Deacon Michael Goad
CHARLOTTE — Deacon Michael Goad, who now serves at St. Gabriel Church, was only 18 when he entered the U.S. Air Force in 1979 and found himself stationed 1,100 miles from his childhood home in Aiken, S.C., at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene, Texas.
During his four years of military service, Deacon Goad worked as a C-130 aircraft mechanic, earning the rank of E5 staff sergeant. He credits his Catholic faith and his time of enlistment with preparing him for a life of service.
“God came into my life and my heart at the age of 10, in what I refer to as ‘my awakening,’” Deacon Goad recalls.
Growing up, he attended Catholic schools staffed by the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady Mercy.
“My faith, taught to me by those sweet Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy, didn’t force Jesus into my head, but rather loved Him into my life,” he explains. “The Church was my anchor of familiarity as I made my way out into the world for the first time. The military gave me the confidence to live anywhere.”
He credits one of the nuns with helping him become the man he is today. “Sister deNeri Faase was as tough as nails. She was demanding and expected us to be more than who we were.
“Anytime I encountered a challenging moment while in the service to my country, I’d always in my heart think, ‘What would Sister deNeri expect of me?’ She was my compass during those years.”
From his years of service in the military, Deacon Goad says, he learned a valuable lesson that has helped him in his vocation as a permanent deacon: to lead, one must first learn to follow.
“Looking back on those days, I suppose I have always been a nurturer by nature,” he says. “So being called by the Holy Spirit yet again to a life of service as servant is like wearing old comfortable clothes.”
“I love being a joyful herald of the Good News! As a servant to the People of God, I still cannot adequately articulate this invitation God has invited me into. I still cannot believe I get to do this. God has always been generous to me and I am eternally grateful to be His son.”
He says he is proud to have served in the U.S. military because “as a patriot I owe much to her: my freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I have always felt a deep desire to love and to serve something greater than myself. She deserves my fidelity,” he explains.
“I am proud to serve the Church now as a deacon because She possesses my heart. She reveals to me, in a most profound and meaningful way, God’s loving grace, mercy and forgiveness through the sacramental life of the Church.
“She teaches me how to love others as our Heavenly Father loves each of us. God is good!”
DEACON KEVIN AND THERESA WILLIAMS
When they were in their late teens, Deacon Kevin Williams and his wife Theresa joined the military. Deacon Williams served in the U.S. Navy from 1977 to 1981 as a musician 3rd Class. Theresa served in the U.S. Army from 1977 to 1980 as a specialist 4th Class. The two met in 1977 at the Armed Forces School of Music in Little Creek, Va. Deacon Williams played the trumpet in the Navy, and Theresa was a percussionist in the Army band.
During their enlistments, the couple had different views on the practice of their Catholic faith, with Theresa actively living a sacramental life, while Kevin was not active with his faith.
“My faith played a big role (in my time of service in the military),” Theresa Williams recalls. “I prayed the 23rd Psalm a lot during boot camp. I also had a lot to pray about during the rest of my commitment.”
Deacon Williams admits he drifted away from the Church and did not have an active prayer life when he was younger. “I only went to Mass occasionally with Theresa because it was important to her,” he recalls.
Both are proud to have served their country.
“Not everyone can serve,” Theresa Williams explains. “Some don’t have what it takes. I think serving shows courage and patriotism.”
“There is a camaraderie between all who have served, no matter what they did,” Deacon Williams notes.
He is thankful to serve Our Lady of the Assumption Church as a permanent deacon now.
“It gives me the chance to connect with people about spiritual things, which has become my favorite subject,” he says.
“It gives me the opportunity to try to make a difference in people’s lives, and I think it means I’m following what God wants me to do.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
Permanent deacons’ military service
This Veterans Day, we thank in a special way our permanent deacons who served in the U.S. military and shared their service information with us. May God bless them and all those who served from the Diocese of Charlotte for their service to our country:
Deacon Ron Caplette, St. Aloysius Church, Hickory (retired): U.S. Marine Corps, Platoon Sergeant, 1952-1961
Deacon Bob Desautels, St. Leo the Great Church, Winston-Salem: U.S. Army, E4, 1967-1970
Deacon Patrick J. Devine, Charlotte Airport Ministry: U.S. Navy, Petty Officer (3rd class), 1966-1970
Deacon Ralph Eckoff, St. Margaret Mary Church, Swannanoa: U.S. Navy, Yeoman YN2, 1951-1954
Deacon Michael F. Goad, St. Gabriel Church, Charlotte: U.S. Air Force, Staff Sergent (E-5), aircraft mechanic, 1979-1983
Deacon Bill Griffin, St. Matthew Church, Charlotte: U.S. Army, Sergeant (E-6), 1964-1970
Deacon Carl Hubbell, St. William Church, Murphy (retired): U.S. Air Force, Technical Sergeant, 1953-1973
Deacon David King, Pennybyrn at Maryfield, High Point: U.S. Army, Vietnam War, 1968-1972; U.S. Army Reserves, 1979-1989
Deacon Mike Leahy, St. Elizabeth Church, Boone (retired): U.S. Army, 1958-1962
Deacon Paul Liotard, Holy Cross Church, Kernersville (retired): U.S. Marine Corps, Corporal, 1957-1959
Deacon Larry Lisk, St. Paul the Apostle Church, Greensboro: U.S. Marine Corps, Sergeant, 1967-1969
Deacon Scott McNabb: U.S. Navy, Officer, Vietnam War
Deacon Mark Mejias, Our Lady of Grace Church, Greensboro: U.S. Army under NATO, Corporal (E4), 1974-1976
Deacon Bob Morris, St. Pius X Church, Greensboro: U.S. Army, 1st Lieutenant, Vietnam War, 1967-1968
Deacon Robert Murphy, St. Mark Church, Huntersville: U.S. Air Force, Staff Sergeant (E5), 1959-1967
Deacon Mark Nash, Immaculate Conception Church, Hendersonville: U.S. Navy, HM3, Hospital Corpsman, 1978-1980
Deacon Tim Ritchey, Holy Cross Church, Kernersville: U.S. Air Force, Airman First Class, 1965-1969
Deacon Bill Schreiber, St. Aloysius Church, Hickory: U.S. Navy, Naval Flight Officer, 1979-2002
Deacon Vincent H. Shaw, St. Mary’s Church, Greensboro: U.S. Army, Sergeant (E-5), 1957-1963
Deacon James H. Toner, Our Lady of Grace Church, Greensboro: U.S. Army, Captain, 1968-1972
Deacon Rafael J. Torres-Rivera, St. Luke Church, Mint Hill: U.S. Army, Specialist 4th Class, Vietnam War, 1965-1966
Deacon James P. Trombley, St. Mary Help of Christians Church, Shelby: U.S. Air Force, Master Sergeant, Vietnam War, Gulf War, 1970-1990
Deacon Richard Voegele, Immaculate Conception Church, Hendersonville (retired): U.S. Air Force, Airman First Class, 1959-1964; N.Y. Air National Guard, Sergeant, 1974-1975
Deacon Ben Wenning, St. Gabriel Church, Charlotte (retired): U.S. Navy, Petty Officer, Air Traffic Controller, 1955-1959
Deacon Kevin Williams, Our Lady of the Assumption Church, Charlotte: U.S. Navy, Musician 3rd Class, 1977-1981; Theresa Williams: U.S. Army, Specialist 4th Class, 1977-1980
CHARLOTTE — Kathy Izard, who led the development of Moore Place, a permanent housing facility to end chronic homelessness in Charlotte, recently presented a message of hope, faith and love to hundreds of St. Gabriel parishioners. Izard described the journey to build Moore Place as the fruit of listening to the “quiet whispers” of God.
“We wanted to highlight the challenges faced by the homeless in our city,” said Karen Brown, ministry leader and volunteer coordinator at St. Gabriel Parish.
On Oct. 25, Izard captivated the Charlotte parish’s audience with her amazing story of faith.
“St. Gabriel has a big heart for those who are homeless and hungry with nine ministries serving this population. Examples of these are our Room in the Inn Ministry, our monthly Men’s Homeless Shelter dinner, and partnering with St. Matthew to furnish apartments for homeless women and children. We thought Kathy’s personal story would resonate with our parishioners who care deeply about the homeless,” Brown said.
Izard started her presentation with a quote by Mark Twain: “The two greatest days in our life are the day we are born and the day we figure out why.”
“I never planned to write a book in my kitchen for six years,” Izard explained. This year Izard received the Christopher Award for “The Hundred Story Home,” a memoir chronicling the miraculous creation of Moore Place.
“I never imagined building a building,” she continued. Yet the Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Local Hero Award and the N.C. Housing Volunteer of the Year Award both went to Izard for building the apartment complex with 120 units intended to provide homes for the chronically homeless.
“But I kept saying yes to that quiet voice of God. Be still, and listen to your whispers. I think God has a plan for each of us,” Izard said.
Izard, the mother of four daughters with her husband Charlie, worked as a successful graphic designer in Charlotte. “Our family volunteered at Urban Ministry Center (an interfaith mission in the Charlotte area dedicated to end homelessness), for 10 years. It was the perfect excuse to skip church once a month,” Izard admitted. “We loved making meals there. It was one of our favorite family activities. But I always stayed on the right side of the steel counter, which separated ‘neighbors’ from volunteers.”
According to her memoir, even as she led a successful life, Izard wondered about her purpose in life and whether God was truly present in the world.
But, something – or rather, someone – changed all that.
Her answer did not come quickly, but it came clearly through the book-turned-motion-picture “Same Kind of Different as Me” by Ron Hall, Denver Moore and Lynn Vincent, which is about the bond formed between an affluent art dealer and a homeless man. After reading the book, Izard kept hearing a small whisper: “Invite them to Charlotte.” She reached out to Moore, and he agreed to present at a fundraiser for Urban Ministry Center.
“I showed Denver the entire UMC, looking for affirmation, but receiving nothing even when showing him the garden, the soccer team, the art room – not a word said. The whole thing was wildly uncomfortable. Here I thought Denver, the wise book character, was going to fly off the pages and transform the life of one of the ‘neighbors’ and I was going to be a witness to it,” Izard recalled. “At the end, he asked me what was upstairs. There was nothing upstairs but offices. His reply was transformational.”
“Where are the beds?” Moore asked her. There were no beds, she answered, and he replied, “You mean to tell me you do all this good in the day and then lock them out to the bad at night? Are you going to do something about this?”
“Denver changed me. I could no longer not see the problem: the beds. The next day 1,000 guests arrived at the True Blessings fundraiser and we raised over $300,000,” Izard said. But Moore’s question haunted and propelled her: “Where are the beds?”
Other whispers guided Izard’s mission, including words from her father: “You can do anything, Kathy, really anything.” Her marketing professor: “Where is the concept, Green?” Corinthians 13:1: “And now these three remain; faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” And a calendar quote: “Start something big and foolish like Noah.” She answered each whisper with a modest “yes.”
Five years, many donations and many whispers later, Izard’s team developed Moore Place and named it after Denver Moore and donors John and Pat Moore.
“It was impossible to imagine how these two events had taken place independently and were intricately linked,” Izard recalled. But Moore Place was the result after Denver Moore’s vital role in persuading Izard to start the project, and after John and Pat Moore took a step in faith by providing the UMC with a generous donation to start the project.
Volunteers scoured the streets of Charlotte collecting lists of chronically homeless by interviewing thousands of potential “neighbors.” A list of 807 were identified, the most vulnerable given first priority.
“The realization hit me hard: once homeless people were housed, they are just people,” Izard said.
In partnership with Urban Ministry Center, Moore Place is responsible for ending homelessness for 120 Charlotteans.
Residents including Ronnie Leggitte and Tabby Burns have been living at Moore Place since it opened in 2012.
“I love the fact that I am able to actually take care of myself. Self-care and self-love are things you just can’t get on the street. A nice shower and a good shave, clean clothes. No heavy loads on my shoulders,” Leggitte said.
“My whole attitude has changed. Since I have been here, I am clean and sober. I have a personality of love and yearning to learn just absolutely everything I can,” said Burns. She beamed as she shows off her 366-square-foot, fully furnished living area, decorated with her collection of unicorn art and plants and a picture of her 20-year-old daughter hanging over the couch.
Izard said she has taken to heart Denver Moore’s words: “In a way we are all homeless – just working our way towards home.”
“Trust the whispers, no matter how crazy it may seem,” she urged. “Be willing to take that leap of faith.”
Ana Lothspeich, pastoral care director at St. Gabriel Parish, said she hopes parishioners gain the insights Izard outlined.
“Homelessness is a chronic problem in Charlotte. Homeless people feel ‘invisible’ to society and those around them,” she said. “After listening to Kathy, St. Gabriel Church’s commitment to serve the homeless and hungry is even strong-er.
We look forward to continue being part of the solution.”
— Lisa Geraci, Correspondent
For more
At www.urbanministrycenter.org: Learn more about how you can help people in need in Charlotte
Order Kathy Izard’s book: “The Hundred Story Home” is available on Amazon, or call 704-926-0622 to purchase directly through UMC. Cost is $15; all proceeds benefit Urban Ministry Center’s Moore Place.