Dear St. Mary,

After almost a year and a half of wrestling and discerning with the Lord, I have come to the recognition that God is calling me to leave my position as Director of Youth Ministry. I am not leaving because of issues or anything of that sort. Actually, ministry is great and I really love our staff and priests, especially Fr. Mosimann. So, why am I leaving? Well, God has made it clear to me that I have done as much as I can here at St. Mary and it is time to hand this program over to someone who will take it to the next level. It is an incredibly humbling thing to hear God say, “You have done all you can.” I didn’t necessarily accept this at first, but as I entered into discernment I recognized this was the right thing. I am glad to see that, through the Lord’s grace, I have done everything in my power to make this Youth Ministry program a great one. I am even more excited to know that God has someone else in mind to make it even greater.

Even though I had not gone to a single job interview, I approached Fr. Mosimann in January and told him about my discernment. Father was sad to hear the news, but was amazingly supportive. “I’ll have you as long as I can” was his response. I am very grateful for Fr. Mosimann’s willingness to work with me and my family’s needs for the last several months as I searched for a new job. Many are curious as to where I am going next. I have accepted a job as a government contractor with a company in Dahlgren, VA. The plan is to start there in early June.

The last 10 years have been an incredible journey for me and for our Youth Ministry program. We have gone from a tiny 10-person youth group to a massive program with multiple youth groupings, serving hundreds of students year round. It has been an amazing decade! I have really loved my time here. I have had the privilege and honor to be part of some of your families’ most memorable and difficult moments. I have laughed and cried with you. There are just no words to convey how grateful I am for my time here.

My family and I are staying in the area, so we will continue to attend St. Mary.

In the last several months, I’ve been working behind the scenes reaching out to folks whom I think may meet the needs of our youth ministry program. We will post the job description with application instructions on the Diocesan site as well as other Youth Ministry job boards. We hope to have someone in place by the end of June/beginning of July. Our Youth Program is pretty special and extensive, so we are looking for a very specific person to direct it. We are blessed to have Tatiana Beltran, the Assistant Director of Youth Ministry to help facilitate this transition.

Thanks again, St. Mary for an amazing 10 years! Looking forward to ten more as a member of this great parish.

Leo Chavarria