News

Attorney moves from practicing law
to practicing ministry

By Betsy Foley

	EVANGELIZERS: Dcn. Mike Grzeca and Patti Christensen check the lectionary for Mass readings as part of their duties in the diocesan department of Evangelization and Worship, which Dcn. Grzeca heads. (Rick Evans photo)
	Graduate studies Information about St. Norbert's master's of theological studies program can be found at www.snc.edu/mts, by e-mailing theolstudy@snc.edu, or calling (920)403-3957.

Six years ago, after 25 years as a practicing trial lawyer, Mike Grzeca presided as a Brown County Circuit Court judge.

Today, he's a deacon and a full-time administrator with the Green Bay Diocese, where he is director of Evangelization and Worship.

What prompted Dcn. Grzeca to move from courtroom to ordained service in the church? He was, after all, making a good living as a trial lawyer. Why give it up?

For one thing, he didn't like the "emotionally corrosive effect" the work had on him, he said. The "I'm-right-you're-wrong" advocacy position - often accompanied by hostility, anger, and defensiveness - affected him.

Even before his circuit court appointment in 1999, he grappled with a prevailing sense of unease, a feeling that there was "something else out there."

It led him on a journey that was as much "conversion" as evolutionary process, as much spiritual as it was professional, he said. And it didn't happen overnight.

He entered a diocesan diaconate training program in 1997, not certain where it might take him. By July 2000 when he left the court, he knew he did not want to return to trial law.

Instead, Grzeca began building a mediation practice that better suited his temperament as he continued to prepare for the diaconate, he said.

Still, unsure what the future held for him as a deacon, he struggled with the implications of giving up a law practice which provided a "pretty decent living."

The transition was not without risks, said Dcn. Grzeca, who has been married for 36 years and has two adult daughters and two grandchildren. But one thing was clear: He wanted a closer relationship with God.

It was "a slow, gradual, evolutionary process," he said. Along the way, things happened that he could only see as the grace of God in his life.

"Those things kind of open your mind and make you ask, 'What's going on here; I have to pay attention to what I'm seeing, what I'm hearing, and what I'm feeling and trust in God and see where this thing goes,'" he said.

A spiritual director helped him through the "in-between" times.

After he was ordained a deacon in 2001, he became involved in parish work and was hired part-time in 2003 at Resurrection Parish, Green Bay. And the Marquette University Law School graduate still maintains his license to practice law, specializing in mediation.

End of story? Not yet.

The new deacon's spiritual and professional journey continued with "a felt need to expand upon earlier training" he received in the diocesan Commissioned Ministry Program for Lay People.

"It whetted my appetite and I wanted more," Dcn. Grzeca said. That led him to St. Norbert College's graduate program in theological studies.

"With a master's degree in theology..., there's much more that can be done in the church," Dcn. Grzeca said. "And the church encourages that. They want more people to have that background if they can."

"As soon as I looked at the course listings I thought, 'This sounds great!'" His undergraduate studies at Marquette - during Vatican II - included some theology courses but, with the exception of the lay ministry classes, he'd had no religious studies since college.

Dr. Howard Ebert, who directs the St. Norbert program, assured Dcn. Grzeca that the program's requirements were flexible and "do-able," because the program is designed for working people. Participants can take up to eight years to complete the program.

"Barring catastrophe, there's no way I'm taking eight years," Dcn. Grzeca decided, "because I want to move ahead ... and get this degree."

He completed the program in two years, taking several courses each semester, and graduated in spring 2005. The graduate degree qualified him for his present job which "by the grace of God" opened up just three months later.

"Obtaining this degree was worth every paper written and book read. I gained so much more depth and context for understanding the church.... Every course was pertinent and helpful. Every class opened new vistas of information I would not otherwise have been aware of."

Both the information and the understanding have "served me many times in my current position," Dcn. Grzeca said. He also praised the faculty for their competence and support.

The program is not just for those needing the degree for a job requirement, Dcn. Grzeca said. "A person can take the courses for a certification or even just audit them on a trial basis...." He recommends it "to anyone who seeks to learn more about the Catholic faith and the background to much of what we believe and do today."

Participants take required core courses, then pursue specific tracks of their own choosing. Dcn. Grzeca opted for pastoral ministry. Since he graduated, the college has revamped and expanded the program. "It was good while I was there," he said, "but better now.

Though no longer employed at Resurrection, Dcn. Grzeca continues to rotate weekend duties at the parish with two other deacons and occasionally conducts programs in spirituality.

He looks back on his transition with no regrets. What he does now, he said, allows him to be more human, more spiritual. And it provides an environment where he can practice his faith on the job in ways not possible in the business world.

A crucifix on his office wall, for example, and a meeting later that morning held in a conference room with the crucifix and Bible in full view would begin with prayer.

Taken together, they ask the question, "Why are we here?" It's a freeing environment not regarded with suspicion as it might be in the business world, Dcn. Grzeca said.

(Foley is a Green Bay writer and former director of communications at St. Norbert College.)