Serving in a parish partnership with three parishes and working a 40-hour week at a local store give Deacon Archie Bowers plenty to do, but he wouldn’t trade it.

Deacons live busy lives, working at jobs to secure their financial stability or in retirement to take on other roles, but always in the public eye.
Most deacons enter their lives of ministry as one half of a married couple, with their lives of service shared by those closest to them — their wives. While they do not seek to be recognized, they play important roles as part of the couple, both emotionally and intellectually.

Some people “juggle” more than others, and a deacon’s wife is no exception. Josie Weiler is a parish secretary at the cathedral in Belleville and also the wife of Deacon Wayne Weiler, ordained in 2013.
Josie describes her role as “far more fulfilling than I had even anticipated.”