In top photo: Terry Ginther engages in conversation during a 2016 Faith In Our Future meeting in which all parishes of the Diocese were challenged to look at new and different ways to carry out their ministries. Joe Moore photo
By Mary Stadnyk | Associate Editor
For 30 years, Terry Ginther has been a prominent leader in the Church of Trenton, serving in many capacities on both parish and diocesan levels.
And if there’s one thing she’s learned it’s that “No matter how much you think you know, God has a better idea. God is in charge.”
“When you force your own opinion or idea on the Church, it never goes well,” Ginther said. “But when you catch a glimpse of what God is doing in the Church and you find ways to work with it, it’s amazing to see what happens.”
On July 2, Ginther will retire, bringing to a close her roles as diocesan chancellor, of which she holds the distinction of being the first woman and second layperson to serve in the Diocese’s now 145-year history, and as executive director of the Office of Pastoral Life and Mission.
“For 30 years, the Diocese and its parishes have been wonderfully served by Mrs. Terry Ginther in her various pastoral roles, most recently as executive director of Pastoral Life and Mission and Chancellor of the Diocese,” Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., said. “For over half that time, as Bishop, I have depended upon and benefited from her vast experience, wisdom and counsel.”
“As she retires, I could not possibly express my gratitude to her sufficiently. I cannot imagine administering the Diocese without her ‘at the table,’” he said. “I will miss her greatly as she begins a new chapter in her life. May she enjoy all the blessings she richly deserves!”
Out of Left Field
Ginther’s interest and background in the Catholic faith was gradual. As a child, she was raised Catholic and attended Mass regularly. In high school, she participated in youth group activities. But while attending the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Va., where she majored in business administration, she “came to have a personal relationship with Christ” and “a whole new participation in the life and mission of the Church.” She was involved in an intercollegiate Encounter with Christ Retreat program; coordinated Christian Formation for the school’s Catholic Student Association; participated in the early day of implementation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, and campus ministry.
Her introduction to working in full-time ministry in the Church, however, came unexpectedly in the mid-1990s. She was content managing a household with her husband, caring for their two small children, working in a dentist’s office and volunteering in her parish, St. Mary of the Lake, Lakewood, as the RCIA coordinator. It was with the arrival of the new pastor, Msgr. Michael Walsh, and his invitation to become a fulltime pastoral associate, that opened up a new world for her.
Ginther was both intrigued by the offer but was also uncertain especially since at the time there were few married laywomen in fulltime ministry roles.
She accepted the position and to this day credits Msgr. Walsh as a “wonderful mentor and supportive leader.”
Ginther also acknowledgesFather Jeff Lee, who “has been unfailingly encouraging of my vocation to lay ecclesial ministry.” During the time that she and Father Lee served together in St. Mary of the Lake Parish, she said that “Father Jeff would tell me that ‘the Church needs people like you.’ He also challenged me intellectually, he answered my questions with textbooks and conversation; he mentored me in liturgical studies and in ecumenical texts, and he believed I could enter graduate studies and complete them successfully.” She earned a master’s degree in pastoral ministry in 2000 from Caldwell College, a university run by the Dominican Sisters of Caldwell.
Father Lee, now pastor of St. Mary, Colts Neck, “has been a generous friend and encouraged me all along my journey,” she said. “There were only a few positions in fulltime ministry traditionally open to lay people such as Catholic school principals and parish directors of religious education. In many ways the work I was doing at the parish was totally new.”
Diocesan Trailblazer
Ginther’s work on a diocesan level began in 2002 when she became an associate director in the then-Office of Religious Education. In 2007, she was named director of pastoral planning, and in 2011, Bishop O’Connell appointed her to the Diocesan Curia as executive director of Pastoral Life and Mission. As executive director, she oversees the Departments of Catechesis, Pastoral Planning, Youth and Young Adult Ministries, Evangelization and Family Life, as well as Hispanic and Multicultural Ministry, Jail and Prison Ministry, Pastoral Care Ministry; Campus Ministry, Retreat Houses and Lay Associations.
Over the years, Ginther has succeeded in spearheading many major projects that were both transformative and synonymous with her work. Among them are guiding the development of “Led By the Spirit – A Pastoral Plan for the Diocese of Trenton” from 2007-2009, an initiative promulgated by Bishop John M. Smith that introduced “broad-based online surveys and regional consultation to determine the priorities about which people felt most strongly,” she said.
In 2014-2015, Ginther coordinated committees that created the Plan for Ministry Among Spanish-speaking Catholics as well as the Plan for Strengthening Marriages in the Diocese, which organized priorities to address in years to follow.
In 2015, Ginther worked alongside Msgr. Leonard Troiano on leading Faith in Our Future, a five- year initiative inaugurated by Bishop O’Connell designed to strengthen and enliven parishes.
Of her 2017 appointment as the first woman chancellor for the Diocese, Ginther said she sees it as part of Bishop O’Connell’s vision for the Diocese. After becoming diocesan Bishop in 2010, he formed a “Curia,” a team of people made up of clergy, religious, lay men and women to work closely with him in the administration of the Diocese. The Bishop made it known that he was looking to include perspectives of women in that leadership team.
“My experience has been that my leadership style is different as a woman. I hope it’s been a good contribution and has provided a balance to the more direct and purposely instructional leadership of men in the Church,” she said.
Of her overall service to the Diocese, Ginther is most proud of “the sense of relationship” she tried to build into the culture of the Diocese.
“My style of leadership in all of the ministries I worked in has been relationship driven.”
Terry’s retiring but…
After July 2, Ginther looks forward to not having the over 80 or so-mile roundtrip commute from her home in Wall Township to the Diocese in Lawrenceville and setting aside her many and demanding job responsibilities.
She looks forward to maintaining some connection with ministry work as she prepares at Francis House of Prayer in Allentown to become a spiritual director.
“I hope to offer some days each month to help those who would like to deepen their prayer life to do so,” she said. “It is a ministry that has helped me to mature in my faith. You might say I hear a call to return to the ministry of accompaniment where I started.”
Ginther also plans to tackle a lengthy to-do list that ranges from practical tasks like cleaning out her basement to more enjoyable and interesting things like: puttering in her garden; taking daily walks; traveling, and being she’s a Jersey Shore resident, going to the beach often – even in the winter. She’s also going to focus on the titles that gives her the most joy – being “wife” to her husband, Adam; “Mom” to Nicholas and Katy; “Nonni” to her two young grandchildren, and “Friend” to many.
“Beyond that,” she said, “we’ll see what surprises God has in store for me.”
Let’s Celebrate Terry!
Co-workers, friends and family members are invited to celebrate her retirement during a Mass with Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., on June 25 at 4:30 p.m. in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, 61 Georgia Rd., Freehold. An invitation-only reception will follow in the parish hall.