Dcn Michael Kopczewski

When Deacon Michael Kopczewski was a kid and people asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he’d tell them he wanted to be an inventor and get a patent. Now he blends research, innovation, engineering and design into his position as Vice President of Design Central, an innovation and product development company.

“Industrial design provided me with the ability to cross art and engineering, all in the context of making products appropriate for end users and manufacturers,” said Deacon Kopczewski.

While he has fulfilled that childhood plan – Deacon Kopczewski holds 35 patents – though fulfilling work, he feels service to the church brings much more to his life. “Through diaconal service I am blessed to experience an indescribable and immense joy and peace,” he said.

“Whether it’s visiting the home bound to distribute communion, proclaiming and preaching the Gospel, finding ways to help those in need or helping during liturgies, I feel at home, at peace and filled with joy. It reaffirms my call to the diaconate.” Another joy in Deacon Kopczewski’s life is his wife of 21 years, Camille, and their two daughters, Michaela, 14, and Melina, 11. The family attends Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Grove City where Deacon Kopczewski has served in multiple roles from training altar servers to serving on the retreat and leadership teams.

Deacon Kopczewski said his call to the diaconate played out over several decades. “Since I was a child I felt a tug, a call, a gentle nudge toward serving the Church in some way,” he said. “Decades ago it was a whisper to my soul in prayer. Maybe I was too busy with other distractions in life or I could not believe that God would ask an introverted, ordinary man like me to serve Him in the Church.

Over time the whisper in prayer turned into something I could not deny. Instead of a gentle whisper it became a burning longing of my soul to fulfill my identity and God’s will in my life. It is through the great gift of the opportunity to humbly serve the people of God in diaconal ministry and by intimate prayer that I have been given the gift of seeing the beauty of God’s love in my life.”