A father's faith journey to Deacon
Oct. 15—PLATTSBURGH — The Most Rev. Terry Lavalley, Bishop of Ogdensburg, approached Deacon James Carlin at one of his Deaconate Program classes a year ago.
"He said, 'What do you think about the opportunity to be ordained with your son?'" Carlin said.
"I was blown away by that. For that to have happened, a million things have to be in the right place at the right time. We honestly, Leagon and I, our paths got to where we got the deaconate were very different. The way he came to his faith and the way I came to my faith. To have those two intersect at this one particular day was just absolutely amazing. I wouldn't say coincidence because I don't think anything with God is a coincidence. It was an amazing event."
HOW HE GOT THERE
James was #6, his twin and two-minute older sister, Mary, #5, of seven children of Stuart and Beryl Carlin, an Air Force family that lived on the former Plattsburgh Air Force Base before relocating to Cumberland Head.
James arrived in the North Country for kindergarten, and his first communion and confirmation was at the recently razed St. Mary's of the Lake Church.
He graduated from Beekmantown Central School, Class of 1981 and attended SUNY Plattsburgh, where he majored in political science and history.
He and his wife, the former Beth Leagon, are the parents of three — Sarah, John and Leagon — and grandparents of three — Colin, Addison, and Lucy.
"Leagon is the last male that they know of in my wife's family," James said.
"We decided we would give him that name so he could carry that name on for at least one more generation."
A year after Stuart passed away in 1989, James and his family moved back to the North Country where they have attended St. Peter's Church, now part of Holy Cross Parish, for 26 years.
TURNING POINT
James owns Centennial Abstract Company, a title insurance company, with offices in Plattsburgh, Malone and Elizabethtown.
His civic pursuits have included Lions Club, Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity — all part of the process that led to his Oct. 9 ordination.
In 2008, James felt a call to do something a little different.
"I went on my first mission trip with the North Country Mission of Hope," he said.
"That is where I strongly felt the call to do something more within my faith. Several instances there, it came up several opportunities there that I had to witness faith in action and witness people with just true faith.
"They really had nothing else to keep their lives going except their faith. That made a huge impression on me."
Since then, James has returned to Nicaragua 19 times total, and is in his third term as the mission's president.
"Within that, I felt the call to do something more," he said.
"My faith was enhanced. So then, it began a discernment period of time."
LEAP OF FAITH
At St. Peter's, opportunities came up to work on different committees in the church and work through the church as a rector and Eucharistic minister.
"About six, seven years ago, there was an opportunity to take courses to become a commissioned lay minister, which is a two-year program through the Diocese," he said.
"In that process, you learn more scripture. You learn more about the church itself. You learn more about the history of what the Catholic Church has meant to the United States and the world."
While pursuing those studies, James learned more about the Deaconate Program.
"In that with conversations with my pastor and other gentlemen who were in the program with me and former pastors, I decided I would like to at least apply for it," he said.
Five years ago September, James started the program which included psychological examinations to ensure he was the right fit.
The four-year program included a lot of academics and practical work.
"How to work in the church, how to work with people, a lot of theological studies, a lot of Bible studies to understand why as Catholics we believe what we believe, why as Catholics we do what we do, and a lot of work on prayer and relationship with Christ," he said.
FAST FORWARD
In one way, it was tough for James to watch his friends/peers' ordination Oct. 2 at St. Mary's Cathedral in Ogdensburg.
"Not to be a part of that was difficult at the time," he said.
"As Leagon's and my ordination day approached, as a person being ordained, I was nervous and excited and looking forward to this next phase of what God would bring me to," James said.
"But as a father, I was in awe of what my son was doing. It's a very different way to look at the exact same event as a parent, to watch your child go through that and to understand it because I'm going through it myself, understand the commitment that he is making, to understand the effect that it's going to have on his life and the people that he touches from this point forward."
HISTORIC FIRST
James was also nervous because he understood the implications for himself and on his life as well.
"It was a beautiful day, and nerve wracking at the same time," he said.
"It was good. Leagon would have been ordained in May of this year. So, he waited a lot longer than I did to do it, which I was thankful for. He's been back in school since the end of August. All of his classmates in the fourth year of school, upper seminary, were all ordained, most of them, in May. He was the only one in his class that wasn't a deacon. He gave up quite a bit to have that day with me."
The last ordination ceremony at St. Peter's was in 1942.
"When the Oblates, who were the founders of our church, they ordained two Catholic priests," James said.
"Again to my understanding, they never had a father and son ordained deacons at the same time in our Diocese. So, that was very special."
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Twitter:@RobinCaudell
EDITOR'S NOTE:
"A Father's Faith Journey" is the first installment of a two-part series chronicling the recent ordination of Deacons James Carlin and Deacon Leagon Carlin, who are the first father-son duo to be ordained in the Diocese of Ogdensburg.
Next week: "A Son's Faith Journey."
