This September, the Stewardship & Development Department had the opportunity to sit down with some of our Pastoral Ministries leaders for interviews. These ministries are supported by the Archbishop’s Appeal for Ministries.
Today we sit down with Lauren Stadelman, the director for Human Dignity and Pastoral Care.
What does your title mean?
I oversee aspects of life of our faith and how to support parish ministries in those areas. I am the archdiocesan representative for anything that pertains to matters of human dignity. What is traditionally know as Respect Life Ministry.
I also interact with a lot of parishes and groups about Catholic bioethics, how we make healthcare decisions and what that means for our ethic of life. Then, matters of domestic violence, gun violence, and the death penalty.
The other hat that I wear is the director of pastoral care. I oversee ministries that tend to the spiritual care of the sick, homebound, and imprisoned. This includes Criminal Justice Ministry, Hospital Ministry, Deaf Ministry, Mental Health Ministry, and Disabilities Ministry. I’ve expanded this to include things like bereavement and grief ministry.
How does your typical day-to-day look?
I know everybody says every day is different, which is true, but most of my day consists of supporting the directors that I oversee. I get calls weekly from people who need anointings and I help them find a priest to go and tend to the sick. I meet with a lot of our community groups and nonprofits who are doing work in respect for life areas to make sure that the archdiocese is well represented, but also to do collaborative work.
I hold a lot of parish leader meetings to support ministry at the parish level. I am present at deanery meetings or whenever we have special initiatives going on to be face to face with our priests.
What’s your favorite part of your job?
I love my job because I have a good balance of being in the office and the strategic side of work. I think that tends to be underrated in terms of working in ministry, but it’s so essential to be able to understand our mission and implement it in a meaningful way.
Is there a moment that you’re most proud of while you’ve been working here?
There’s a lot to choose from. We recently had our remembrance Mass for people who have died by suicide. Just being able to be a part of people coming, and being part of the Church, receiving Christ in their sorrow and finding consolation from a special Mass with a Bishop was really powerful. This is only the second one we’ve done, and there has been a lot of effort around building up mental health ministry in our diocese. I feel like that’s a beautiful kind of culmination of working with priests, working with parish leaders, working with Bishop Gary to be really intentional with our faith community.
What is one fact people don’t know about you?
I would say probably that I’ve only worked for the Church for about five years now. Before I worked for the Church, I worked in corporate wellness. I have like a degree in nutrition, and I have a master’s in public health. and I bring a lot of my gifts from the corporate space into this job for bringing people together. I feel so grateful to be in this role because I have such a deep love for our faith, and I feel like I’ve been able to use my background in health and public health to come and bring my gifts to the Church.
Is there anything you’d like to share to the donors of the Archdiocese and the Archbishop’s Appeal?
I just want to say thank you. They respond to the call to give of themselves in such a tangible way, to give to others in such a generous way. I want to thank everyone who recognizes the work that the church is doing. And I would just hope that they would know how powerful that is.
There’s that verse in the Bible that says like “where your treasure is there your heart is also” and I hope they feel that gratitude and that connection to the church. It is not superficial! It literally makes way for everything that we do. It is truly evangelization when people donate.
