again this year, Deacon Council members will call Senior Status deacons to check in.  There was a discussion of the process, during which the Council drafted possible questions for Senior Status deacons to discuss with Bishop Thomas.  There are approximately 85 deacons who are Senior Status in the Diocese of Toledo.  Members will divide the workload equally.  Contact should be made by Christmas as part of the annual call. 

Questions asked of Senior Status Deacons should be pastoral:  Are there any health issues with you or your spouse?  How are living out your faith?  Do you feel like a deacon being on senior status?  Are you staying connected with other deacons?  Is there a fraternity available to tap within your deanery?  Still involved with your parish?  How is your prayer life?  Are you still praying the Liturgy of the Hours?  Receiving the Sacraments?  Any spiritual direction?

There was a discussion of having an Annual Jubilee Celebration, either coupled with priests or as a separate event.  Jubilees are celebrated every two years at the Convocation but having a separate event each (or every other) fall for Deacons and their wives is being considered. 

New Business

June 2025 Deacon Convocation – Location will be at St. Michael’s Parish in Findlay.  Accommodations provided by Hancock Inn Hotel will be available for deacons and wives.

o   Bishop Erik Pohlmeier - St. Augustine Diocese, Florida will be the main presenter. 

o   A discussion took place regarding possible topics and structure

§  Preaching / How can deacons go deeper in homily preparation.  Wives involvement with homily preparation.  Family – how they enhance the homily.

§  Do wives participate at all with homily prep?

§  Balancing time between faith, family and ministry

Convocation Planning Committee:  Deacons Alge, Compton, Gerardi, Sasala, Rospert

Continuing Formation Day for October 2025 – date and possible topics needed.  There was discussion about topics, from gender-related problems in a parish to other timely issues.  In general, the Council wants workshops to focus on current events and how they affect the Church, along with how a deacon responds to a sensitive subject.  The Council agreed that hosting one event per year is important for fellowship, but Deacon Brahier reported that no more than 20-25 attend each year (out of a pool of more than 180 deacons). 

Franciscan University offers online workshops.  Registration is available through Franciscan with a link to acknowledge which diocese a deacon is affiliated.  The cost to a deacon is $100 for the year, during which time he can earn 3 hours of Continuing Formation credit for each online course.

Continuing Formation for this fall will be at St. Wendelin Parish, Fostoria on October 19th  on a deacon’s call to charity. 

Next Meeting is January 14 at 6:30 p.m. by Zoom (virtual meeting).

Executive Summary of Minutes - April 30, 2024

Bishop of Toledo – Bishop Daniel Thomas

Bishop Thomas expressed his gratitude for the good work accomplished this past year.

Senior Status Policy – Now gives the option for a deacon at the age of 75 to remain Active or move to Senior Status.  The policy language defines Active/Senior Status.

Contact with Senior Status Deacons – Bishop Thomas is grateful to the Deacon Council for contacting those on Senior Status and for providing the updates for the diocesan database. This an annual outreach will allow continued contact with the “ordained ministers of the Church.”

Revision of the Deacon Formation Process – Deacon Personnel Board directed the process with input from the Deacon Council.  This was rewritten per the new guidelines from the USCCB. 

Revision Deacon Handbook – Deacon Council is tasked to revise the handbook by June of 2025.  Four members of the Council volunteered to serve as a subcommittee to draft the changes.

Pastoral Care to Widows of Deacons – A process is being established to revise a contact list for all widows of deacons of the Diocese of Toledo.  The Council, with the possibility of some deacons’ wives, will reach out and update the database.

Vicar for Clergy Report - Fr. Michael Dandurand

The Vicar for Clergy is asking Bishop Thomas to form a Priestly Life Formation Committee to study formation beyond priestly ordination. Pope John Paul II said, “All formation is self-formation” to grow in ministry. Fr. Dandurand will review the model used by the deacons to track Continuing Education taken during the past two years.

Delegate for Permanent Deacons Report - Deacon Dan Brahier

a.   Contacting Senior Status Deacons

Database is now complete and available online.  The annual contact will remain the same with adding additional information in the notes column.

b.   Deacon Evaluations for 2024

All evaluations are completed for spring.  The Personnel Board conducted 18 evaluations last year and 12 this year.  The diocese has about 85 active deacons.  Those reviewed are appreciative for the feedback from the evaluations.  15 deacons are scheduled for an evaluation next year. New pastoral agreements have been updated with the evaluations.

c.   Deaconate Formation Redesign

The process is complete, and Bishop Thomas will be issuing a decree of the document which will go into effect this fall with new Inquirers.  The process will be 5 years with two years of Aspirancy and 3 years of Candidacy.  The class will be scheduled for ordination in September of 2030.  The Aspirancy years will give more field experience, such as pastoral ministry and visiting hospitals, with some academic work being done online.  Meetings will take place on Saturdays.  Candidacy years will meet at Our Lady of the Pines in Fremont on Friday and Saturday. Online classes will be through the University of Notre Dame.  This plan will allow for more family time during the formation years. 

d.   Formation Policy and Admissions Board

There will be a Formation Policy and Admissions Board established with approximately 10 people to set the parameters and recommendations to Bishop Thomas. This will benefit the Apirancy process and allow annual reviews with each candidate.

e.   Franciscan University Steubenville Continuing Education initiative

Franciscan University is offering a set of courses for post ordination continuing education via virtual study.  The cost is $100.00 per year for as many courses/workshops desired, with the continued requirement to complete 24 hours of continuing education in 2024 and 2025. A virtual meeting with Franciscan University will take place in September for any deacon interested in enrolling in the program.  When a deacon completes a workshop, Franciscan University will update the completed hours.

Old Business

Revising/Creating Deacon Handbook (Brahier, Marcum, Mossing, Soper, Zamora)

Deacon Brahier has realized the current handbook (dated 2011) needs updating and will seek input from members of the Deacon Council on the revisions.  Completion anticipated by June 2025.

New Business

a.   Inquiry Sessions and 2030 Cohort

Permanent Deacon Virtual sessions will be on Thursday, September 12 or Monday, September 16.  Both sessions by Zoom from 7:00-8:00 pm.  Pre-registration is not required.

In-person Inquiry Session (with wives) will be Tuesday, October 15 from 7:00-8:30 pm at St. Wendelin Parish, Fostoria.

Application deadline is Friday, January 3, 2025.

Currently, there are 40 men who have already expressed an interest in Permanent Deacon Program, many of whom have been meeting virtually as Pre-Inquirers over the past two years.

b.   Ministering to Widows of Deacons

A similar process will be established to contact widows and update the database.  The ministry will involve deacons and wives to assist in an outreach to these widows. 

c.   Recognition of Outgoing Members (Mileski, Scherger, St. John)

     Thank you was given to their work on the Deacon Council.

d.   Restructuring Deacon Council Representation (revised Deaneries)

Deacons Brahier, Mossing and Feasel will be revising the Council Representation due to the realignment of the Deaneries.  They will be meeting during the summer.

After a closing prayer, the meeting adjourned at 8:05 pm

Executive Summary of Minutes - January 23, 2024

Meeting was called to order at 6:33 by Dcn. Mossing on Zoom due to weather. After prayer, Dcn. Feasel called the roll.

Vicar for Clergy Report from Fr. Dandurand

1. Deanery realignment is planned to reduce from 15 to 12. The reduction will take place effective July 1, 2024.  Preparation of announcements and creation of a new Deanery map, along with finalizing the document on Deanery guidance. March 24, 2024, will be the official announcement for the Deanery restructure.

2. 2024 Pastoral Conference will take place this fall.  Discernment for the Conference is how to create healthy parish staffs. Consideration for a possible overnight would allow parish staffs more time together.  The initial reaction was to keep it a one-day event with the option to extend it to a second day as needed.  The location and date are TBD.

3. Fiducia Supplicans (Declaration on Blessings) has created some controversy when it comes to couples that not in complete union with the Church (2nd marriage/same sex). The blessing of a couple is not a blessing of the union, but of the individual person. The blessing cannot take place in a sacramental setting, the wearing of liturgical attire, and cannot be in a public arena that could create public scandal. Bishop Thomas is discerning how to respond to the priests and deacons to offer guidance.

Delegate for Permanent Deacons Report by Dcn. Brahier

1.     Update on contacting Senior Status Deacons

Approx. 60 Senior Status Deacons have been contacted to date using the online spreadsheet provided by Dcn. Brahier. Several Senior Status Deacons expressed their appreciation for the phone calls to update the database. Many Senior States Deacons remain active with baptisms, visiting the nursing homes, weddings, and taking Communion to the home bond.  There are several Senior Status Deacons who still need to be contacted from 2 Deaneries as well as 12 who live outside the Diocese of Toledo. 

2.     Contacting Senior Status Deacons Outside of the Diocese

12 Senior status Deacons live outside the Diocese.  3 have been contacted by Dcn. Brahier.  The remaining 9 are being asked to be contacted by members of the Deacon Council to finalize the update.  Bishop Thomas was recently updated with the progress and is pleased with the outreach by the Deacon Council.  The finalized database will be given to the Administrative Assistant to confirm the changes.  As representatives for each Deanery, we should reach out to the Senior Status Deacons on a regular basis to see how they are doing, especially during the holiday season.

3.     Deacon Evaluations for 2024

Deacon evaluations started with 15 deacons for this year.  One deacon went on senior status and will not be evaluated.  Possibly 2 deacons will defer their evaluation for one year due to a new pastor being assigned to their parish.  This will allow the pastor more time to get know the deacons.  Total numbers for this year will be 12 to 13.  Evaluations should be completed by mid-April.  Last year’s evaluations allowed each deacon to gain feedback to guide them in their ministry.

4.     Deaconate Formation Redesign

16 members on the Redesign Committee (8 Aspirancy/8 Candidacy) have met more than once a month since last year to expand the formation process to 5 years (2 years Aspirancy and 3 years Candidacy).  A draft has been put together to give to Bishop Thomas for review.  His recommendations will be reviewed by the committees by April or May, with a final draft being presented around June for final approval sometime over the summer.  The notable change for the weekend meetings will be a Saturday only the first 2 years of Aspirancy, along with Friday and Saturday for the 3 years of Candidacy.

 Old Business

Inquiry year update. 

This fall will begin the Inquiry sessions for any man interested in becoming a deacon. The first two Inquiry Sessions will be conducted electronically via Zoom.  The third meeting will take place October 15, 2024, at Fostoria St. Wendelin for Inquirers and their wives.  Meeting time is at 7:00pm.  Currently, there are 30 plus men expressing interest in the Diaconate.  Anyone expressing interest in the Diaconate can be directed to Diocese of Toledo website or to contact Deacon Brahier directly.

New Business

Revising/Creating Deacon Handbook

The current Handbook is outdated and needs to be revised.  Bishop Thomas is recommending a subcommittee of 3 or 4 members from the Deacon Council review and work on parts of the handbook.  If there is any interest to be on the committee, reach out to Dcn. Brahier via email.

After a closing prayer, the meeting adjourned at 7:40pm

Executive Summary of Minutes – October 17, 2023

• Dcn. Mossing introduced Fr. Dandurand as the new Vicar for Clergy and noted that Fr. Dandurand is a great supporter of deacons.

• Fr. Dandurand, as Vicar for Clergy, is not assigned to a particular parish.  This allows him to visit parishes throughout the diocese and witness the high quality of deacons within the parishes.  His past experience serving parishes and working with deacons was a joy and supportive. 

• Fr. Dandurand expressed the importance of Issue 1 to be voted on this November.  This is an issue that needs a NO vote because it is the moral right thing to do.  Communication has been deliberate by the bishops in Ohio that all parishes fully understand the language that is on the ballot. 

• Performance reviews were completed this spring for those in 2016 ordination class. Evaluations of 19 deacons were completed.  There are still a couple pastoral agreements that are not completed due to new pastor assignments.  The online evaluations went well in compiling the necessary data.  The Deacon Personnel Board is credited with establishing the reviews.  The next round of evaluations will begin in December with notifications going to pastors, deacons and selecting parishioners to begin in January 2024.  We are expecting completion in March.

• Deacon Formation is to be expanded from 4 years to 5 years, beginning with the Inquiry class that will apply in the fall of 2024.  There will 2 years of Aspirancy and 3 years of Candidacy.  The additional year will allow the Aspirant time to experience charity in the form of visiting hospitals, funeral homes, nursing homes, and working with the poor.  Different models are being explored to possibly have weekend meetings on Friday evening and concluding on Saturday afternoon.  The new plan is to be approved by next summer.

• Dcn. Brahier is asking each Deacon Council member to reach out to the senior status deacons in his deanery to update information and to know that we are looking after them.  A shared spreadsheet link will be emailed for use in updating the information.  Dcn. Dan is wanting this completed by the end of December. 

• The next Inquiry period for men interested in the diaconate will begin next fall of 2024.  This will run in conjunction with the current deaconate class who will be in their final year of Candidacy.  Each deanery should get the word to the parishes if there are any men expressing interest.  Interested men should contact Dcn. Dan at the Diocese of Toledo office or the website.

Executive Summary of Minutes – February 14, 2023

• Msgr. Oxley clarified that the Deacon Council (DC) is the principle advisory body to Bishop Thomas, providing advice. The other main role of the DC is to share reports among deaneries in the diocese.

• The new USCCB Directives call for expansion of deacon formation from 5 to 6 years (Inquiry, 2 years Aspirancy, 3 years Candidacy). The new program will include considerably more Human/Pastoral formation. The next cohort will begin with Inquiry in Fall 2024.

• The Deacon Personnel Board (reconstituted after 6 years) is currently conducting the evaluation of 18 deacons who were ordained in September 2017. Evaluations will be completed in April.

• DC discussed a possible change in policy that would allow a 75-year-old deacon to remain Active (rather than requesting Senior Status) but have the obligation to attend and report annual retreats and continuing education lifted. A draft policy will be created for further discussion and voting by the DC.

• The format of deanery meetings was discussed. Most are conducted quarterly, but deacons are often unable to attend due to work responsibilities. Deacons in deaneries often hold their own meetings and receive minutes from the broader deanery meetings.

• The next Permanent Deacon Convocation will take place on June 23-24 at Saint Joseph in Sylvania, featuring Fr. Leo Patalinghug on “Eucharistic Revival and the Permanent Deacon.” Registration will be available starting in mid-March.

• The Deacon Website continues to grow and go through edits. All retreats and continuing education activities are now reported through the website, rather than annual reports on paper.

• The DC unanimously approved a revised set of operating statutes for the newly-constituted Deacon Personnel Board. With approval, the statutes will be forwarded to Bishop Thomas for approval.

Deacon Personnel Board

The Deacon Personnel Board is made up of 5 active deacons who represent their seniority groups (e.g., 100 deacons are placed in order by ordination dates and then 5 groups of 20 are formed). Together with the Vicar for Clergy and the Delegate for Permanent Deacons, the Personnel Board ordinarily meets at least twice each year to assist in making decisions on placement of deacons in parishes and other day-to-day operations of the diaconate.

Current Members: Victor DeFilippis, Doyle Erford, Matthew Kettinger, David Schiefer, Michael Wasiniak, Fr. Mike Dandurand (Vicar for Clergy), and Daniel Brahier (Delegate for Permanent Deacons)

Executive Summary of Minutes – April 16, 2024

• Results of the evaluations of the 12 Deacons who had performance reviews this year were shared by Board members who interviewed them. The Board then discussed the evaluation process and agreed to a change that was requested by one of the pastors: Next year, after the Pastor and Deacon submit their assessment forms, both will be provided with the summary of the Parishioner Evaluations so they have that information for their meeting to discuss the Deacon’s performance. The Parishioner Evaluation, then, will inform the conversation between the Pastor and his Deacon. The same results will be discussed with the Board member later at the individual interview. It was agreed that the process - including timing and content - was better this year than in 2023 and should be continued next year.

• The Board discussed requests for transfers submitted by two Deacons, as well as requests from several Pastors for Deacons in their parishes. Additional follow-up contacts will be needed for these situations before recommendations will be made to Bishop Thomas.

• Personnel Board members were thanked for their leadership in conducting the Deacon Formation revision process. A revised version (second edit) of the document is on the bishop’s desk, with a meeting the next week to seek his final approval. Bishop Thomas also passed along his gratitude for the extraordinary work the Board and other members of the committee have put into the process since last summer. The new document will guide the formation process for the new cohort of Aspirants that will begin in September 2025.

• Inquiry Sessions for those discerning a vocation to the Diaconate will take place in September and October of 2024. An advertising flyer was emailed to every Pastor, Deacon, and Parish in the Diocese of Toledo earlier this month. There are almost 40 men in a database who have already contacted the office and/or have been meeting electronically for Pre-Inquiry sessions over the past two years. Deacons are encouraged to continue to spread the word about these sessions and to encourage others who might be feeling called to the Diaconate.

• Meetings for next year will be established later this summer. With ordinations taking place in September of 2025, a process will be needed to determine recommended placements for Candidates currently anticipating ordination. Also, another round of evaluations for approximately 15 Deacons is scheduled for 2025.

• The five (5) current Permanent Deacon Personnel Board members will remain the same for one more year. Then, in the fall of 2025, one member will roll off the Board and be replaced, with two being replaced in the fall of 2026 and the final two in 2027 so that an annual rotation of 1 or 2 members per year is established.

• The meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.

Executive Summary of Minutes – April 18, 2023

• Both the new Statutes for operation of the Permanent Deacon Personnel Board and a new policy for Senior Status for Deacons are in the final stages and should be completed and distributed in the coming weeks.

• Deacon Convocation registration is due by June 9, but anyone wishing to book a hotel room at the special rate needs to do that by May 23. A reminder will be sent out to deacons in May.

• The April Continuing Education program with Hospice Panel was cancelled due to low enrollment. This is the second year in a row that the Spring CE event has been cancelled, and there was discussion about going to a once-a-year program on a Saturday in the Fall, along with the biennial Deacon Convocation.

• Deacon Evaluations for the 2016 Ordination Cohort are nearly completed. Those that were finished were discussed with the Board, and the remaining deacons’ reports should be completed within the next few weeks.

• The Board discussed several changes for next year’s evaluation process. The plan is for those who will be evaluated to be notified in December 2023 and sent all of the materials and links the first full week of January. Parishioner Evaluations will be due no later than February 15, 2024, and all deacon evaluations should be completed by March 1, 2024. In general, the process worked very smoothly this year and can be modified to make it even better next year.

• The next three meetings of the Board will be September and November of 2023 and April of 2024.

Executive Summary of Minutes – November 15, 2022

• The statutes for the DPB were completed and approved. The next step is for the statutes to go to the Deacon Council in February. Pending their approval, they will go to Bishop Thomas for final approval. The DPB agreed that continual revisions to the statutes will be needed in forthcoming years.

• Members of the DPB will assist with retreats and continuing education programs on a volunteer basis to relieve the Delegate for Permanent Deacons from attending every event.

• Deacon Brahier raised the question as to whether local continuing education programs are still needed in the diocese, given that the diocesan office now provides no more than 20% of the required CE hours each year. An increase in online courses, virtual conferences, etc., has resulted in fewer deacons taking advantage of local programs. Continuing conversation on this topic will be needed.

• Deacon Convocation will take place June 23-24 at Saint Joseph in Sylvania. The keynote presenter will be Fr. Leo Patalinghug, along with Pat Oedy-Murray.

• Deacon evaluations for those ordained in September 2017 will take place in Spring 2023.

Executive Summary of Minutes – October 18, 2022

• DPB was re-established after a 5-year pause. The DPB addresses practical topics, such as assignments of deacons and providing help for retreats, continuing education programs, and coordinating regular deacon evaluations.

• Revised Statutes were discussed, with a plan to forward them to the Deacon Council for approval to better meet the current needs of deacons.  Members of the DPB are elected by 5 seniority groups, serve 3-year terms, and may be re-elected.

• The Delegate for Permanent Deacons is moving the office to be increasingly electronic. A new deacon website has been established, and a video tutorial and expansion of the site are in the works.

• The 2023 Deacon Convocation will take place at Saint Joseph in Sylvania on June 23-24. Details are in the works.

• Approximately every six years, a deacon should be evaluated by the parish in which he serves. A process already exists, but evaluations have not been conducted since 2018. A discussion of that process was tabled for a future meeting.

• The PB voted to host an additional meeting in November due to the amount of work needed to be done to get the Board active again. The next meeting was set for November 15, 2022, at Saint Thomas More University Parish in Bowling Green.