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CLEVELAND — Brandon Conley wasn’t shopping around for a church when he first stepped into St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Parish. But no matter which church he attended after that, he couldn’t help but compare, and none matched up to the welcome and community he had experienced of St. Mary church.
The Mansfield, Ohio, native moved to Cleveland for a graphic design job several years ago, but soon discovered that he hated working in an office environment. He shifted gears and connected with a local start-up, where he now makes, filters and bottles whiskey. While working full time as Cleveland Whiskey’s distillery operator, he also began his own coffee roasting company, Black Barrel Coffee, part time. In the midst of this activity, something happened out of the blue.
“About two years ago, I met a girl — she’s awesome — and she’s a devout Byzantine Catholic, and she asked me if I wanted to go to church with her,” he said.
In the midst of their many conversations, “she would ask me questions about spirituality,” he said. But each time, he would find himself coming up empty.
“She couldn’t understand that I hadn’t considered such questions before,” he said.
Conley, 32, said he grew up without much of a religious background, though his parents are nondenominational Christians.
His first church experience with his girlfriend was at St. Mary Parish in Cleveland’s Old Brooklyn neighborhood. Though a positive experience, he and his girlfriend attended Sunday Eucharist at different Catholic churches over the next several months.
“I think she wanted to help me find a place where I would feel most comfortable, but I kept finding that the conversation I was having with the people there (at St. Mary Parish) and the spirit of welcome kept drawing me back,” he said.
Eventually, after months of standing aside to allow parishioners to step out of their pew to receive Eucharist, Conley decided he wanted to receive Eucharist, too, and he asked to be baptized.
“I really wanted to be part of the community,” he said.
Conley met with the pastor, Father Marek Visnovsky, weekly for formation in the Byzantine Catholic faith for about a year.
He recalled the level of commitment his formation required, going to meetings after long and tiring workdays, even when he “didn’t feel like it.” But it was always “worth it,” he said.
“I give credit to my parents, who taught me to be a non-religious good person,” he said. “But there was always a hollowness to everything. I saw how the hollowness could be filled, and it came from going to St. Mary’s, talking with Father Marek and the people there,” he said.
Father Visnovsky baptized Conley during the Divine Liturgy on Holy Saturday, March 31, before the entire parish community. His girlfriend, Theresa Plishka, was present, as were his parents, brother and grandmother, who came from Mansfield for the baptism. He said his family was very supportive of his decision to embrace the Byzantine Catholic faith, and he was pleased that they could finally meet his parish community.
“It’s nice to have a spiritual family,” said Conley. “It changes the way I see things. I’m a little less selfish maybe, and I’m just living more intentionally.”
“I didn’t have a relationship with Jesus before,” he said. Now, he prays throughout his workday, dedicating his daily tasks in offering to God.
“I find that my work is a lot more purposeful and I love it even more because I’m doing it for a greater good. I offer it either as a prayer for me, for someone else or just to give praise to Jesus,” he said.
His relationship with his girlfriend has also taken on greater depth. In addition to having discussions “at a deeper level” with Plishka, he said he has a greater appreciation now of her work as an iconographer and as a choir director at St. Joseph Parish in Brecksville, Ohio, where he attends once monthly.
“We’re helping each other out in the faith now, too,” he said. “It was more one-sided before. She would instruct me about fasting and holy days. Now we’re both keeping each other accountable.”
Reflecting on his faith journey to date, Conley said he hopes his witness will encourage the faithful of the eparchy to “keep an open mind” and welcome the stranger.
“Don’t be afraid to invite someone to church,” he said. “Walk up to people and say ‘I’m glad you’re here. See you next week.’ It’s what kept me around.”
Caption: Brandon Conley (center) poses with his girlfriend, Theresa Plishka, and Father Marek Visnovsky after his baptism on Holy Saturday at St. Mary church in Cleveland. (Photo courtesy of Brandon Conley)
As published in Horizons, April 15, 2018.
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