Rev. Mr. Steven A. Bell, C.S.P., professes his final promises as a member of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle during a Sept. 7 liturgy at St. Paul's College chapel in Washington, D.C.

by Stefani Manowski

Steven Bell, C.S.P., is ready to go public.

In fact, that is exactly what Rev. Mr. Bell did Sept. 7 when he professed his final promises with the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle in the chapel of St. Paul’s College in Washington, D.C.

	With Paulist president Father John F. Duffy looking on, Rev. Mr. Steven Bell, C.S.P., signs a paper documenting his lifelong commitment to the Paulists.

With his eyes sparkling and a constant smile on his lips, Rev. Mr. Bell was called forth to make his lifetime pledge as a member of the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle.

“This is my articulation of my intention, my public proclamation of my desire to be a Paulist,” said Rev. Mr. Bell just hours before the Mass. “I take a lot of pride in that identity.”

In his homily, Paulist Fathers president Father John F. Duffy, said that as a Paulist, Rev. Mr. Bell pledged to be the living embodiment of a gift of the Spirit given for the good of the church.

“Steve makes this step in faith for he believes that the same Spirit of God that was so alive and active in (Paulist founder) Father Hecker and his companions a century and a half ago longs to live and breathe in him today,” Father Duffy said. “… You will indeed reach the prize to which God calls you. That is the wish and the prayer of all gathered here this day with you.”

With incense wafting through the gray stone walls of the Crypt Church of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and with choir members and musicians heralding the moment, Rev. Mr. Bell took another step toward the priesthood Sept. 8 when he was ordained a transitional deacon by Auxiliary Bishop Martin D. Holley of Washington, D.C.

The making of a Paulist

Growing up in the Church of Christ, Rev. Mr. Bell followed the example of faith set by his parents and grandparents.

“If you lived in my house, you went to church,” he said, remembering that his Bible study instructor was dazzled when a 7-year-old Steve Bell knew the Ten Commandments, the Beatitudes and the Lord’s Prayer.

Archbishop Martin D. Holley of Washginton, D.C., presents the Book of Gospels to Rev. Mr. Steven Bell, C.S.P. during the ordination Mass.

“Ever since I was 16 years old, I knew that ministry was going to be a major part of my life,” said Rev. Mr. Bell, who always felt comfortable participating in church life, sometimes spending 10 hours at church every Sunday in doing so.

“I decided to become true to my church-aholism, and I loved every minute of it,” he said.

After a two year self-described “pilgrimage” in search of a new church home, Rev. Mr. Bell found Catholicism “in the right place at the right time.”

“I was at a particular time in my life when I was searching for a particular place where I could bring my whole self to the altar of God,” he said.

Rev. Mr. Bell officially entered the Catholic Church in 1994, and began exploring the priesthood three years later.

“I figured the only way to really do this right was to be a priest or a brother,” he said.

After exploring the diocesan priesthood in Washington and a few religious orders, Rev. Mr. Bell didn’t feel his search proffered a good match.

“I I felt there was a certain type of person they were looking for in religious life, and I wasn’t that person,” he said. “I gave up the search.

	Father Jamie Baca, C.S.P., and Father Ed Koharchik, C.S.P., vest Rev. Mr. Steven Bell, C.S.P., during his ordination to the transitional diaconate.

It wasn’t until he was asked to sponsor someone entering the church that his exploration would bear fruit. As part of being a sponsor, Rev. Mr. Bell attended an IMPAC (Improving My Personal Act with Christ) retreat. Out of about 40 retreatants, he met a Paulist seminarian who became his retreat roommate and tablemate.

“The first night I asked him all kinds of questions about the seminary, and the second night was all about me,” recalled Rev. Mr. Bell. “I told him that I wanted to work for unity among our churches and that I loved to let people know that they know that they know that God really loves them. He looked at me and said, ‘Oh my God! You really are a Paulist!’”

On a later visit to St. Paul’s College, and during a conversation with some Paulists and other guests, Rev. Mr. Bell realized he felt right at home.

“It made me stop and say, ‘This is the place,’” he said.

Since entering the Paulist novitiate on August 27, 2000, Rev. Mr. Bell has served at several Paulist foundations, including spending his Lenten apostolate at St. Austin Church in Austin, Tex.; working with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops at World Youth Day 2000 in Toronto; serving at Immaculate Conception in Knoxville, Tenn., in 2003; spending his pastoral year at Old St. Mary’s, Chicago from 2004-05; and serving at the Paulist Center in Boston in 2005.

“After Chicago, it was clear to me that I was built for this,” he said.

In 2006, Rev. Mr. Bell served with Paulist Young Adult Ministries in New York City. He spent the summer of 2007 at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem, including a stint in Switzerland attending a conference on how to build interfaith communities. At first a conference participant, he would up end up helping to run the program.

And now that he is a permanent deacon, Rev. Mr. Bell can read the Gospel, preach and assist at the altar during liturgies.

“Preaching is my love,” he said.

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