I can imagine people stumbling onto this blog and wondering where’s the thread that ties it all together? Well, that’s me, and I’d like to give you, the reader, a framework of how my work and my relationships fit together.
My name is Ryan LeBlanc. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, living the Catholic tradition in the Latin Rite, raising a family of 5 earthly children and one heavenly son with my wife since 2001, and a religious educator. May it please God, I am begun (in 2019) formal discernment of a vocation to the Permanent Diaconate in the Diocese of Saskatoon. I have worked in Catholic education since 2002 and am currently the Catholic Studies Department Head and Acting Lay Chaplain of E.D. Feehan Catholic High School in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
My project is holiness. But as the father of a family and a forming servant of the church, my holiness lies wrapped up in bringing “tools” for growing in holiness to the People of God and the hope of the Gospel message to the world. My mission is conduit, network, evoking, accompanying, wonder and counsel.
I’ve gotta bunch of lovely high school students. I love them and pray for them and serve them Full Time. Especially as I’ve begun Lay Chaplaincy, my mission includes my colleagues who pour out themselves as gift especially to vulnerable and at-risk youth. So I teach courses called Catholic Studies (along with English Language Arts, French as a Second Language, and others on occasion), as well as provide for the spiritual care of the campus, including daily prayer, sacramental celebrations, faith culture of the school and pastoral care of groups and individuals. I do things like Educational Travel, Special Olympics events, youth service coordinating and liaising with communities beyond the school. Like many teachers, I have lots to do!
For a few years now, I have been involved in facilitating professional growth opportunities for adults with a number of organizations. I’ve received great training and great opportunities to put it to use with the Saskatchewan Professional Development Unit which is part of the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation. Besides creating and leading workshops for teachers, I have also led Accreditation Seminars, which are required learning for teachers of Grade 12 subjects. Through this work, I have learned so much about the research behind the best assessment and learning practises and established great working relationships well beyond Catholic education.
It’s been great to bring my knowledge of adult learning back to Catholic ministry through work with the Diocese of Prince Albert and the Archdiocese of Regina. I’ve led multiple sessions with the Deacon Formation in both cities and the Lay Formation Program in Regina. When will I work with the Diocese of Saskatoon? Well, as I’ll be in formation for several years, I might be too busy, but I hold hope that I can bring my skills to share with others developing their ministry.
Finding ways to bring formation and learning to more people is behind an emerging project right now, ThinkCatholic. It’s an online learning platform offering professional growth courses in the Catholic tradition, and I hope to be up and running with it by the end of 2019.
Finally (for now), I have created and launched an original card game, Sister Felicity’s Favourite Saints, a fun way to learn about Catholic saints. Designed with beautiful classic art of each saint, the game itself encourages learning about the saints feast days, patronages and lives, and contains 180 unique facts that you might not have known about your favourite saint!
If you’ve just read this for the first time, please let me know what you think! What would you like to know more about me and these projects I’ve listed? What are your interests and gifts with faith, education, technology?
Thanks for checking in with me, and I ask God’s blessing on you and your relations!