HAMILTON-WENTWORTH CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
HWCDSB Introduces New Adult Faith Animator

The Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board is pleased to introduce our new Adult Faith Animator, Tim Theriault. Tim brings with him a wealth of skills, knowledge, and experience related to theology, spiritual and faith development, and pastoral care/leadership.

Recently, Tim took time to share a bit about himself and what he hopes to bring to the role. You can read the interview below.

What is the purpose of an Adult Faith Animator?

Put simply it is to provide adult faith formation within the Board primarily to teachers and administrators. But I can tell you that there is a strong push among senior admin to expand that formation to many other groups within the Board, which I think is very exciting!

Before accepting this position, you were a pastor at St. Anthony Daniel in Kitchener. What is the benefit of having a positive relationship between school and church?

Yes, previous to this role I was the Pastor of St. Anthony Daniel Parish where, along with the Pastoral Minister there, I worked hard to nurture the relationship we had with our three schools. That positive relationship between parish and school, whether through virtual visits, liturgies, or even just an open-door policy between parish and school staff, can be a complete game changer in terms of collaboration and effective pastoral ministry within the school and the larger parish community.

How will your expertise and experience be used to promote spiritual and faith development opportunities across the system?

My hope is to promote spiritual and faith development through authenticity. I firmly believe that by witnessing our own faith journey (and how that journey very much continues) in an authentic and honest way can be a powerful tool we can use to evangelize and teach. The task is being able to get to that point where we are aware of our relationship with God and can articulate that relationship not only in what we say, but in what we do.

What elements of faith formation are you most passionate about incorporating through your leadership?

There was a saying that often floated around seminary while I was there, "You can't give what you don't have." I believe that is so true when it comes to every aspect of our lives as Catholics, but especially as those working in Catholic education. This means that, fundamentally, faith formation is not so much learning about our faith as encountering our faith. We don't learn about Jesus we encounter Him. So, to answer your question, facilitating that encounter is probably the area of faith formation I am most passionate about.

What unique aspect do you hope to bring to the role?

I think there is nothing but potential within this role, especially in terms of utilizing technology, which is something the pandemic has forced us all to do. In terms of faith formation, though, utilizing technology like our new Twitter account, posting short reflection videos, utilizing Teams to facilitate faith formation all of these are great ways we can reach a larger audience to support those daily moments of ongoing encounters with our faith.

What's one piece of advice/motto that has always stuck with you?

The pastor of the parish I grew up in used to say in his homilies that no one is converted by learning about Jesus in a book, they're only converted by encountering Him. That has rung very true for me in my life and it's definitely how I approach giving witness to my faith and belief: I can only share what I have experienced in the hopes that it might open others to experiencing the Lord in their own way in their own lives. This is the approach that will inform my work as Adult Faith Animator - bringing others to an encounter with the Love of God in Jesus Christ.

Watch Tim's introduction video on Twitter here and be sure to give him a follow!