Fr. Samuel Young, Pastor
Fr. Sam Young has been the pastor of Our Lady of Grace since July 1, 2010. A native of Parkville, Fr. Sam grew up in St. Michael the Archangel (Overlea) parish and attended Archbishop Curley High School. He then studied at Mt. St. Mary’s College and received a B.S. in Business and Finance. He graduated from St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore with a Masters in Divinity. He was ordained to the priesthood by then Archbishop William Keeler on May 26, 1990. His prior assignments include the parishes of St. Joan of Arc (Aberdeen), St. Clare (Essex), Holy Trinity (Glen Burnie), Our Lady of Hope (Dundalk) and St. Margaret (Bel Air). syoung@ourladygrace.org.
Fr. Robert Leavitt, S.S.
Father Robert F. Leavitt, S.S. has assisted at Our Lady of Grace parish since 2007. A priest of the Society of St. Sulpice, he holds the France Merrick University Chair of Fundamental Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary & University in Baltimore. Previously, he served as president-rector of St. Mary’s Seminary & University from 1980 to 2007. During his tenure he oversaw the construction of the Marion Burk Knott Library, the Center for Continuing Formation, the Raymond Brown Center, and the Associated Archives at St. Mary’s. In 1990, he helped to establish Food For Thought, an inner city after school tutoring program. A native of Connecticut, Father Leavitt was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Hartford in 1968. In 1971 and 1974, he studied with the late French philosopher, Paul Ricoeur (1913-2005). He currently teaches courses at the seminary in the fields of Philosophy, Fundamental and Systematic Theology, and Ecumenical Theology. RLeavitt@stmarys.edu.
Deacon Jim Prosser
“I came to OLG immediately after my ordination in 2009. I am the father of 5 and grandfather of 2, living in Fawn Grove, PA with my wife Camillus. At OLG, I am fortunate to be involved with both marriage and Baptismal preparation with Camillus, while, professionally, I am an engineer working part-time at WBCM in Towson.” jprosser@wbcm.com
Dr. Jack Buchner, Pastoral Associate for Faith Formation
Dr. Jack Buchner received a Master’s in Theology and a Master’s in Divinity from Mount St. Mary’s College. He received a Doctorate in Ministry from St. Mary’s University, Baltimore. Jack has worked full time in parish ministry since 1979. Additionally, he has taught Theology at Loyola University and the College of Notre Dame for 25 years. He has written seven books in the areas of evangelization and sacramental theology, and written many articles for Catholic magazines. At OLG he does religious education and sacrament preparation. Jack can be reached on ext. 122 or via email at jbuchner@ourladygrace.org.
Byrdie Ricketts, Principal of Our Lady of Grace School
All About Mrs. Ricketts: Mrs. Byrdie Ricketts has been the principal at Our Lady of Grace School since July 2008. She has been involved with OLGS since Father Nicholas Amato came to Our Lady of Grace Parish in 1995. He began a study to see if it was feasible to open a parish school. Mrs. Ricketts was asked to be on this committee. When the study was completed, Mrs. Ricketts helped interview and hire the founding principal, Sister Helen Wiegmann. She then sat on the School Council and eventually became the facilitator for this advisory committee. When Sister Helen announced that she would be leaving OLGS, Mrs. Ricketts interviewed and was hired to be the new principal of OLGS.
She retired from Baltimore County Public School system after working for 39 years. Most of those years, Mrs. Ricketts was a classroom teacher for the young child. She took her masters in educational leadership at The College of Notre Dame. During her time at Fifth District, a neighborhood elementary school, Mrs. Ricketts worked as a facilitator in the school office.
Mrs. Ricketts believes that her job of principal at Our Lady of Grace School is a gift from God. bricketts@ourladygrace.org
Elaine Hagner, Parish Administrator
Elaine Hagner and her family have been parishioners at Our Lady of Grace for 33 years. Nineteen Years ago then Pastor, Rev. Neil J. O’Donnell, invited Elaine to join the Parish Staff as part-time support to Religious Education. When Msgr. Nicholas Amato became pastor, three years later, he asked her to continue on staff in a full time position sharing her time between Religious Education and support for the pastor. Her role soon changed to Business Manager followed by Parish Administrator. Remaining as support to the pastor some of her new responsibilities include preparing and overseeing the budget and overseeing the physical facility guaranteeing that all is the best it can be for parishioners. Her greatest love, as Parish Administrator, is ministering to her parish family. She has had the pleasure of watching the children of the parish grow into adulthood writing college recommendation letters for many of them. Frequently, she can be heard saying, “I remember when that child was born…….Now look at the beautiful young person they have become.” ehagner@ourladygrace.org
Andrew Stewart, Minister of Liturgical Music, Ext. 126
Andrew Stewart joined the music ministry at Our Lady of Grace in November 2011, but has been at OLG as the musical director for Youth Theatre of Baltimore County since 2008. Andrew grew up in California and moved to Baltimore to study at the Peabody Conservatory, where he earned his Master’s degree in 2002. From 2000 to 2011 he was a keyboardist at the Church of the Nativity in Timonium-Lutherville, and since 2009 he has been the accompanist at Temple Shalom in Chevy Chase, MD. He has also spent the last several years working as a freelance pianist, including longstanding collaborations with the Lyric Opera of Baltimore (formerly Baltimore Opera Company) and the Carver Center for Arts and Technology. Andrew is married to guitarist Zoë Johnstone Stewart. They live in Baltimore with their dog, a German Shepherd mix named Mocha.
Nicholas Zurowski, Minister of Liturgical Music - wzurowski@bcps.org
Mary Miller, Coordinator of Liturgical Music and Drama Ministries
Mrs. Mary Miller has been a parishioner of Our Lady of Grace since 2002, a member of the parish staff serving as the Youth Music Minister since 2006 and Director of the Youth Theatre of Northern Baltimore County since 2004. Mary attended both St. Joseph’s School of Nursing and the University of Rochester after which she worked as a registered nurse specializing in the care of critically ill children.
After over 20 years in the medical field she decided to return to her first love – music and theatre. She combined that with her love for Jesus and children and became the Youth Music Minister here at Our Lady of Grace. As Youth Music minister she directs the children choirs that gather to sing at our Christmas and Easter celebrations, the “Amen Corner” which is our youth choir of grades 6-12 which sing and play at our weekly 11:30am contemporary Mass and the children of Our lady of Grace school at their monthly Mass. She is also the director for the Youth Theatre of Northern Baltimore county which provides the children and youth of our parish and community an opportunity to explore theatre arts while participating in “morality based” programs and productions.
Believing that faith and spirituality are a huge part in all our lives no matter our age or health condition; Mary also lectures at local universities on the topic “Spirituality in Nursing and Medicine.”
Mary has been awarded the Archdiocesan Medal of Honor, the Ambassador of Christ Award given by St. Mary’s Press to honor individuals who touch the hearts of teens and enliven in them the Christian spirit and the Catholic Digest “Good Egg” Award. mmiller@ourladygrace.org.
Deborah Webber, Coordinator of Youth Ministries and Hall Coordinator
Deborah has been a member of Our Lady of Grace since 1977. She graduated from Loyola (then College) with a degree in Medical Technology and worked for 12 years at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She then lived in Pittsburgh, Pa for seven years when her husband was transferred there for work. She and her family returned to the area in 2000, and Deborah has been involved with the church ever since. She has been an assistant catechist, middle school religious education coordinator, high school religious education coordinator, a member of the Life Teen catechists, and assistant to the director of religious education. In 2006 she assumed the role of Coordinator of Youth Ministries, and has found her calling with the children, youth, and teens of the parish! dwebber@ourladygrace.org.
Deborah Kaminski, Parish Office Manager
Debby has been greeting parishioners and visitors at the door and on the telephone since August 1999. She is a graduate of Dulaney High School in Business Administration and attended Essex Community College for several years studying Accounting and Business. Debby helps our parishioners with scheduling special Masses, providing duplicate sacramental certificates, making arrangements for baptisms, weddings and funerals. Also, as the parish office manager she prepares and distributes the weekly bulletin, maintains the Master Calendar for the church, maintains parish sacramental record books, updates parishioner records, updates the parish website, trouble shoots office technical problems and provides secretarial support for the Pastor and staff. She has many other opportunities to assist others during the course of the day. dkaminski1@ourladygrace.org.
Jennifer Perry, Accountant
Jen and her husband Tim moved to Parkton in 2002. Before working with Our Lady of Grace, Jen spent 15 years in the General Contracting business as a staff accountant/bookkeeper for a variety of companies. She graduated from University of Baltimore in 2002 with a BA in Information Technology. In her spare time, Jen spends time volunteering within 7th District Elementary where her older son, Jensen (8) and younger son, Tanner (5) attend. Jen also volunteers as her sons Den Leader within Cub Scout Pack 468. jperry@ourladygrace.org.
Mary Kioussis, Religious Education Secretary
mkioussis@ourladygrace.org, ext. 114
