Welcome Brian Hansen: Our New Diocesan Coordinator of Adult Faith and Lay Formation

By TODD GRAFF

Greetings of peace!

In this month’s column, I want to introduce to you our new diocesan coordinator of adult faith and lay formation, Mr. Brian Hansen. As part of his responsibilities, Brian will be directing our diocesan Institute of Lay Formation. He began his service to our diocese on Wednesday, August 28, and is settling into his office at our new diocesan Chancery in Rochester. You will find an introduction to Brian and his family below in this article.

It has been a great blessing getting to know Brian initially through the interview process, and now with his presence at the Chancery. He is a true person of faith and Christian witness, and has a wonderful sense of the “joy of the Gospel!" And he brings a tremendous background to his work in the diocese (as you will see in his introduction).

Brian will be reaching out in the coming days and weeks to many of our diocesan Institute of Lay Formation alumni, to other lay leaders in the diocese, and to our priests and deacons as he seeks to learn about our diocese and the history and background of our Lay Formation ministry.

I will be supporting Brian as he begins his diocesan service, but I will also be transitioning to a part-time position serving as diocesan coordinator of Adult Christian Initiation (OCIA). As I’ve written in a previous column, I will continue to be around in the diocese, and I look forward to connecting with the people of our diocese through our Christian initiation ministry and at diocesan gatherings.

I feel truly and deeply blessed to have been entrusted with our diocesan Lay Formation ministry over these past 25 years, and I will continue to hold our Institute of Lay Formation community close to my heart and in my prayer. It has been a profound gift to work with the women and men who are part of our Institute community!

An Introduction to Brian

Brian Hansen is originally from Arlington Heights, IL, which is a northwest suburb of Chicago. He is the oldest of four siblings, all of whom attended Catholic elementary and middle school at Our Lady of the Wayside (Brian is a 2007 OLW graduate) followed by their attendance at Saint Viator High School (Brian is a 2011 SVHS graduate). Brian obtained his bachelor’s degree in religion at Carthage College (2015).

He then went on to serve the Catholic Church as a young adult missionary for two years with SPIRITUS Ministries, which is based in the Diocese of Green Bay and whose mission is to ignite the faith in Catholic youth through retreat ministry. During his second year of missionary work (2016-17), he met his now wife, Elizabeth (married in 2020), who also served as a SPIRITUS missionary.

After doing missionary work, Brian then pursued, on a part-time basis, his master’s degree in theology (2022) at Catholic Theological Union. Meanwhile, Brian committed himself to working in the various ministries of the Clerics of Saint Viator (CSV). This included serving as a campus ministry intern at Saint Viator High School (2017-18) and later being an in-house coordinator at Viator House of Hospitality (VHH), a residency that temporarily houses young migrant men who are seeking asylum in the United States (2017-19).

Brian was eventually offered the opportunity to serve as a theological educator at his alma mater, SVHS. Over the past five years (2019-24), Brian taught Sacred Scripture to high school sophomores, and Catholic Social Teaching and interfaith dialogue to juniors. Brian is now excited to share his skills, gifts, and life experiences in service of Holy Mother Church in his new role as Coordinator of Adult Faith and Lay Formation for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester.

Brian and Elizabeth are blessed to have two beautiful children, Elijah (August 2021) and Caeli (June 2024), and they hope to grow their family in the years to come. They’re excited to begin the next chapter of their family’s life in Minnesota; Elizabeth is originally from the state (Franklin - Diocese of New Ulm), and she is thrilled to be closer to her family.

Brian’s interests include theological reading, drinking coffee, sharing/listening to music and podcasts, and traveling abroad (Brian has been to India, France, Israel, Greece, and Turkey). Elizabeth’s interests are succulent and perennial plants, drinking tea, baking, and shopping at Aldi (especially the AOS) and farmers markets.

The Hansen family looks forward to living and being witnesses of Christ in the Diocese of WinonaRochester!

I have the privilege now to entrust our diocesan Lay Formation ministry, and the Institute of Lay Formation, to Brian’s care and leadership. And, I pray that God will bless and be with him as he takes on this ministry! Deo gratias!

A Closing Note

Last month, I quoted Catholic writer, Ed Condon, at The Pillar, who wrote regarding our current political environment: “Nothing constructive comes from hate. And nothing good is communicated through hate.” I was reminded of his words when I read a story this week about a father’s response to his 11-yearold son’s tragic death.

Aiden Clark was killed last year in Springfield, OH, when a minivan driven by a Haitian immigrant struck his school bus. As reported in the local press, his father, Nathan, spoke recently at a Springfield City Commission meeting, “pleading with the community to stop using his son’s name as part of hateful statements toward Haitian immigrants.”

With his wife (Aiden’s mom) standing next to him, he said:

The last thing that we need is to have the worst day of our lives violently and constantly shoved in our faces…. They make it seem that our wonderful Aiden appreciates your hate, that we should follow their hate.

This tragedy is still all over this community, the state and even the nation, but don’t spin this towards hate. In order to live like Aiden, you need to accept everyone, choose to shine, make the difference, lead the way and be the inspiration. What many people in this community and state and nation are doing is the opposite of what we should be doing.

Being a father myself, I can hardly imagine this man’s - and his wife’s - pain and grief in losing their dear son. But I am touched and inspired by his demand that Aiden’s tragic death not be “used for political gain.” As Christians, we can never be led and guided in any way by hate. Never!

Let’s embrace Nathan Clark’s challenge “to accept everyone, choose to shine, make the difference, lead the way and be the inspiration.” God bless!

We know that, unfortunately, sometimes Christians do not spread the fragrance of Christ, but the bad odor of their own sin…. The fragrance of Christ emanates from the ‘fruits of the Spirit’, which are ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control’ (Galatians 5:22). Paul said this, and how good it is to find a person who has these virtues: a loving person, a joyful person, a person who makes peace, a magnanimous person, not stingy, a benevolent person who welcomes everyone, a good person. It is beautiful to find a good person, a faithful person, a meek person, who is not proud… If we cultivate these fruits, and encounter these people, without us realizing it, someone will smell some of the fragrance of the Spirit of Christ around us.

-Pope Francis, General Audience, August 21, 2024

Todd Graff is the Director of OCIA for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester