Kevin Walters,  Campus Minister and Theology Department Chair at Catholic Central High School in Redford
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I've been in high school campus ministry for 20 years. It's been a wonderful career. I came into campus ministry really because I wanted to help young people. I think most people are looking for some significance in their lives. They want a life that matters to them and helping them to connect faith to success really makes a big difference for them.

At Catholic Central, I am in charge of the school liturgies, prayers services, and basically helping in the spiritual formation of these young people in partnership with their parents and their parishes and rest of the school community.

What is your educational background?

Initially, my first teaching job in high school campus ministry was at Riverview Gabriel Richard and then it was St. Francis Cabrini Parish in Allen Park and then at Dearborn Divine Child and now I'm at Redford Catholic Central.

In terms of my educational background, I received a bachelor's degree from Sacred Heart Seminary College and at the time I thought I was being led into priesthood. I went on to graduate school at St. John Provincial Seminary in Plymouth and received my master's degree. At that point, I discerned that priesthood ministry was not for me but certainly wanted to continue the use the gifts I have in lay ministry.

What is your style for reaching and relating to your students?

I think for the most part it's get out of the way, tap the energy that young people have, maybe be to challenge them, to encourage them to be true to themselves and don't necessarily buy into some of the lies that our society and culture sells us. Success isn't just measured in terms of your net worth. Your job, I think will be a happy job and will be something that you will love to do if and only if you only make sure you are not selling yourself short.

I think that for the most part I am a good listener. I really try to be present to the students, to take them where they're at in their faith journey. I call them to move forward and help them keep their sight on the end prize, the goal at hand, and to let them know eventually as a young man (since it's in all males school where I teach) they eventually grow up. I want to give them something very solid to set their foundation for their lives and build upon that they've been given at home with their parents, and in their parishes. They need to know when society seems to get a hold of their attention with so many different messages—I think it's important that somebody is there, somebody they can relate to. So I think that my gifts really are listening, being an enabler, encouraging. I think my gifts are that of a coach, to challenge, to cheer them on, to set their hearts and sights on what is really and truly important.

I think what makes me good at the work what I do really and truly, as I said is to get out of the way. The holy spirit is really alive in the lives of young people they need to feel as though there lives matter and so what I try to do is to coach them, to challenge them, and to be there for them and I think it's the rapport that I have with the young people that has in a sense made it a successful ministry.

Is there a downside to your work?

Really I don't think there is a down side to the work that I do, although I would say that what's challenging sometimes now that I am a single man, is having someone to come over and watch my kids when I'm off on overnight retreats. But I love the overnight retreats. It really is a time when I'm able to spend more time with the students delving a little bit deeper into their spiritual life, and their personal growth and development. So it's really not a down side. I think in a sense it does present some challenges though.

How is the compensation for lay ministry?

I'm sure that one of the concerns that people have about entering into lay ministry is the whole area of financial compensation. Both my wife and I have been involved in church ministry and before her death—we, and even now that she has gone—we live a comfortable life. I make good money; I have a very nice home, cottage up north, two cars in the garage, paying for my sons (three of them) their catholic education. We never lived high off the hog but living simply and being grateful for the resources that we have been given. It's amazing that we get paid for something that we love to do and paid well. We know that we are never gonna get rich off of this particular career, but I'll tell you what, the richness comes in other ways.

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

When I was a child I certainly didn't set my sights on lay ministry. Like probably a number of young kids I wanted to be a professional baseball player, I wanted to be an astronaut. Through high school, I think my sights were set on becoming a tax lawyer. The almighty dollar seemed to catch my attention but as I grew late in my high school years, the high school chaplain at the high school I attended really had an affect on my life and the lives of my friends. And I sat back and I said, "You know what? I don't want to crunch numbers. I don't want to sit and spend my time looking at legal books and spending time in court and managing people's tax situation." But I thought that I really wanted to be involved in the lives of people. Looking back at that high school chaplain—he was so instrumental in our lives at that time. For me, it really made me sit and think hey, "I can do this."

What is a typical day for you?

A typical day for me is not typical; there are many different things that I do from day to day. I wear many different hats at Catholic Central. I'm the theology department chair so I teach, I am an assistant high school baseball coach, and I am the campus minister. From prayer to upcoming school masses to retreats to our Christian service program, my tasks vary. Some of them are administrative in that I have to take care of the paperwork, permission slips, and the like. But probably the most enriching part of my ministry is the time that I spend with the students.

Explain how baptism is linked to lay ministry?

I think symbols are very, very important and obviously our ministry flows from our baptismal call. If we look at the symbols that are important in our society today, just think back to the excitement and the energy that was created when the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup. People tried their darndest to get their name etched on this trophy to be remembered for all time. When in reality, my job is to take the image of that cup, that passion that they have for something and just—hey, you know what? There is another cup that's more important. The cup of life that will lead them to a full life, a life that is really the only cup that matters, and not to diminish their passion and their excitement for that. Baptism, likewise is a call that challenges us to grow and mature into holiness and it's also an opportunity for us to look at using our lives to find that happiness and holiness that God calls us to.

What might you be doing if you were not in lay ministry?

These days, if I had not gone into campus ministry I probably would have gone into the field of psychology. I think that I would have definitely gone into a career where I would be helping people and I think psychologists can at very important times in people's lives, help them through crisis. Crises in life are really opportunity for growth and in a person of faith, that opportunity for growth can take one into a deeper relationship in the Lord.

How do your students react to your profession?

In today's society, I think that young people are very enamored with professional athletes, actors, actresses, and people in the entertainment industry. They are all wonderful experiences, but I guess the one thing, the common reaction when people hear I am a campus minister is shock. You do what? Why? I guess the ultimate piece of our conversation comes down to be "you really seem happy at what you do," and I guess that makes all the difference. In asking my high school students, "What do you want as you look ahead to this next chapter of your life?" they may talk about the money, they may talk about the fame, the power, but ultimately what it boils down to is they want to be happy. Happiness comes from a Greek word and it means to have a good soul and so I think in my job as campus minister, helping them to understand what having a good soul is all about is really why I do what I do and that's why I love it.

Would you recommend lay ministry to others?

I would recommend lay ministry to people who feel called to this ministry because there is nothing like getting paid for something that you love to do. I guess probably the bigger question isn't why would I recommend lay ministry to another person but why do I stay with it, why have I stayed with it for so long and it really is because of the happiness and joy and the significance that I've seen in the lives of those people that I have interacted with. I have grown as a person and there have a number of people who have come back and have shared just what having our lives cross has meant to them.

How do your children feel about your career choice?

It has been interesting to see as how my career as a campus minister has affected my children and their attitude toward career choice. I think having their mother die at a young age from breast cancer has awoken in my children a sense of "I need to help others. I want to make a difference in what I do in my career." My son is now at Catholic Central with me so he sees some of the things that I do on a daily basis and each of the previous places where I have ministered, my children have been actively involved by coming to the games when I coach, going to watch some of the other teams, coming to some of the events and I think they see that there is something very special that happens in the interaction the students and I have in the campus ministry program. I think that my choosing campus ministry has had an affect on my children. I think they're more sensitive I think they're less willing to accept society's image to what it takes to be a successful, happy, man in today's society. My children I think, have obviously touched by my career choice, my vocational call.

How does one recognize the call to lay ministry?

Recognizing the call I think takes place when there's a personal relationship with God, but first and foremost that involves in the fertile soil of silence and in prayer, learning to get the thumb on the pulse of your life and figure out just really what makes you happy. I think God in his invitation to a full and abundant life calls us to that happiness and it's not necessarily very easy I was in the seminary studying for priesthood and after 6 years figured this isn't where he is leading me. I want a wife, I want a family but I still have ways that I can give and share my gifts with others. First and foremost, I think that recognizing the call, being in touch with yourself, having a strong prayer life, and realizing that if you are not going to do it then who will? I think that most people look at me and say, "You do what? You're in campus ministry? We didn't picture that." In fact, when I told my friends, they were shocked but then immediately following that initial reaction, they were very supportive. "I can see you doing that. You have some gifts; you have some talents that would make you successful."

In addition to prayer, I think discernment comes about by looking at the support and the challenge of people around us. I think often times it's the church community itself that helps us as individuals it was in my case it was people around me who saw gifts who saw things within me that said you know what you are good at this consider it, we need you.

Is there career growth in lay ministry?

Career growth in lay ministry—there have been many many people who have started in one area of lay ministry in the church and have moved to different offices. For instance, my wife when she was alive, she came out and worked at St. John's Seminary and was the business manager. When it closed, she then went to St. Francis Cabrini Parish as a business manager and after 10 years there, and then went out to St. John Center for Family and Youth. Career choices were similar in that she stayed with the church. There are a number of people who have gone to different offices and served. For myself in terms of campus ministry, there have been a couple of invitations to move onto a college and university level but I really enjoy the high school age.

Besides working with the students, obviously there is interaction with parents providing some opportunity for them to continue to grow in their faith without usurping the role of the parish. There's also an opportunity to work with faculty to continue to encourage them to be wonderful role models for the students that they teach because for the most part, it is the entire school community, the faculty, staff, administrators, teachers, and students who create a faith community by their response to their baptism.

What are some of your roles and your gifts?

My name is Kevin Walters, I'm a high school campus minister and with that I'm a retreat director, Christian service coordinator, I'm a teacher, I'm a coach, I'm a father, I'm a lector and Eucharistic minister.

My gifts include my friendliness, my openness, I'm a good listener. Being prayerful, being upbeat, and listening to the people that I minister to. I'm open minded, thoughtful, sensitive, friendly.

Is coaching a good fit with your ministry?

One of the things that people often are intrigued with is the balance between the coaching and the campus ministry. I've really met with a lot of success in the field; it's been something that has brought these young men as they grow and mature back into my family's life when my wife was ill and even at her funeral. I was amazed to see the number of people who had come back not only to the funeral, but we had a fund-raising event to help defray costs for her cancer treatment. Some of these people I had not seen in 15 years but they heard and obviously and they were so moved by the experiences they had shared, that they wanted to be there at very important times in our life.

How do you balance your personal and your professional lives?

I think in most jobs today, in most ministries, there needs to be a balance in what you do professionally and your personal life. It's sometimes difficult, you know. I often find myself making phone calls at home, extra trips to school during the course of the night but what makes it so rewarding is the fact that I don't separate what I do professionally from who I am and I think that's why the happiness exists in lay ministry for me.

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