The diocese has hosted about two speed dating events a year for the last few years, most recently on Feb. 14 this year. The events are sponsored in part by the Diocesan Services Appeal (DSA). 

Before speaking at one of the events, Erin said she read the Gospel to prepare. The passage she read was the story of Jesus telling his disciples to cast their nets into the water again after having fished all night and not caught a thing.

“I was reflecting on it as an analogy for dating,” she says. “The disciples might have been thinking: ‘There are no fish. I’m exhausted, and I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to keep trying.’ But Jesus says, ‘Cast your net,’ and you have to trust in him and trust that he has a plan and that it’s good.”

The Parkers, both raised in Michigan, make their home in Fowlerville. Erin studied plant pathology at Michigan State University and worked in Northern Michigan for a while before moving back to the Lansing area. She works part-time at the couple’s parish, St. Agnes in Fowlerville. Scott works as a data analyst at Pratt & Whitney in Lansing. 

Several years ago, both were single, working, and not actively participating in the dating scene, Scott says. His mom mentioned the speed dating event to him, and he decided to go. One of Erin’s friends, who helps organize the events, asked her to come along to help set up.

“We were there early and set things up and I was a nervous wreck,” Erin says. “The whole day as it got closer, I was getting more and more nervous.”

As the pre-speed-dating meal and social hour portion of the event got going, Erin says she was standing at the edge of the room. 

“I just had this sudden thought, which was definitely the Holy Spirit, which was: ‘You can stay here, this is your comfort zone, but that’s not why you came here,’” she says. “I felt very convicted, so I went to the bathroom and hyped myself up. Then, the Holy Spirit again said, ‘Now you have to sit down, but you can’t sit where there’s nobody else, go sit with people.’”

Erin saw a seat next to a “really handsome guy,” who turned out to be Scott. 

The two began talking and soon realized that not only did they share a love of the card game cribbage, but they also had mutual friends from MSU and Erin’s time at Emmaus House, a community home for women discerning religious life. 

Soon after, the official speed dating began, but the Parkers say they just wanted to talk to each other. 

“He pretty quickly asked me out, which is not really how the rules work,” Erin says. The next day, they met with some friends to play cribbage. 

A few months later, in June 2024, Scott proposed during a walk on his family’s farm in Fowlerville. 

Now married for a year, the Parkers happily share their story, noting that events like the one they met at allow someone seeking marriage a chance to meet someone who shares their Catholic faith. If nothing else, they say, it’s a smart, practical step in the process of discerning marriage.

“There’s not really a better option to talk to people who are specifically interested in marriage,” Scott says. “You’re not there randomly. People are making an intentional decision to do this and that’s a relief.”

Erin agrees, saying, “It’s a unique experience, but it’s also a relief knowing we’re all on the same page, we’re all serious about this.”

Both Parkers say they are grateful to the diocese and the DSA’s support of events like speed dating, because it creates a safe and faith-centered environment for Catholics who are serious about looking for a spouse.

“Marriage is something where the Church has the opportunity to set the record straight, because society has abandoned it,” Scott says. “This is the time that the sanctity of marriage can shine through and to do that, there has to be a ministry for it. This helps with that first step. I felt encouraged that there was a speed dating event because there’s a sense of support [for dating]. It’s so easy to fall into despondency, but here’s something real.”