How a man’s job at a Lutheran company led him closer to his Catholic faith—and to the diaconate

From North Texas Catholic, further proof that God writes straight with crooked lines:

Deacon Doug Wuenschel, who retired as a deacon five years ago but has worked at Immaculate Conception Church and the University of North Texas in Denton, as well as at the University of Dallas in Irving, said working for a Lutheran company actually brought him closer to his Catholic faith and eventually put him on the path to become a deacon.

“After I got out of the service (U.S. Marine Corps) and finished my master’s degree at the University of Arizona, I was recruited by a Lutheran company to be an administrator for them,” he said. “It required, regardless of my faith, that I be active in a local church, so I became active in Catholic churches,” Dcn. Wuenschel said.

Dcn. Wuenschel was born into a Catholic family, went to Catholic school in Chicago, and was an altar server at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Chicago.

While he was working on his bachelor’s degree in social work and master’s degree in gerontology at the University of Arizona, he was recruited by the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society.

“(They) had many nonprofit facilities — nursing homes and retirement communities, and they were looking to ‘up’ their skill level and hire lay people,” Dcn. Wuenschel said. “Up until that time, they just hired ministers. Just being active in that organization brought me, ironically, closer to my own faith.”

He started working for the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society in 1971 and moved to many different states with that job, including Nebraska, Colorado, and Texas, with each move, becoming active in local Catholic parishes.

“I began teaching catechism, became a Eucharistic minister, heading up volunteer activities, and just one thing seemed to lead to another. My parish priest (Father John Mitchell at Immaculate Conception) said the deacon program was starting and asked me if I would be interested,” Dcn. Wuenschel said.

Read it all. 

Meanwhile, North Texas Catholic has put together a wonderful portfolio celebrating deacons marking their 25th anniversary of ordination. Check it out. It’s great to see the vocation getting this kind of attention!  Kudos!