Joe Swiss to Join Division of Religious Education

Carol Augustine, Director of the Division of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of Baltimore has announced that Joe Swiss has been hired as the Coordinator of Catechist Formation and Leadership Development, effective July 1.

In his new job at the Catholic Center in Baltimore, Joe will be responsible for the training and certification of catechists in parishes and Catholic schools, as well as overseeing the leadership training of A/C/DREs for the entire Archdiocese.

This new job comes to Joe after 11 years’ service as the Director of Religious Education for St. John the Evangelist parish in Frederick. Going further back into his DRE career, Joe has also worked in Cincinnati, Ohio and at Holy Family parish in Randallstown, Maryland. Joe is well-known beyond Central Maryland, as he has been an active member of Archdiocesan and national organizations, including the Baltimore Association of Catechetical Ministers (BACM) and the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership (NCCL).

A native of Erie, Pennsylvania, Joe earned his Bachelor degree from Borromeo Seminary College in Cleveland, and his Masters degree from St. Thomas University in Miami, Florida.  He is married with one son.

Having been involved in catechetical ministry for 38 years, Joe has worked in just about all the ministries of the Church.  He began as a parish cantor, and from there went on to serve on liturgy committees, coordinate youth ministry and teach at a Catholic high school.

We congratulated Joe on his new position, on the Eve of the Easter Triduum and asked him how he was feeling. His answer was that the “reality of the job change has not set in yet and I’m still excited.” 

We hope you stay excited, Joe and wish you the best in your new position!  While we will miss your Central Maryland ministry, we look forward to working with you out of the Archdiocesan office.