Man of many hats dons new one at OEC

Three years ago, when Stephen Mawn was hired as faith formation director at St. Francis de Sales Church in Loudonville, he didn't know he'd end up being the youth minister, accountant, coordinator of altar servers and Christmas-pageant writer.

"I'm good at juggling things," he explained. "When people look at the different hats I wear, they find I'm very good at scheduling and mastering time."

Now he has a new challenge: He has been named assistant director of catechist formation with the Albany diocesan Office of Evangelization and Catechesis (OEC). In that role, he will be in charge of catechist certification, training programs, Spring Enrichment -- and lots more.

Teaching time

Mr. Mawn has been teaching about God and the Church since high school. He became a faith-formation tutor in his teens and taught Church history to middle-school students at his home parish in Westchester County during college.

During that time, he compiled a 280-page book on the subject and still uses it to teach.

Mr. Mawn attended seminary in New York City but decided that he was not called to the priesthood. He worked in faith formation at a Bronx parish, married and moved to Massachusetts. There, he had a job in the computer field and served on the board of a brand-new private Catholic high school.

Forming faith

But Mr. Mawn soon felt called back to work in a catechetical capacity.

"I was hoping to find someplace that I could utilize the skills I've gained over the years" to help a faith-formation program grow, he said. He found that place at St. Francis.

His goal in his new position is to help parishioners with what they need to become better informed, more capable catechetical leaders.

Time management

Mr. Mawn knows that time is a major consideration for many catechists, who contend with busy family and work lives.

"We live in a busy world," he said. "People are being pulled in a million directions. It's very sad that many catechists are not certified. How do we encourage catechists without overburdening them? How do we help everyone, and not force them through hoops?"

He plans to develop "new models" to address this concern, including bringing more training programs to outlying areas, providing distance-learning classes and traveling to parishes to listen firsthand to what they may need.

(9/15/05) [[In-content Ad]]