The Lord’s final mandate to His disciples before the Ascension was to preach the Gospel to all the world. To do this today, followers of Jesus are called to be communicators, passing on the faith through word and deed. Not everyone is called to this professionally, but most of our parishes employ a communications person who must effectively communicate to both the larger world and individual  parish members.

Anna Kleinhenz is that person for the St. Joseph, Pillar of Families, Parishes (the Family of Parishes for the Sidney, Ft. Loramie, Newport and McCartyville areas of the archdiocese). Her vital tasks
as their Communication Manager are keeping the community “in the loop” and representing the Catholic faith to the outside world.

“I serve the St. Joseph, Pillar of Families, Parishes by using my creative expertise to evangelize other Christians through digital solutions,” says Kleinhenz. After studying graphic design, she refined her skills while helping Eagle Eye Ministries and the local Quo Vadis Young Adult Community with their communications. Experience with these Catholic groups gave her the needed background for her current parish ministry.

While not looking for a new position, Kleinhenz said she felt called to a new adventure, “The number one person who led me to the position was the Holy Spirit.” When the Family of Parishes offered her a full-time job, she knew her prayers were answered.

Like others who manage parish communications, Kleinhenz oversees various tasks, including one physical and online weekly bulletin for the Family and flyers about all four parishes’ upcoming events. Digitally, the communications person maintains the Family’s parish website and social media pages, updating everything, “from creating the graphics to coming up with the caption text,” she said.

As the archdiocese journeys through the Beacons of Light process, many Families of Parishes are consolidating their communications resources, like the St. Joseph, Pillar of Families, Family has, with its unified website and single bulletin for all four churches.

At just over a year in her role, Kleinhenz has created the combined Facebook and Instagram pages, as well as designed the layout for the Family’s combined bulletin.

Through these new communications efforts, parishioners are learning about, and excited to attend, events at the other churches in their Family. As an example, the pre-election Eucharistic Adoration planned by the Family successfully drew parishioners to one of the four churches over six days.

While print and digital communications occur in institutions across the globe, managing this is different for churches, where the work becomes a ministry to further the Kingdom of God. “My favorite part of the position is being able to work for Jesus Christ,” said Kleinhenz.

There is also the grace of knowing that everyone you work with shares the same goal to build up the Kingdom. “A perk of working for a parish is that your co-workers are all on the same mission, no matter what their role is in the office,” Kleinhenz said.

And, managing the Family’s communications has enabled Kleinhenz to put beauty in the service of truth. By creating striking images and finding inspirational quotes for social media posts and the parishes’ print materials, she helps attract people toward digging deeper into the events, parishes and Catholic faith. This evangelization role gives her the opportunity “to plant a seed in the soul.”

We are all called to sow the seeds of evangelization in our corner of the world, but it is clear the people who lead our parishes’ communications do so in a unique way: they place their language and design talents at Christ’s disposal. Even when we’re just checking the bulletin for Holy Day Mass times or Facebook for images from Friday’s Fish Fry, these men and women work hard to keep communities “in the loop” and aware of our faith’s beauty.

St., Joseph Pillar of Families includes
Holy Angels, Sidney
Sacred Heart, McCartyville
St. Michael, Fort Loramie
Sts. Peter and Paul, Newport

This article appeared in the January 2025 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.