That’s how David Kerr, director of communications for the Diocese of Lansing, describes the deluge of inspiring stories that comes the way of his department every week.

“All across our diocese, there are so many good people doing so many great things for the love of Jesus Christ and his Holy Church. Priests, deacons, religious, teachers, parish staff, volunteers, and thousands of lay folk pursuing holiness in the home and out in the world,” explains David.

“To be able to tell their stories and, in doing so, help draw souls closer to God, is a daily privilege for our department. We are very blessed.”

The apostolic work of the five-person Diocese of Lansing Communications Department is funded by your generosity to the Diocesan Services Appeal (DSA). Thank you! 

Over recent years, the department has embraced new ways of communicating the gospel — while also holding fast to methods tried and true. This includes: 

Print: FAITH Magazine, the official publication of the Diocese of Lansing, which is delivered to over 60,000 homes.

Direct E-mail: Bishop Boyea’s Friday Memo is now in its sixth year and is delivered to over 50,000 subscribers every week.

News and social media: The Diocese of Lansing is increasingly present across a range of digital platforms, including 21,000 followers on Facebook and 13,000 subscribers on YouTube.

“Across all platforms, our message remains the same,” says Michelle Hildebrandt, creative services manager, “that is, to present the person of Jesus Christ and his Holy Church to all those who live within the bounds of the Diocese of Lansing — not merely Catholics — and to do so in a way that is intellectually coherent, culturally credible, and socially compassionate.” Michelle is herself a convert to Catholicism.

This approach has not gone unnoticed by others, with the Diocese of Lansing winning a record-breaking 18 awards for communications and multimedia work in 2023, as well as six awards for print work in FAITH Magazine. Further awards have followed in the years since.

“A great deal of credit for what has been achieved has to go to Bishop Boyea himself,” says Matt Riedl, the communication department’s senior multimedia producer.

“For many years now, he has taken it upon himself to lead from the front and to embrace modern communications as a means of directly teaching his flock about the things of God.”

Most recently, Bishop Boyea wrote and presented a 52-week-long series entitled Be My Witnesses. Its aim was to help more Catholics be more apostolic in daily life with family, friends, and work colleagues. The series had over 58,000 subscribers via both e-mail and text. Meanwhile, the accompanying weekly videos on YouTube garnered more than 174,000 views. The series was also carried by Ascension Press on their popular app.

“It’s my job to film each weekly installment,” adds Michael, “and, certainly speaking for myself, I know that I have personally learned so much from Bishop Boyea, who has a wonderful ability to teach even the densest of topics in a way that is always very clear and very compelling.”

And then there’s FAITH Magazine. Founded 26 years ago by the late Father Charles Irvin (1933-2021) at the behest of the late Bishop Carl Mengeling (1930-2025). May God rest them both. Since then, FAITH has continued to tell very personal stories that are directly delivered to homes across the 10 counties of the Diocese of Lansing.

“The FAITH formula remains both simple and powerful and, by all accounts, popular,” explains magazine editor Sean O’Neill. “We aspire to tell stories of how the grace of God works through ordinary Catholics to achieve extraordinary things in everyday life.”

Imitation being the greatest form of flattery, it’s a model of diocesan magazine that has since been copied by many other dioceses throughout the country.

“By the grace of God, these are remarkable times for the Church in the United States with a year-on-year increase in the number of converts, including in our own diocese,” says Sean, “which also means these are pivotal and privileged days for Catholic communicators — but we can only do our job with the help of funding from the likes of the Diocesan Services Appeal. Hence, may God bless all who give so generously to the DSA.”