After three decades of bringing the Gospel to countless classrooms and dioceses throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware, Dr. Michael Sims was prepared for his next career move – director of Life and Justice Ministries for the Diocese of Camden.
It’s a role he stepped into in late March, and one in which he has been busy ever since.
“Thus far, in the parishes I have visited and in meetings with outreach ministries, life and justice committees, and community organizations, I have identified the following are areas of importance: building a culture of life and safeguarding the sanctity of life; the need for an authentic, dignified approach to human sexuality and the education of it; affordable housing; food insecurity; mental awareness/wellness, gun violence and climate change,” Dr. Sims said.
He has also met with pro-life advocates across New Jersey and is planning events for Respect Life Month (October) and into 2024, including working with the Diocese’s Catholic high schools to assist in conversations surrounding authentic love and human sexuality.
“In my role as director, I hope to model the faith and zeal necessary to live the Gospel and be a disciple,” he said. “This means, in part, meeting those individuals who are already living the Gospel and who are, through God’s will, disciples.”
With a bachelor of arts in religion; master of arts in theology and ministry, and doctorate in theology in Christian spirituality, all from LaSalle University, Philadelphia, he is well-equipped to engage clergy and laity in South Jersey.
“I see myself as a bridge” between parishes and local ministries and agencies “that engage in education, formation and advocacy around such issues as poverty, immigration, abortion and care for the environment,” he said.
One thing that will aid in that mission: the fact that part of his responsibilities will be as director of Catholic Relief Services for the Diocese of Camden. In that role, he will be helping to oversee the CRS Rice Bowl campaign that takes place during Lent and the diocesan FaithFULL Food Drive.
He said he hopes to “shape a more caring and hope-filled world through justice education, namely educating Catholics about Catholic social teaching, advocacy on behalf of people in need and community development, and organizing both in parishes and schools.”
During his professional career, Dr. Sims has taught in elementary, secondary and college classrooms, as well as coordinated programs at the secondary, collegiate and diocesan levels in faith formation, bio-ethics, morality, Catholic social teaching and service learning. He has served as the religious studies coordinator at Manor College in Jenkintown, Pa., and has coordinated the education of catechists and religious education directors for the Diocese of Trenton, while a part of La Salle University’s Pastoral Ministry Program.
He also taught theology at Saint Augustine Preparatory School, Richland, and Merion Mercy Academy in Merion Station, Pa.; he was involved in youth and young adult ministries in the Diocese of Wilmington, Del., and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
In announcing Dr. Sims’ hiring on March 20, Father Robert Hughes, Vicar General for the Diocese of Camden, noted his extensive background in education and ministry, and his conception and implementation of educational, liturgical, and community service initiatives and outreaches.
Dr. Sims, Father Hughes said, “has come to appreciate the value of educating and serving the whole person, cura personalis, no matter the age, ethnicity, race, color or creed … [and] come to appreciate more fully the need for all believers to remain open to God’s call to live mercy and seek justice and to be attune to God’s presence in the everyday experiences of one’s life.”
Dr. Sims said he has encountered many faithful who are “true salt of the earth, with a deep faith and zeal for life and justice. … They’re seeing the need and meeting the need.
He is a member of Church of the Holy Family Parish in Sewell and lives in Washington Township with his wife, Dr. MaryKay Stailey-Sims, a pediatrician in South Jersey, their sons, Michael Vincent and Theodore Patrick, and their daughter, Katherine Grace.
“I want to support and connect all of the people doing good work, and ‘kingdom-build,’ all of us recognizing that Christ is at the center of everything,” Dr. Sims said.
Managing Editor Jennifer Mauro contributed to this report.
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