WASHINGTON, DC — His Excellency, the Most Reverend Timothy P. Broglio, J.C.D., Archbishop for the Military Services, USA, on Friday commissioned five new members of Team Saint Paul, an apostolate sending civilian young adults to accompany peers in the U.S. armed forces where they serve on their journeys of faith. “With the help of God, I am ready and willing to serve,” said all five: Evan Firman, Audrey Moore, Nafas Nafasshoev, Kieran Stack, and Angela Vu. The commissioning took place at noon Mass in the main chapel of the Edwin Cardinal O’Brien Pastoral Center in the Nation’s Capital, home base of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS). For the coming year at least, Mr. Firman and Mr. Nafasshoev will be stationed at Fort Campbell in Kentucky; Ms. Moore, Ms. Vu, and Ms. Stack at Travis Air Force Base (AFB) in California. As part of their service to the Church, all will take responsibility for raising funds to support themselves and their ministry.
Archbishop Broglio established Team Saint Paul in 2021 to encounter military young adults on their home turf, encouraging them to live out the baptismal call to discipleship and evangelization. Outgoing team member Juliana Gahr, 24, who spent the past two years ministering to airmen and women at Travis AFB, says the spiritual accompaniment takes on many forms: “Everything from weekly adoration, to Bible studies—focusing on faith formation—to also community-building opportunities; so, camping trips, movie nights, game nights, and bonfires, and really just keeping Christ at the center and having wholesome community, and reminding people that even if they’re Catholic and they haven’t been to Mass in several years but they may have been raised Catholic, or even if they don’t have a relationship with Our Lord, they’re still welcome, and the community is for them as well.”
Incoming team member Evan Firman, 22, expects to build on the organizational foundation laid by his Team Saint Paul predecessors at Fort Campbell. “Over the past couple of years, because of a lot of the work of Team Saint Paul, and of the graces of the Holy Spirit, and the priests on base, there has been a growing young adult community,” he says. He believes the current crop of soldiers is ripe for the call to build a holier life. “My expectation,” he says, “whether I’m right or wrong, is I’m jumping into a community that is searching for something. Young adults all across the country—I’m sure we’ve all seen articles about people in Gen Z searching for the faith—and there’s been an increase, a rise in people my age who are coming back to the Church, who are looking for something spiritual or religious, whatever that might be. So, with what’s been established, I think there’s going to be more to come because people are looking for something and we can help them find that.”
The commissioning followed two weeks of training, where AMS Associate Director for Missionary Discipleship McKenzie Mauss and Team Saint Paul Coordinator Sarah Robertson guided the new members through reflections, prayer, the celebration of Mass and Holy Hours, and coordinated presentations and discussions on what the new team members can expect as they embark on their new mission. “The training was extremely impactful and formative for me,” Ms. Moore, 31, said. “Not only did we get a lot of theological substance. We got a lot of really good examples of what it will look like to tell our stories, what it will mean to evangelize others. We got a lot of tactical, practical day-to-day training.” Mr. Nafasshoev, 29, an active-duty U.S. Army staff sergeant who is transitioning out of the service through the Department of Defense (DOD) SkillBridge program, said the training provided the opportunity “first and foremost to help me get close to Christ through all of the experiences and the stories that I heard.” He added, “I’m going to do my best to take that experience and bring it to Fort Campbell, to the soldiers’ families so I can help them get close to Christ.”
Ms. Mauss and Ms. Robertson, under the direction of AMS Vice-Chancellor for Evangelization Mark Moitoza, Th.D, D. Min, will stay in touch with the Team Saint Paul members, providing advice and direction as they pursue their ministry of accompaniment to those who serve. Meanwhile, the AMS Office of Evangelization continues to accept applications for prospective future team members. Anyone interested in joining Team Saint Paul, or providing support for the apostolate, may find more information at milarch.org/team-saint-paul.