FEATURED STORY FROM THE Best of BG – 2018 ISSUE
St. Thomas More Church:
For ‘Deacon Dr. Dan,’ Service At. Thomas More and The University Are All About Community
Brahier first realized he was called to such a vocation as a deacon while on a retreat in 2000. A lifelong member of St. Rose Catholic Church in Perrysburg, St. Rose was where he married his wife, watched his three sons be baptized and was baptized himself following a tradition set by his father. But when he was recently placed at St. Thomas More University Parish after becoming a deacon, he knew he was in the right spot.
“They told us when we were information ‘Trust the Holy Spirit because you will go wherever it is that you’re supposed to be,’” Brahier said. “And as this year has gone on, it’s become very evident to me that I’m in the right place at the right time.” While he always pictured himself at St. Rose, he realized that wasn’t likely because the parish already had three deacons. So during his practicum year, or what he calls “student teaching to become a deacon,” he split his time between St. Rose and St. Thomas More.
But Deacon Dr. Dan, as students who know him from both church and the math education program call him, wasn’t new to the University parish. Brahier and his wife used to attend St. Thomas More once in a while “just for a change of pace,” but it wasn’t until a student that worked in the University’s Math and Science Education Office brought up Koinonia, the church’s major retreat focusing on community, that he started getting involved. Once Father Jason Kahle came to the church, he took on even more responsibility.
Both Brahier and Kahle acknowledge the connections and community as assets that make St. Thomas More a truly unique church. What makes the church especially unique to Brahier is the mix of year-round parishioners and students. Kahle estimates that roughly 65 percent of members are students and 35 percent are year-round parishioners. “Over time we’ve really strived to work on a message that all our welcome. That it’s not just for those crazy liberals or those right-wing traditionalists. But it’s really a place that everyone can come to worship and feel like they belong,” Kahle said. “The church is a big place and there’s room for everybody.”
The church’s mission is to serve the BGSU community with a focus on engaging, empowering and exploring to help students grow spiritually, intellectually, and personally. To live out this mission, St. Thomas More offers more than 50 different ministries over the course of a year. The biggest ministry is the celebration of mass on Saturday and Sunday, with an average of 500 attendees across four masses.
In addition to mass and Koinonia, the church also hosts an upperclassman retreat, sports nights, a formal dance, adoration worship services, many free meals and a partnership with BGSU through the Catholic Falcon Community. Kahle also brought in the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), which has raised Bible study attendance from 30 members at the beginning of fall 2017 to 90 by the following spring. Newman Housing, a faith-based intentional living community, is another major difference between St. Thomas More and other parishes. The 19 apartments housing up to 35 students, act as a place for social, spiritual, physical, and emotional growth. The community comes across through these ministries, but also in the church building itself.
AN ADDITIONAL FEATURED STORY ABOUT ST. THOMAS CAN BE FOUND IN THE Best of BG – 2013 ISSUE