Chelsea Bucci joined the Catholic Church as a young adult. Now, as a parish catechetical leader, she helps others develop and grow in their faith.
“I wasn’t brought up in the Church, but came to faith in Christ as a young adult and studied my way into the Catholic Church through my graduate studies in a Protestant seminary,” said Bucci, who was born and raised in Voorhees Township and now lives in Cherry Hill with her husband and two children. “So many things brought me home to the Catholic Church, not the least of which was a hunger for the Eucharist, and the witness of the Church Fathers.”
Bucci has served her parish, the Catholic Community of Christ Our Light, Cherry Hill, as a parish catechetical leader since last July. She spent the past year working with families through a modified OCIA program for youth, and this summer, she stepped into the role of director of Family Faith Formation.
“My role will encompass accompanying our parish families as they grow deeper into a relationship with Christ through His Church,” said Bucci. “Our family faith formation ministry aims to provide enjoyable and thorough catechesis, fun monthly events to help our families build community with the larger parish, and opportunities to live out our faith through lives of service.”
An avid reader, Bucci enjoys reading about historical theology. She hopes not only to open up the Scriptures with families, but also to increase Biblical literacy and “helping them to discover and re-discover the rich inheritance we have in the deposit of faith.”
Bucci shared that she has been interested in catechesis since first encountered the love of Christ, and in many ways she believes becoming a catechist was inevitable.
“Recently I heard someone say that when you love someone, you want to know as much about them as possible, and you can’t help but to bring them up to everyone you know,” she said. “I live to share ‘Him in whom I have believed,’ and to help fulfill my little part of the great commission.”
Reflecting on the role that catechists play in parish communities, Bucci described their impact as “immeasurable.”
“There are many, many sheep both in and outside the flock who have not adequately been taught the faith, to know Christ, to know what He offers and what He teaches,” she said. “I think of my own life before my conversion to Christ – when you do not know the faith, when you do not walk with the Lord, there is an inherent spiritual blindness.”
Bucci looks forward to stepping into her latest role, and to continuing to share the Good News with others: “I’ll be doing some of my favorite things – teaching, discipleship, formation and community building.”
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