The 11 deacons and their wives at their Institution to Acolyte mass this past September 2025. (Submitted photo)
For John Schroeder, it took three invitations.
“The third invitation to consider the diaconate became the turning point,” said Schroeder, a member of St. Jerome Parish in Oconomowoc. “Through the encouragement of others, I began to recognize what God might have been asking of me all along.”
Thomas Brefka experienced something similar. People around him saw something he had not yet recognized.
“Initially, I had a few people tap me on the shoulder and recognize gifts in me that I had not yet seen in myself,” said Brefka, a member of St. James Parish in Franklin. “Through prayer and discernment, I became open to the possibility that God was calling me to something greater than I ever imagined.”
Schroeder and Brefka are among 11 men scheduled to be ordained to the permanent diaconate for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, at St. Monica Parish, Whitefish Bay.
They will be joined by Jan Anderson, Kevin Doll, Christopher Lauterbach, John Van Hecke, Justin Spaeth, Marc Bucaro, Rich Fedor, Dylan McHugh and Rene Rillorta.
Their accounts of what brought them to the diaconate are individual, but several describe a call that developed over time and was reinforced by others.
Anderson, of St. Elizabeth Parish in Kenosha, described “a persistent nudge or draw that kept coming back.”
“Other people encouraged me to respond,” he said.
Fedor, a member of St. James Parish, Mukwonago, similarly pointed to “frequent promptings of the Holy Spirit,” which he said were affirmed by others who gave voice to those promptings. They led him to discern that God was calling him more deeply into service to others.
For Doll, service was already a significant part of his life. He spent 30 years with the Fond du Lac Fire Department.
“I always felt the need to serve others,” said Doll, a member of Shepherd of the Hills Parish. “I felt the Blessed Mother leading me toward the diaconate for the last decade.”
Service also figures prominently in how other members of the class describe their calls.
Lauterbach, a member of St. Theresa Parish in Eagle, said he wanted to do more to serve God.
“I felt that God called me to make a true commitment, not just an empty promise,” he said.
McHugh, a St. Stephen parishioner in Oak Creek, connected his call with the people already in his life.
“I felt a strong call, as young man with a family, not only to serve the vulnerable and forgotten but to help others know, serve and love God,” he said. “My desire is to be a servant to the people of God starting with my family, my students and my community.”
The men will enter ministries as varied as the paths that brought them to ordination.
Members of the class anticipate bringing Holy Communion to people who are homebound and in hospitals, hospices and assisted living facilities. Others include jail and nursing home ministry, marriage preparation, religious education, OCIA, preaching and sacramental preparation among the areas in which they expect to serve.
Van Hecke, a member of St. Charles Parish in Hartland, plans to work in special needs sacramental preparation and formation as well as bring Communion to the sick and homebound.
His own discernment grew from the example of people who had helped bring him to Jesus throughout his life. When he began trying to imitate them while guiding his children and others, particularly through his work as a Catechesis of the Good Shepherd catechist, he said he became aware that he was being offered “the gift and grace of the diaconate to bring Jesus to people.”
Spaeth, a member of St. John Evangelist and Blessed Trinity parishes in the Sheboygan area, described his path in terms of continuing discernment.
“A desire to discern God’s will for my life led me to the diaconate,” he said. “The call to serve led me to continue in humility, and God kept on opening doors through which I stepped in faith.”
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee describes discernment for the diaconate as beginning before a man formally contacts the Diaconate Formation Office. Men considering the vocation are encouraged to make discernment part of their daily prayer and discuss it with their wives, pastors and others in their lives.
For the 11 men approaching ordination, that period of discernment is nearing a milestone.
Their ministries will take them to different communities and different people. But their descriptions of how they arrived at ordination repeatedly return to a common idea: hearing a call and responding through service.
