by Joe Bollig
joe.bollig@theleaven.org
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — After assuming his office on Jan. 15, 2005, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann called the archdiocesan ministry leaders together and asked them to give him their mission statements and commentary about their focus.
He listened patiently to each of them . . . and then shook his head.
“He said, ‘I would encourage each of you to put the actual name of Jesus Christ in your mission statements,’” said Deacon Dana Nearmyer, who was at the meeting. “None of us had that. Archbishop [Naumann] has been very focused from the very beginning, about explicitly using the name of Jesus Christ.”
Archbishop Naumann made it clear from day-one that Jesus was the foundation of his vision for building the kingdom of God spiritually in the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.
“[That meeting was] a real mile marker . . . for me of where we’re going and what we need to do,” said Deacon Nearmyer.
This focus on Jesus Christ has been Archbishop Naumann’s guiding star in his 20 years as chief shepherd. He often urged Catholics to “have a personal relationship with Christ.”
“I would say that Archbishop Naumann has certainly undergirded all of his ministry with a spirituality of service and of love for Christ and others,” said Msgr. Tom Tank, former pastor and vicar general, now senior associate at Holy Spirit Parish in Overland Park. “That truly has been the focus of his overall ministry in the archdiocese.”
Forming the flock
Troy Hinkel, co-founder and director of mission for the Holy Family School of Faith, found a supportive leader and ally in Archbishop Naumann.
He, and co-founder Mike Scherschligt, were part of the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas in 2004, when then- Coadjutor Archbishop Naumann and Archbishop James P. Keleher came for a visit.
“[Archbishop Naumann] said he wanted what was happening there to happen in the archdiocese as a whole,” said Hinkel. “Also, St. James Academy [in Lenexa] was getting underway. He said we need to form teachers in the faith if they are going to succeed in passing it on. Those two things were the impetus in founding the Holy Family School of Faith.”
The Holy Family School of Faith, begun in 2004 — like the Institute of Religious Studies in Atchison before it — helped form all archdiocesan school teachers in the Catholic faith until that job was given over to the Seelos Institute for Catholic Education at Donnelly College in Kansas City, Kansas.
“Archbishop Naumann emphasized that we’re not running a private school system but a Catholic school system, and our first priority is the faith of our children, that they come to know and follow Jesus Christ,” said Father Brian Schieber, archdiocesan vicar general for the past 15 years. “And he wants our teachers to be authentic witnesses of the faith.”
Another major initiative was the Spiritual Mentorship Program begun in 2011. It was a dual effort by the Holy Family School of Faith and the Apostles of the Interior Life, a private association of the faithful.
Archbishop Naumann met one of the Apostles on a bus in Rome. When he learned more about the community, he invited members to the archdiocese to raise up “an army of spiritual mentors” to help people live more prayerful lives.
“So many Catholics had their values subverted by the culture, and relationships have suffered,” said Hinkel. “We realized if we’re going to address this, we have to teach people how to pray and receive the sacraments in a more holy way, and to improve their relationships with others. It fits the archbishop’s vision.”
“The archbishop recognized that we really have to empower the laity to accompany others in discipleship,” said Father Schieber. “Priests and religious cannot handle the demands of spiritual direction for everybody, so he started the Spiritual Mentorship Program. It has borne tremendous fruit in the archdiocese.”
The Holy Family School of Faith took over the Spiritual Mentorship Program, which has about 450 graduates, in 2020. The Apostles left the archdiocese in 2022.
With the support of Archbishop Naumann, the Holy Family School of Faith promoted several programs and events including rosary podcasts, rosary tailgate events and Take Back Sunday events.
“Archbishop Naumann was a true spiritual father and shepherd to his flock,” said Hinkel. “He did what a father does. He gave vision, direction, teaching, protection and love. He’s done it for me, the School of Faith and the archdiocese as a whole.”
Everything everywhere all connected
Everything Archbishop Naumann did for the archdiocese had a spiritual basis.
Often, these things were tied to and supported by other things: rural youth ministry and ReachKCK for the urban youth, marriage and family life programs, evangelization and strengthening of parish life and families through Communio, City on a Hill for young adults (part of Holy Family School of Faith) and religious education programs like Totus Tuus.
“I would say Archbishop Naumann had a vision for the development of the spirituality and overall life of the archdiocese,” said Msgr. Tank, vicar general under Archbishop Keleher and then under Archbishop Naumann from 2005-09.
“He’s accomplished that in a variety of ways, sometimes by initiating new programs and sometimes by being a cheerleader for various programs — Christ Renews His Church, Journey and others. He’s really encouraged a lot of positive things and initiated new things like Encounter, Communio and the Enflame convocation.”
Convocations were held every other year starting in 2011, except for a pause during and following the years of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2012, the one-year faith initiative “Love it, Learn it, Live it” was launched, followed in October 2019 by the biggest and most ambitious evangelization effort of them all: Enflame.
“Those [convocations] have been powerful moments when the church gathered,” said Father Schieber. “They were tremendous outpourings of the Holy Spirit to enliven the faith of the local church and set us on fire for mission. The one that stands out for me was Enflame, the convocation for evangelization.”
Another ambitious and far-reaching effort of Archbishop Naumann was forming the Envisioning Leadership team in 2015, tasked with helping him create the archdiocesan pastoral plan and 10-year mutually shared vision.
The mutually shared vision fleshed out its vision statement, “Growing as disciples of Jesus, making disciples for Jesus.” It had five overall pastoral priorities: conversion, evangelization, all forms of Catholic education, outreach to those in need and, finally, stewardship.
It also had three key initiatives (or super priorities), under which were several goals that were periodically revised.
The first was to “Build a culture of evangelization across the archdiocese”; the second was “Strengthen the vocation of marriage and family life”; and the third was “cultivate relationships by engaging the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.”
“A lot of the archbishop’s work building the kingdom of God have grown from those three super priorities,” said Father Schieber.
The whole church celebrated the Year of Mercy in 2015, but Archbishop Naumann found a way to make it continue as part of his mutually shared vision.
“The archbishop said we don’t want the Year of Mercy to be over and done when it was over,” said Father Schieber. “He said we want to continue to be a church of mercy.”
Archdiocesan parishes have been supportive of overseas missions, but the Year of Mercy inspired him to encourage unity by connecting suburban and urban parishes with a Parish Twinning Program, which is part of the third key initiative or super priority.
Workers for the kingdom
The cultivation of vocations is absolutely necessary for building the kingdom, and Archbishop Naumann encouraged the full range of vocations — for the laity, religious and clerics.
The foundation of the permanent diaconate was laid under Archbishop Keleher, but the first cohort (group) of men in formation began on Feb. 18, 2006, under Archbishop Naumann. These pioneering 17 permanent deacons were ordained on April 9, 2011.
“He was fully supportive,” said Deacon Nearmyer, a member of that first cohort. “He spent a lot of time with that first class. We were figuring things out because we never had permanent deacons. [The] archbishop’s patience, courage and strong direction led our cohort to make a favorable impact. Several cohorts have now been through that process.”
The permanent deacons have been a blessing to the archdiocese through their work in various ministries and apostolates, he said.
“It’s wonderful to assist the priest at the altar, but the most important work a deacon does is outside the walls of the church. . . . [The] archbishop has pushed each of the deacon candidates to find what the Lord is calling him to do and to be salt and light.”
Archbishop Naumann has also brought new communities of religious to the archdiocese, including the Apostles of the Interior Life, the Fraternity the Poor of Jesus Christ, the Community of the Lamb, the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George, the Sisters of St. Anne, the Medical Sisters of St. Joseph and the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary.
“We need more than ever the witness of religious Sisters and Brothers,” said Father Schieber. “The vows they take of poverty, chastity and obedience are a witness in our materialistic age. We need their witness. Each of these communities have different charisms that enrich the church.”
The young want to follow a strong leader, and Archbishop Naumann proved himself to be such a leader, especially in his promotion of vocations to the priesthood. He spent a lot of time getting to know and forming seminarians, going on pilgrimages with them and giving strong support to vocation events.
“Another thing he did was to really strengthen unity in the presbyterate (the corps of archdiocesan priests),” said Father Schieber.
“And he strengthened the bond between the priests and their bishop,” he added. “When he first arrived, he met each priest individually for dinner and a Holy Hour at his residence. For his second round, he invited groups of priests for prayer and dinner.”
Archbishop Naumann accomplished much during his 20 years, and as he turns the archdiocese over to a new archbishop, he does so with his characteristic gratitude and humility.
“Archbishop Naumann is a good shepherd,” said Father Schieber. “He is humble and wise. I say humble because one side of humility is gratitude. I don’t think anyone expresses gratitude more than Archbishop Naumann.
“He was a great collaborator. He’s a wise and good shepherd, and we have been so blessed to have him as our archbishop.”
