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Discover Smith Mountain Lake
FALL 2016
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The office of deacon is as old as the
church, itself, we learned.At one time,
some women had been ordained as
deacons as well as men. It is believed
that the first deacons were seven men
chosen by the apostles to assist with the
charitable work of the early church,
administering to widows, the poor and
orphans. Beginning around the Fifth
Century, there was a gradual decline
in the number of deacons in service.
It continued over the years, until the
office completely disappeared from
the western church. The office was
reinstated during Vatican II, which ran
from 1962 until 1965.
Today, there are two classifications
of deacons in the Roman Catholic
Church: transitional and permanent.
Transitional deacons are seminary
students who are in the last phase of
their training to become priests. They
serve as deacons for one year prior to
being ordained into the priesthood.
Permanent deacons, such as Barry, are
ordained men who have no plans of
becoming priests.They may be married
with families, or single. If they are
single, they take vows to remain single.
If one is married, the vows include the
promise not to remarry should his wife
die before him.
Typically, deacons hold secular jobs in
order to support their families, since
serving as a deacon is a voluntary
position. Along with being a deacon,
Barry is also the Pastoral Associate,
which is a paid position at Resurrection,
so work outside the church will not
be necessary for him. A deacon assists
his local pastor by visiting the sick,
providing grief counseling, working
on parish committees and councils,
and performing other typical pastoral
duties.
Deacons may perform certain rites
such as: baptisms; funeral and burial
services (outside of Mass); distribution
of communion; preaching the homily
(the sermon given after the Gospel at
Mass); and witnessing marriages.
Barry’s favorite service to the
community, he says, is bringing
communion to the sick. His friendly
face, warm smile and kind eyes make
him a natural “people person”. He
had just returned from spending time
with residents at Runk and Pratt
Retirement Village at Westlake when
we interrupted his day. Certainly his
warm friendly demeanor, comforting
prayers and encouraging words would
be welcomed by any shut-in. Although
he loves people, it was his love of Christ
and the Church, says Barry, that called
him to become a deacon.
Imagine our surprise when, about
halfway through the interview, we
learned that it was actually Barry’s wife,
Allison, who was the lifelong, devout
Catholic. He had not been baptized
into the faith until 2005. Before that,
he says, he was “nothing”. His two sons,
Samuel and Casey, are both believers,
having grown up in the Church. It was
because of them that Barry decided
to delve deeper into the teachings of
the Church. Once he did, he became
a believer, and entered the process to
become a Catholic Christian: (RCIA)
the Rite of Christian Initiation of
Adults. It was during a mission to Haiti
that the beginnings of his call to a life
service first began to stir.
Prior to coming to Resurrection, Barry
and Allison, along with their two sons,
had lived first in Christiansburg, and
then in Roanoke. Three years ago,
they bought a “little condo” on Smith
Mountain Lake, so they are not truly
new comers to this community. Their
custom since buying here has been
to summer at Smith Mountain Lake
and winter in Roanoke, where Allison
is a teacher of theology at Roanoke
Catholic School and Casey is a high
school student. Samuel, following in
his father’s footsteps, is a student at the
University of Virginia. Both sons have
summer jobs at the Lake.
Barry recognizes the fact that in
replacing Chris Barrett he has large
shoes to fill.
“Chris was greatly loved in this
community, and rightly so,” he says. He knows that he’s
following a tough act. He adds, however, how impressed
he has been by the warm reception that he and his family
have received from members of the parish. He finds
members of Resurrection to be “amazing”. He praises their
love and dedication to their church, and the fact that they
are so involved. “We have so many volunteers. Even the
entire grounds (around the church) are taken care of by
volunteers”, he said. “The people here are wonderful.”
A self-proclaimed computer geek, Barry started his own
internet software business in 1999, which he “operated
from the kitchen table” for years, finally selling it in 2013
while completing five years of deaconate training. He was
ordained on October 17, 2015.
Prior to joining the Resurrection community, Deacon
Barry performed his cleric duties at Saint Andrew Catholic
Church in Roanoke.
A beautiful small, framed icon of Saint Stephen is perched
on a file cabinet near his desk at Resurrection, a gift to Barry
from Allison. She had sat through all of his training classes
as he was studying to become a deacon. She had been the
lone woman in a class with 14 men, which she attended to
receive her Master ofTheology, he reports with pride. Saint
Stephen is the patron saint of deacons, and was among the
original deacons who were selected by the apostles. He was
also the first Christian martyr.
Next to Saint Stephen is a picture of theWelch family, which
had been taken when the boys were still young children.
“I haven’t taken time to find a more recent one,” Deacon
Barry says. One gets the feeling that he probably never will.
Weekly Masses are held at Resurrection
every Saturday at 5 pm and Sundays at
4 pm. Pastor is Rev Salvador Anonuevo
(Father Sal).
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