11 New Deacons Ordained in the Diocese of Tulsa

Deacons share in Christ's mission and grace in a special way. The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them with an imprint ("character") which cannot be removed and which configures them to Christ, who made himself the "deacon" or servant of all. Among other tasks, it is the task of deacons to assist the bishop and priests in the celebration of the divine mysteries, above all the Eucharist, in the distribution of Holy Communion, in assisting at and blessing marriages, in the proclamation of the Gospel and preaching, in presiding over funerals, and in dedicating themselves to the various ministries of charity. (CCC 1570)

On June 24, 2023, 11 men from the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma will be ordained as permanent deacons by Bishop David A. Konderla at Holy Family Cathedral. All are welcome to attend. Please keep these men and their families in your prayers.

Brad Moen 

Hello, my name is Brad Moen. I am a parishioner of the Catholic Community of Okmulgee. I have been attending both St. Anthony’s of Padua and Uganda Martyrs Catholic Churches since 1988 when our family moved here from California. I am a 21-year veteran of the Oklahoma Army National Guard. I am active in the Knights of Columbus and a proud member of the K of C Council in Okmulgee as well as a member of the Fourth-Degree Assembly in Muskogee. I have been married to my wonderful wife Paula for seven years and have an adult stepson, Wyatt Walker. We live in Okmulgee County near Beggs.

I felt a calling from the Lord several years ago when I was younger. He allowed me to retire from the National Guard in 2014, and then I was just waiting to see where he would lead me. I again felt a nudge from the Lord, but wasn’t quite sure what it was toward; I knew he would guide me to wherever it was he wanted me. In early 2017 the Diaconate Formation Team was going around to parishes to see about prospects coming in for a new class coming up. Long story short, I applied, was accepted, and I haven’t looked back nor have I regretted anything since. 

I have always been active within the Catholic Church, always willing to help if available. I began serving at the altar in 1989 and have continued through present day. I have been a Lector and an Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist for several years. I’m living Cursillo 55 and have helped with several others over the years. I look forward to doing God’s will and serving those in need in our Diocese under the direction of Bishop Konderla and the Holy Spirit guiding us.

Myles McDonough

I grew up in Texas and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering technology from Texas A&M University in 1987. I met my wonderful wife, Kathy, when I was at A&M. We have been married for over 35 years and have two children and three granddaughters. We have moved many times and have been in Owasso since 2014, attending St. Henry Parish. I worked in technical sales and business development, serving the natural gas industry, and Kathy was a registered nurse. We are both now retired. I am a cradle Catholic but fell away from practicing my faith for many years. I returned to the Church about 15 years ago and have been very involved in serving the church ever since. In the spring of 2012, I attended an ACTS retreat, where I truly experienced a major conversion of heart and came to understand that I could have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It was on that weekend that the trajectory of my life changed — God called me.

I became friends with the deacon that weekend. There was just something special about him. He had a certain peace and serenity about him, and I wanted what he had. I felt that he was the most loving man I had ever met, and when I looked at him, I saw Jesus Christ. This is when the seed was planted to discern becoming a deacon. Five years later, I entered the Diaconate Formation program in Tulsa.

After ordination, I look forward to serving our Lord and the Diocese of Tulsa in general at the pleasure of our bishop. I also hope to grow my involvement in the prison ministry, as it is a very important need in our diocese. I hope to bring Christ’s love to those who are imprisoned.

Joseph E. Yosten

When my wife and I first came to the parish of Christ The King I was asked to help out with our Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) program. A deacon of our parish was running it. Over the first or second year I observed not only this deacon but all the deacons within the parish assisting the needs of the parish and community. They visited the sick, and helped with funerals, marriages, baptisms, and especially at the altar of our Lord. I began to feel drawn to these sacraments and services. One night while sleeping, I heard my name being called out. When I woke up I thought it was my wife calling me from the other room, but she was sound asleep. This happened three times that night. By the third time I understood what was happening. Soon afterwards, I heard about a deacon formation class that was going to be starting up and thought I would at least find out if this is what I was being called to. Looking over the past six years of training I realize that, yes, the Lord was calling me, and I placed myself in his hands.

Bo Harrison

I was born in Houston, Texas, and attended Strake Jesuit High School. I graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a business degree in petroleum land management and later earned a masters in business administration from Oklahoma City University. My resume includes driving a beer truck, natural gas sales and origination and business development. The last 20 years of my professional career transpired at ONEOK and ONE Gas in Tulsa.

In 2003, I met my future wife, Leslie, and her daughter, Sara. Leslie and I transformed a love of running together into a love of life together, and we got married the next year, becoming a family of three. In 2006, Bella was born. A little over a year later, Leslie gave birth to Anna. Tragically, Anna passed away shortly after birth, but her presence would continue to inspire our family in many ways. As life flew by with raising daughters, working full time at ONEOK, and managing real estate investments, I was approached about discerning the diaconate in 2016.

Now six years into the formation training, I am among a class of 11 men approaching ordination to the diaconate, God willing. I have little certainty where the road will lead but remain open to the destination in God’s plan. I recognize my own flaws and weaknesses, yet remain faithful that the divine grace and love received at baptism and beyond will suffice in my service to others.

Our family has been active at Christ the King parish in Tulsa for about 12 years. Leslie and I remain busy parenting Bella
on her journey through Bishop Kelley.
Our eldest daughter, Sara, and her husband, Grant, are expecting their first baby later this summer. Please pray for me and my family as the formal training concludes and ordination approaches for strength of mind, spirit, and body to glorify God by serving the Church and her members.

Carlos Eduardo Ambriz 

My name is Carlos Eduardo Ambriz. My wife is Gisela Islas Diaz, and we have three kids, Bianca NIcole Ambriz, Cristo Eduardo Ambriz, and Cinthia Nicole Ambriz. I got my call to the diaconate at Saint Francis Xavier, also Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  Hopefully I can serve there once ordain, but I will go wherever my bishop sends me. I am greatly devoted to St. Francis of Asissi, St. Teresa of Avila, and St. John of the Cross.

Paul Louderback

Married with a wonderful wife and an equally wonderful adult daughter, I am blessed with a fantastic family. After a 30-year career at the Tulsa Zoo, where I wore a number of different hats, I now work at Catholic Charities of Eastern Oklahoma as a manager in the Disaster Department. My path to the diaconate has taken me many places and directions leading up to today. As a cradle Catholic, faith has always been important but at times has been a roller coaster. I was a pilgrim to Medjugorje in 1991, which was a very inspiring experience that awakened in me the call to ministry. The following year, I spent a year in the pre-novitiate with the Midwest Province of the Augustinians located in Chicago, but I discerned out. Married in 1993, Pamela and I had our first and only child, Kateri, in 1994. Over the next few of years, we attended several excellent parishes and were exposed to a number of outstanding priests and parishioners who showed me the beauty of our Catholic faith. After moving and then attending Holy Family Cathedral around 2004, I became more involved in the church and served as Grand Knight for several years with the Cathedral Knights of Columbus council. At this time, I again heard the call to ministry and in 2017 entered diaconate formation. Formation has been enlightening, often difficult, but always amazing! In 2021, I left employment with the zoo and began working at Catholic Charities. This also was an incredible blessing, working in an environment that nurtures and encourages the Catholic faith. While I feel I am unworthy and unqualified for the diaconate, with the steady support of Pamela, I say yes to God’s call and look forward to what the future brings! 

Rob Owens

I was raised in a Christian home and practiced my faith as a Methodist. In 2008 I came into the Catholic Church at St. Benedicts in Broken Arrow and have practiced my faith there throughout the years. Shortly after becoming Catholic, I attended a Cursillo, and service to the church and its people became a focus of my faith. I have been married to my wife Lisa for 39 years and have three adult girls Sarah, Emily, and Hannah. I worked in sales for many of my earlier years. After obtaining bachelor’s degree in agriculture from Oklahoma State University, I have worked in  lawn maintenance and landscaping for the last 20 years. My wife and I currently own a small pharmacy in the south Tulsa area. I had been asked for many years to consider the diaconate but felt my responsibility was to be an active part of the laity. God had other plans. He moved me to understand the only way I would have true peace and joy in my life was to follow His will for me regardless of the challenges that may confront me. I said yes to His call and endured the challenges of formation, God willing toward the ordination into the diaconate in June.

Scot Kelley

I am Scot Kelley, husband of Suzie for the last 27 years. We were wedded at St. Therese of Lisieux parish on July 8, 1995, by Msgr. Patrick Brankin in the little old church before the new building was built in 2000. We have four children and five grandchildren with one more grandchild on the way. We attend St. Therese of Lisieux parish in Collinsville, which has been Suzie’s home parish for her entire life. I joined her at St. Therese when we began dating in 1994. I came into full communion with the Catholic Church a short seven years later at Easter 2001.

I attended World Youth Day in 2010 in Madrid, which deeply affected my faith by seeing the amazing depths of the universality of the Church. This worldwide witness of the faith and following events where I was chaperoning the youth group to multiple Steubenville conferences and Marches for Life deepened my prayer life. Praying daily with the repeating thought that every person has a responsibility to continually learn more about God and their faith (continual conversion), I felt an impression that I needed to do more. I did not know what “more” was until after the first Mass of Deacon Pete McLane. The new deacon’s wife, Jenny, came up to me and served me my calling. She simply asked, “When is it going to be your turn?” After discerning that calling for several years, I then knew what more was.

The deacon formation process has deepened my faith even more than I could have imagined. A life of prayer for and service of the community brings great joy. Although I was doing many things for the parish before, I realize that in becoming a deacon the calling was with me always. I am just now fulfilling what God was calling me to. I have been a Reader and installed Extraordinary Minister of Communion since 2016, was director of the Altar Server program for three years, was a member of Parish Council for two years, have taught Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) for the last four years, lead the parish’s Mens Club, and through the Diaconate Formation Program, installed as Lector and Acolyte.

Ken Saveth

I am currently a parishioner at the Church of St. Benedict in Broken Arrow.
I have been married to my wife, Betty, for 40 years and have two grown children, Michael and Christina. Christina is married to Nick and are expecting their first child this June.

I have a bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering from Oklahoma State University and am currently the Director of Reliability for Extract Production Company, a local manufacturer of Electric Submersible Pumps for the Oil and Gas industry. Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to travel the world and learn a lot about different countries and cultures, getting to know a lot about the human person as well as gaining a huge understanding of life in many third-world countries and just how privileged we are to be in America. In addition to my full-time work, I am an ultra-marathon runner and the Founder & Managing Director of a small nonprofit organization, Know No Boundaries.

I was not a cradle Catholic, nor was I even a cradle Christian. I was raised in a Jewish family from Brooklyn, New York, and moved to Oklahoma in 1976. Growing up, my family was not Orthodox. I came into the Catholic Church prior to getting married. Being raised Jewish has given me a slightly different perspective of Catholicism and a deeper appreciation of its roots. My journey within Catholicism and to the Permanent Diaconate has been one full of learning and growth. A most interesting fact is that my ancestral lineage supposedly comes from Aaron and the tribe of Levi. Being ordained into the Permanent Diaconate brings it full circle.

William R. “Bill” Monteith, OFS

I was born in New Jersey to Catholic parents, William Sr. and Patricia. I have two sisters (one that is older) and two brothers. I also have two nieces, a nephew, and five great nieces/nephews. I met my wife through mutual friends in the late 1990s and was married in February 2000.

My wife and I were not called to parenthood, but have each sought out individual ways to seek service to God’s people. While my wife found a way to serve as a mental health and substance abuse therapist, my journey took another path. While seeking a deeper connection with my faith, I professed into the Secular Franciscan Order in 2013. Since that time, I have become the Formation Minister and have aided in the profession process for several others. I previously volunteered with the Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries and later became involved with my home parish, the Church of St. Benedict, as part of the Dead Theologian’s Society, as well as a Catechist.

While still seeking a greater level of service to Our Lord, I received an opportunity to enter into the Diaconate Program, which was an answer to months of discerning prayer. Throughout my journey, I have only increased in the desire to be of service to others, and I feel that God has been my guide along this new journey towards becoming a Deacon. I look forward to new opportunities for helping others through this ministry, and I am humbled by the support I have received from friends, family, and the community along the way.

Carlos Alejandro Moreno Varela
(Not pictured) 

I was born in Colombia and have lived in the United States since 2010. Born and raised in a Catholic family. I graduated from the Salesian San Juan Bosco school, and from a young age have always shown an interest and devotion to God and the Blessed Virgin through service to others. This has been done by belonging to youth and missionary groups and now through service to God and my brothers as a deacon. I also profess my love for God through my deep love for my wife and children.