Tina Wandersee felt called to put gifts before the Church
The Diocese of Richmond’s new director of the Office of Social Ministries has “a knack for getting things done.”
“I’m not one of those who can pull something out of the air,” said Tina Wandersee, “but if somebody says, ‘This is what I want done,’ then I know it involves people, resources and order, and as long as I have those three things, the job will get done.”
Wandersee officially began her position on Sept. 5, 2022. She comes to the diocese after 12 years as the director of social ministry at Our Lady of Mount Carmel (OLMC), Newport News. There, she oversaw various outreach initiatives to support those in need and found success in bringing people together.
“I think that’s one of my greatest joys, to be able to bring the people of God together under a common goal and be able to facilitate their participation in helping those poor and vulnerable,” she said. “That’s just a natural charism of mine, to give them the tools necessary and needed to do it.”
Wandersee explained that a natural progression of her prayer life and faith, expressed in her extensive volunteer work at OLMC, had led her to lead the parish’s social ministry. Volunteering was a result of becoming “in tune to a prayer life” over about three years as a full-time caregiver of her youngest child, during which she “was led back out into relationships with other people.”
Now, prayer has again led her to a new way of serving the Church.
Going where God leads
“I can say definitively that I am leaving a job that I absolutely loved and had no intention of leaving,” Wandersee said, adding that she has exchanged her seven-minute commute to OLMC for an 80-minute drive to the Pastoral Center in Richmond.
“I just have to say that it’s because I felt called to put my gifts and talents before the Church,” she said. “… This is where the Lord has led me, and I think he’s led me here not only to be of assistance to the diocese in any way that I can, but also for my own personal growth, my own relationship with him… These are the gifts and talents that the Lord has given me. They’re his, and they’re his to use wherever he so chooses or needs.”
Of the gifts and talents that the Lord has given Wandersee, she noted her “meticulous” organization skills, strong attention to detail and the ability to put ideas into action.
“For me, the work of the Church, and I think Pope Francis speaks to this, needs to be well organized and beautifully executed. So that is very much who I am,” she said.
Relationships are key
As she has begun immersing herself in the Office of Social Ministries, Wandersee said she has been challenged to figure out how to implement parts of her vision, but her trust that Jesus will “open up a path” to help questions get answered has strengthened her faith.
She said that she and others have “a part to play” in the overall mission of social ministries.
“I think that trust in God (opens a path), but also trust in one’s relationships. It’s God, yes, but it’s also those people around us who have value and needed information or ways that we can help each other,” she said. “And if I speak to that, it’s a complementarity of the other.”
A major part of finding the path God will open for her has been establishing connections that will be mutually beneficial.
“It’s so important to me that I’m reaching out every day building those relationships,” she explained. “I’m reaching out and holding meetings and gathering people, and it is my intent to continue to do so.”
Wandersee noted an upcoming meeting with social ministers in the Eastern Vicariate and her intention to connect with other areas, too, so she can “be of assistance” in any way possible.
She said that although she is currently operating as an office of one “and God,” there is “collaboration with different people on different things.”
Wandersee noted the numerous people involved with teams dedicated to the areas on which the Office of Social Ministry is focused.
“I am really impressed at the lay leadership that there is in place for prison ministry and Haiti and those types of entities,” she said. “There are scores of people across the diocese that are in leadership roles.”
Staying connected
Wandersee is life-professed in the Fraternity of St. Dominic Third Order, a decision she made after nearly 15 years of discernment. She explained that she wanted to be “connected with a group of people and follow a particular rule.”
“It provides me with a more intentional way of living, and for the Dominicans, there’s four pillars that we live by: prayer, community, study and apostolate,” she said. “Those four things guide and rule my day.”
Her desire to be connected and dedicate herself to an established rule is complementary to the work she has undertaken on the diocesan level.
The Office of Social Ministries oversees prison ministry, Haiti ministry and migrant ministry across the diocese. Caring for those vulnerable populations has looked a little different since the COVID-19 pandemic began, so Wandersee is working on meeting the various needs of those groups as the world opens up again.
She said she has received many calls about the need for prison ministry and that she is working to ensure all who are incarcerated and who want Catholic visits are getting them.
“Moving forward that relationship with Haiti and discovering what that is and what that looks like is also in the forefront of what I need to be paying attention to in the coming year,” she added.
Collaboration with the Office of Ethnic Ministries will be crucial for tending to the migrant ministry.
“This is kind of a combined effort,” Wandersee said. “I think that together, our hope is that, like prison ministry, as we’re getting out and about and as these ministries are coming back into play, that we still have the teams going out and visiting those migrant camps and making sure that we’re connected with them and providing them with whatever resources that they need.”
She noted that not only are social ministers addressing their “normal” concerns, such as a lack of food, health care or education, but they are also dealing with “another whole layer of psychological problems, emotional problems” as a result of a global pandemic.
“It’s not just back to business as usual, especially for those who are doing the work of social ministry,” she said, “but it’s adding another layer on top of that… that I am very much aware that social ministers throughout the diocese have added to their plate.”
Wandersee said that she wants to “lift up” social ministers and “give them the tools they need for the time that we live in so that they can also serve their brothers and sisters and the teams of people that are (also doing the work).”