Meet our new deacons: Eric Pugh

July 1, 2022

Eric and Monica Pugh, of St. Joseph Parish in Winterset, can hardly believe that ordination day is here. 

“It’s a little unbelievable these formation years have passed so quickly,” Eric said. He retired during formation from the U.S. Army as a master sergeant with a background in communications. 

He had felt the calling to the diaconate before being deployed to Afghanistan in 2010. Deployment deepened his faith. 

“The hardest thing about being deployed was access to the sacraments,” Eric said. “Depending on where you were, you might receive the Eucharist once a month and confession much less than that.” 

“We have no idea how good we have it with continual access to Mass and priests,” he said.  “As a deacon, I hope I can help others realize the opportunity they have with their faith.” 

“It has been a privilege and honor to accompany Eric through formation,” Monica said. “Everything we’ve done in the program has deepened our faith and it’s been so wonderful learning all the things that we have.”

Every part of the Pughs journey has been about taking steps in the right direction even when it was difficult. The time commitment didn’t seem possible until God closed some doors and opened others for the Pughs.

“We’re just continually hoping to grow our faith,” Monica said. “I didn’t know anything about the diaconate when Eric first brought it up over 10 years ago. But I knew if he was being called, I needed to support him and get out of God’s way.”