Published: October 07, 2007 12:00 am      

Gretchen Murray: Following His Faith

Religious education director takes career leads from God

God has a funny way of putting people where they need to be.

No one knows that more than Casey Truelove.

Truelove is director of religious education at St. Mary of Lake Leelanau School and Parish. It's a job he loves and carries out so well that the Jaycees recognized him in August with their distinguished service award as Michigan's Outstanding Young Religious Leader.

Yet it's a career the 28-year old Traverse City resident never planned on.

Truelove, a 1997 Traverse City St. Francis graduate, entered Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids set on a career as a graphic artist and illustrator. But he faced the same problem many new graduates often do.

"When I moved back to town, I was unsuccessful in finding a job as an artist, and no one was looking for an illustrator," Truelove said.

He pieced together a career by working at his father's T-shirt screening business, and at a downtown frame shop and teaching art lessons. Devoutly religious, Truelove also was noticing that it was just as difficult to hook up with people his own age without it involving the bar scene.

Truelove discussed the need for a social outlet for area young adults with Joanne Willis, the youth pastor at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. She encouraged him start a network for young adults out of high school.

In 2001, Truelove began CYAN, the Christian Young Adult Network, for 18- to 35-year-olds, mostly Catholics, living between Elk Rapids and Leelanau County. The group gets together for weekly prayer, discussion and social activities like disc golf and volleyball.

"It will polarize you," Truelove said, describing the lack of wholesome social outlets for his age group. "It will either discourage you or make you want to generate the opportunities.

"Generally people have a negative view. I wanted to try to make things happen."

In 2003 Truelove started volunteering at Jacob's Well, a nondenominational coffee house in Traverse City where young adults of all faiths gather. There the questions about Catholic rituals often came up.

"One of the shocks in my life was transferring from an entire life in Catholic school to a secular college. I have made many non-Catholic friends and there have been many times where my beliefs have gotten challenged by those friends," he said. "I started to do research to defend my positions, and the 'what' of my faith was suddenly solidified by the 'why.'

"The more I learned, the better I was able to share the richness and beauty of the Catholic Church and her doctrines with others."

Truelove also was volunteering as a student director with Grand Traverse Area Right to Life when a member gave him a tip about two job openings at St. Mary's -- a religious education teacher at the high school level and director of religious education.

He hesitantly threw his resume in for the director job at the last minute. With his degree in fine arts, he never thought they would go for someone self taught and with no related credentials.

A month went by without a word until Fr. Jerry Hunko, at that time the pastor at St. Mary's, came in to DeYoung's art store, where Truelove was working.

"Fr. Hunko told me my resume had been sitting on his desk. In fact, it was the only one he received for the director's position," Truelove recalled. "Fr. Hunko said, 'God works in strange ways. We'll take a chance.'"

Truelove started work in October 2004 while taking classes through the Diocese of Gaylord's Center for Catholic Studies. He'll complete his certification requirements in religious education in about a year.

In the interim, Truelove is busy organizing and facilitating all of the classes the church offers, from catechism to adult education. He says the church gave him an open job description.

"Fr. Jerry wanted me to be an influence on the kids in school -- be a presence. Whatever they need me for, I'm around," he said.

So far he has initiated adult education programs including a whole community cathechesis that meets each Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. for a pot luck dinner and discussion open to everyone in the community, not just Catholics. He also organizes a class for those interested in becoming Catholic.

"When I first got the job, there was a big shift in Catholic education to community and adult education. Many Catholics have a tendency to stop religion classes after they complete them in either grade school or high school. They don't pursue further faith education, but this is when they should. For me, it wasn't until I was out of school and challenged by those 'why' questions that I wanted to learn more."

Truelove hasn't totally put his art work aside, but feels that he's finally grown into the right career for him.

"I feel I was pulled into this by God," Truelove said. "We really never know what God wants us to do with our lives, but if we're open to Him, we're more apt to do what God wants."