Deacon Kevin Dansereau wasn’t intent on taking an office job
straight out of college. After graduating with a degree in
technical and scientific communications from James Madison
University in Harrisonburg, he applied for the Peace Corps.
But it wasn’t until he arrived in a rural town in Niger that
he learned his assignment would involve teaching
contraceptive use.
“I couldn’t do it,” said Deacon Dansereau, who grew up
attending Holy Spirit Church in Annandale.
After a month in Africa, Deacon Dansereau returned to
Northern Virginia and took a job as a technical writer in
Manassas, where he wrote international trade documents.
Around the same time, he began coaching baseball, which
encouraged him to go back to school for his teaching license
in special education.
“But priesthood was knocking on my door,” he said.
Instead of completing his license, Deacon Dansereau went to
help work on his brother’s house in Maine. A Cursillo retreat
there inspired him to apply to Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in
Emmitsburg, Md., where he has studied for the past six years.
Concentrating in Scripture, he went to Guatemala for a summer
to study Spanish, which he said gave him a chance to witness
the universal church.
Deacon Dansereau has been serving as a transitional deacon at
St. Philip the Apostle Church in Falls Church. Humbled by the
various pastors who have mentored him during his time in
seminary, he looks forward to becoming a priest.
“It’s really about bringing Jesus Christ to people,
especially in Mass,” he said.
Stoddard can be reached at [email protected].
