Matt Gwynn
Age: 58
Parish: St. Paul, Olathe
Occupation: Johnson County Community College interpreter service coordinator
What’s in your toolkit? Relationships and connections established through years of work and friendship
What is your Catholic superpower? The ability to bring some former Catholic deaf people to renew their faith again and share sign language accessible to all Catholic parishes
Before the convocation
Matt Gwynn was invited by his pastor to represent St. Paul’s deaf community as part of its parish delegation to the convocation. He was a good choice, because he likes to help deaf Catholics return to and renew their faith.
His own faith, in turn, led him to accept the invitation. But it was also the influence of his wife that led him to say “yes.”
“My wife’s constant faith and devotion to the rosary have always been there for me,” said Gwynn. “But joining St. Luke’s Bible Study Group has inspired me to renew my own faith.”
What will make the convocation a success for him?
“To gain a better understanding of how to engage others in discussions of spirituality and the faith as a deaf man,” he said.
What he hopes to bring back to his parish is optimism and hope for others.
“I had changed my attitude to be more optimistic toward the Catholic Church,” he said. “My hope is to convince and encourage all deaf and hard-of-hearing people who claim to be Catholic, but demonstrate the opposite with their absence from the parish.
“I want them to find a place for the church in their lives and priorities.”
After the convocation
What are the top things you’d like to see done at your parish in regard to evangelization?
For deaf ministry, we need to go out and be visible among deaf communities such as at coffee chat with small groups. Secondly, we need to encourage our local deaf parishioners to go out and volunteer by doing community services such as providing food and serving hungry and poor people.
