A Responsibility Before God
by Molly Mulqueen
MOSAIC, Summer 2010

In 2002, Lawrence Toth left a high powered career in the corporate world for a job that was higher powered: business manager of St. Columban Parish in Birmingham. The pastor offered him the job, at one quarter his previous salary, after he took a buyout package from his employer during the business downturn precipitated by the events of 9/11.

Lawrence went from working as a general manager on major projects for a subsidiary of MichCon (one example: he oversaw the construction of the power plant at McNamara Terminal at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport) to being part of a small team of administrators at St. Columban.

"The transition was a growth experience for me," Lawrence recalls. "I went from a very large organization, in which the job duties were highly specified, to a parish that had five employees. We wore whatever hat we had to wear to keep things working."

Although this move was a significant professional change, it was not exactly a quantum leap, because Lawrence is the kind of person who approaches every venture as a ministry—God has always been his CEO. He spent time in the seminary in the 1970s before discerning the priesthood was not his vocation. He also began formation as a Secular Franciscan in the 1980s, and says that experience helps him to see his work "from the incarnational perspective of St. Francis of Assisi. That means being a responsible steward of the resources entrusted to me and treating those I supervise with dignity and respect."

While he was working at St. Columban, Lawrence began studying for the permanent diaconate at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, something he had considered for years but did not want to pursue at the expense of time with his wife and four children. But in 2003, the time was right. His pastor at St. Columban, Fr. Syl Taube, allowed him the flexibility in his work schedule to attend classes and study.

During diaconate formation, Lawrence became a Eucharistic minister for the first time in his life. It has become a part of the job he truly cherishes and considers a great blessing.

"Since I began regularly distributing Holy Communion at Mass, sometimes I get choked up when I see the holiness of people coming forward to receive. What a blessed moment!"

Lawrence moved in 2005 to the position of business manager at St. Valentine Parish in Redford. He received his Master in Pastoral Studies degree from Sacred Heart in 2008. That same year, he was ordained a permanent deacon and was assigned to St. Valentine. While his work week is not quite the 80-hours-plus-travel he often endured in the corporate world, Deacon Lawrence Toth leads a busy life of service, working under Fr. Paul Coutinha, SAC. He is the business manager, deacon, works in adult faith formation (RCIA, baptisms and assisting with marriage preparation), and handles finance and payroll for St. Valentine's elementary school.

"People sometimes think that now I am free from the strife and anxiety in the secular business world. If you think that, don't come to work for the Church," Deacon Lawrence jokes.

But clearly for Deacon Lawrence, working for the Church is rewarding in ways that the corporate world could not match.

"I do get a particular joy out of getting the administrative finances operating well and running like a welloiled machine," Deacon Lawrence says. "When I reconcile bank statements and run reports, it is very comforting to know that everyone in parish governance is working well together."

His pastoral work as a deacon he calls a deep "responsibility before God," especially accompanying catechumens on the journey to being initiated into the Church.

"I get to witness the transformation from anxiety to peace, from seeking to finding. It is a great honor I sometimes can't believe."