Dcn. Jim Elchert

Jim Elchert is not the first deacon in his family. Or the second. In fact, he’s not even the third. He will become the fourth deacon in the Elchert family.

Elchert’s father is a deacon for the Fort Wayne/South Bend diocese in Indiana. An older brother was ordained for the Los Angeles archdiocese during Elchert’s three years of formation, and he has a cousin who is a deacon in Philadelphia.

“God is persistent,” he said. “It has been a gradual calling.

“ I had the first inkling when I was still in my 20s, but just starting out with a young family, I didn’t feel it was time. Every now and then that thought would come to my mind, but I never thought it was time. 

“Finally, eight years ago, the thought re-entered my mind and, by that time, my father had been ordained as a deacon. 

“I thought about it and prayed over it and talked to my wife and decided enough doors had opened in my life that I could pursue this.”

Recognizing that deacons tend to have many responsibilities within a parish, Elchert is jumping right in at his home parish, Marysville Our Lady of Lourdes, and his diaconal internship parish, Powell St. Joan of Arc. 

“Having watched Deacon Dave Bezusko and Deacon Steve Petrill, they are boundless energy. I don’t know how they get it all done,” he said.

“Maybe there’s some element to this as to why I received this call to be able to help them do what they do and take some of the burden off.”

At St. Joan of Arc, Elchert has been involved with ministries for older parishioners and for people learning English as a second language and with the parish’s St. Teresa’s Outreach, which assists food pantries and underprivileged communities and gives direct assistance to those struggling or in need.

“When the stay-at-home orders went into effect this spring, we found that families that were struggling and were used to sending kids to school and receiving lunch and other meals at school were struggling even more, because now they had to feed the children at home,” Elchert said. So we initiated a program when Masses were shut down. 

“It was a food drop on Sunday mornings where cars would come to St. Joan and pop their trunks and we would unload donations of groceries. Father (James) Black or Father (Stephen) Smith would bless the car on the way out.”

Elchert said they would deliver five to seven pickup truck loads of items each week during the height of the shutdown, helping different food pantries.

“It was gratifying to see so much participation,” he said. 

Elchert, a senior project estimator for Kokosing Construction Co., had previous experience assisting with food drives. For a few years, he has been part of a food collection program for the company. 

“Each of our offices and major project sites adopts a food pantry in the area,” he said. “We collect donations from employees and the company doubles the donations. 

While he is involved with building projects for his career, Elchert, who has three children ages 20 to 30 with his wife of 33 years, Becky, also enjoys working in his wood shop. He has built several pieces of furniture for the family’s home.

“At work, I really enjoy being a part of something that you can look at tangibly and say ‘Yes, I was a part of that project.’ At home, woodwork is a creative outlet for me,” Elchert said. “I like seeing the finished product.”