“God bless our secretaries!”

Parish secretaries across the archdiocese serve people of God as ‘ministers of presence’

Janet Peter, secretary for the parishes of Holy Cross in St. Croix, St. Augustine in Leopold and St. Mark in Perry County, sits at her desk at St. Mark Parish. (Submitted photo)

By Natalie Hoefer

Around lunchtime on any given weekday, Janet Peter can be found driving through the lovely terrain of the Tell City Deanery between St. Augustine Parish in Leopold and St. Mark Parish in Perry County.

“Two offices. Two phone numbers. Two e-mails,” Peter notes.

Father Anthony Hollowell, pastor of St. Mark Parish, calls her and those like her “the brain stem of the parish.”

Who is Janet Peter—and those like her?

They are parish secretaries, and they are “vitally important to both priests and the parishes,” says Father Hollowell.

Yes, they answer phones, deal with paperwork and documents. But they are so much more.

“They are the possessors of great knowledge and resources,” says Father John McCaslin, pastor of St. Monica Parish in Indianapolis. “They are the first contact for those who come in the door. They hear people’s stories, but hold everything in trust.”

Mary Dmitrasz, secretary for St. Joseph Parish in Rockville, notes that the priest who hired her said in the interview, “It’s not a job, but a ministry.”

The Criterion spoke with Dmitrasz, Peter and two other parish secretaries in central and southern Indiana for an inside look in their ministry and to honor all parish secretaries for their “vitally important” work.

‘Even more than a ministry—a blessing’

Laurie Miller has been secretary for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Richmond for five years. Her experience embodies the role of parish secretary as a ministry.

“It’s a humble way to share the love of the risen Christ with people I’m in touch with on a daily basis,” she says of her position. “You do it for our Lord. I’m there to support and help people along in their journey at that time.”

St. Monica parish secretary Julia Arciniega-Gonzalez agrees.

“My role is to serve the people of God and to serve our pastors,” she says. “I don’t see this as a job. I see it as even more than a ministry—it’s a blessing from God.”

Father Hollowell describes it as a “ministry of presence.”

“For 95% of people that come to church outside of Mass, the person they first see is the parish secretary. They represent the Church to the people,” he said.

“They receive new people, maybe someone who needs help, maybe they just need to talk. There’s just so much ministry that they do.”

Of course, there are the typical secretarial duties. Those vary from parish to parish and range from answering phones to recording sacraments to working with finances.

“I like ordering things for the church, like when we were remodeling and I found a 4-foot wooden [corpus] carved of Italian wood for our cross at St. Mark,” says Peter. “And I found two beautiful angels for our adoration chapel that I ordered. That was a nice break from the paperwork.”

After 19 years as a priest, Father McCaslin decided to hand his calendar over to the parish secretary.

“I wish I’d done that before!” he says. “It’s made me more accessible to parishioners. It’s allowed me to have a more pastoral presence with people.”

Miller, too, speaks of dealing with calendars—three, one for each campus of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish.

But as each parish secretary described their duties, the role of “minister” prevailed.

“It’s a lot to juggle and it can be stressful, but it’s not a job—it’s a ministry, to me maybe 90% ministry.” says Miller. “It’s something I enjoy doing, even when it’s stressful.”

“I’ve discovered that what it takes to be a parish secretary is love, patience, understanding,” said Arciniega-Gonzalez. “And being able to listen—a lot.”

Sharing ‘the love of the risen Christ’

Whether it’s in person or on the phone, listening is a good portion of what secretaries do.

Father McCaslin recalls the secretary at his first assigned parish, St. Barnabas in Indianapolis, hearing “so many stories from so many people. They’d sit in her room and just pour their hearts out, and their struggles.”

Such opportunities are rewarding for Peter, who also serves as secretary for Holy Cross Parish in St. Croix.

“What I enjoy most is talking to people and meeting their needs,” she says. “It’s rewarding when you can hear the happiness and relief in their voices, especially when you talk with shut-ins or people who are anxious. Like during the pandemic, people talked about how they missed going to church.”

Miller agrees with Peter about the favorite part of her job: “I just love making our parishioners happy and comforting them if I can in any way.”

Dmitrasz feels the same way.

“I like to make everyone feel like they’re important and recognized,” she says. “Being able to call everyone by name, I like being able to do that.”

Dmitrasz has been secretary for St. Joseph Parish for only a year. Her predecessor Pat Owens held the position for 38 years.

“They’re my faith family,” Owens says of the parishioners. “You see them more than just at church. You feel like you know them, and they know you. And it’s nice to welcome new people.”

She enjoyed her ministry as a secretary so much that she still comes to the office regularly “and helps, like calling parishioners just to let them know we’re thinking of them,” says Dmitrasz.

Owens describes the approach of treating all who came to the parish office “as if they were coming into your own house.”

Arciniega-Gonzalez’s approach is similar.

I have met a lot of people and families,” she says, noting St. Monica’s diversity with English, Spanish and French-speaking members. “I get to see their joys and sorrows.

“I try to think and pray that they can see the welcome of God in this office and really feel the Rule of St. Benedict: all guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ.”

‘Without her, I’d be in big trouble’

Of course, there are the funny behind-the-scenes moments that parish secretaries get to experience.

“Every day is a funny story!” says Miller. “Sometimes you just have to laugh out loud. We plan, and God laughs!”

She laughs at a funny line about her job: “I always say the priest is in my hand—I tell him where to go and what to do!”

Peter chuckles as she recalls a particular priestly parking job.

“One year we were going out for a staff lunch,” she says. The parish priest at the time, who was from a foreign country, was driving. When they arrived at the restaurant, she says, “The only parking spot left was parallel parking.”

The priest tried, and tried and tried, Peter says.

“It was so bad, someone had to get out of the car and try to direct him!” she laughs. “By the time we got in the restaurant, we were 20 minutes late!”

Father Hollowell admits that “every week [Peter] does things that, without her, I’d be in really big trouble. I mean that sincerely—it’s every week.”

Arciniega-Gonzalez shares a happy memory that brings a smile.

Then-Indianapolis Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin was visiting the parish campus.

“He knows so many languages, and as soon as he met me, he switched to Spanish,” she says.

As he was leaving, she called out “goodbye.”

“Then he turned around and started singing a sweet song in Spanish about farewell!” Arciniega-Gonzalez says, incredulous. “The archbishop sang to me in Spanish!”

‘God bless our secretaries’

Both Fathers Hollowell and McCaslin sing the praises of parish secretaries.

“They’re critical,” says Father McCaslin. “It’s really such an important role. They’re witnesses of hospitality.”

Returning to the “brain stem” concept, Father Hollowell recalls the body of Christ.

“We are one body with many parts, and parish secretaries are the brain stem,” he says. “They have so much to support, and without it the body itself cannot function.”

He calls the role of parish secretary “hidden” to most of the parish, “who see the priest as the pastor.

“But there is so much work parish secretaries do in the background that make sure the government recognizes us as a legitimate entity.”

He lauds parish secretaries like Peter, who are “under-appreciated and don’t complain” but rather hold the attitude of, “I’m here to do what I do and to do it well.”

Father McCaslin agrees.

Parish secretaries “deserve our appreciation immensely,” he says. “Talk to any pastor, and they’ll tell you how grateful they are and how stressful it is to be without a secretary.

“God bless our secretaries!” †