Meet Deacon Larry Schneider: A Life of Joyfully Learning and Promoting the Faith

The path to becoming a deacon in the Catholic Church requires commitment and a lot of studying and learning. However, becoming a deacon wasn’t a big jump for Deacon Larry Schneider, who has his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. Learning is something he enjoys, having spent a lot of his life attaining knowledge.

Deacon Larry first became interested in the Catholic Church through apologetics. He and his wife, Dee, were Protestant and had attended churches of several denominations through the years. A retired American Airline pilot, Deacon Larry started to fly internationally and had a little more time to spare — so he took this time to study philosophy.

“I found the arguments against the Catholic faith were really bad,” he says. “I often found myself arguing the Catholic side of arguments.”

So, he decided he better look more into the faith. Deacon Larry, Dee, and their son, Scott, entered the Catholic Church in 2005 at St. Therese Catholic Church in Collinsville.

“I love showing people who think you can’t be reasonable and believe in God, that yes you can,” Deacon Larry says. “I am always interested in defending the faith.”

The Catholic faith answered a lot of theological questions that Deacon Larry had when he was Protestant. He went on to study for the diaconate and was ordained in 2014.

Following ordination in 2014, Dcn. Larry was assigned to St. Henry’s Catholic Church in Owasso, Oklahoma where he served until he was assigned to Holy Family Cathedral in August.

Since his retirement from the airline about four years ago, Deacon Larry has kept himself busy with deacon duties and studying philosophy, science, and other topics. He also continues his study of apologetics, always interested in arguments to defend the church. Deacon Larry also obtained a master’s degree in theology, with a concentration in bioethics, in conjunction with the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

“I am fond of teaching, and I like the teaching opportunities being a deacon gives me,” he says. “But my favorite is Baptisms. It’s wonderful, bringing new people into the life of Christ, especially little babies.”

As Deacon Larry becomes more acquainted with the Cathedral, he looks forward to meeting more parishioners. He has felt very welcome by all parishioners, priests, and the other deacons. He looks forward to helping with Becoming Catholic (RCIA) and the Wednesdays at the Cathedral program.

“I love being able to serve,” Deacon Larry says. “I am not an extroverted person. This enables me to come out of my shell more than I otherwise would.”

Deacon Larry Schneider and his wife, Dee