Subdeacon David Wallace: “Formed by Family, Strengthened by Community”

Subdeacon David Wallace will be ordained to the diaconate on Sunday, May 17, 2026, at 10:30 AM during the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at SS Joachim and Anna Ukrainian Catholic Church in Front Royal, Virginia.

Subdeacon David was ordained a subdeacon by Metropolitan Borys Gudziak on Sunday, January 26, 2025, at his home parish in Front Royal, where he is actively involved in parish life.
 

When did you first begin to recognize a call to serve the Church as a deacon? Was it something sudden or a gradual journey?

     Even as a young person, I felt a desire to serve the Church in some way—as a catechist, a teacher, perhaps as a priest or monastic. Early in my professional life, serving first as a director of religious education and later as a formator of catechists and evangelists, I came to understand that this work was not simply a career, but a calling.

     It was during the 2020 COVID shutdown that I began the process of inquiring and seriously considering the diaconal call.

What role did your parish and family play in your vocation?

     What am I as a Christian without my parish community and my family, who nourish and form my relationship with Christ?

     For many years, friends abroad and fellow parishioners encouraged me to pursue formation and ordination, and my wife, Elizabeth, was especially supportive during times of doubt. She has been my rock throughout this period of formation.

    It has also been a great blessing to serve at the altar with my sons and to sing at the cantor stand with my daughters.

Was there someone in your life who especially inspired or supported you in this calling? If so, how? And who supports you the most today?

     When my family entered the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church from the Latin Church, all of our children were chrismated—our youngest at the time only 18 months old. The image of Fr. Robert Hitchens kneeling down to chrismate the feet of our smallest children has remained with me ever since. In fact, a photo from that moment hangs in my office.

     One of the prayers of diaconal ordination recalls the words of Jesus: “Whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your servant.” It also speaks of the Lord “Who Yourself first fulfilled the ministry of a deacon.”

     I am deeply grateful to Fr. Robert for his wisdom, his quiet encouragement, and his joyful, visible witness—especially in the many hours he has spent driving each week to serve our community, something he has faithfully done for over ten years.