Soon-to-be Deacons Sidney Johnson, Michael Heard and Alan Pionk bring diverse gifts, talents and passion for parish ministry
DETROIT — Three men will be ordained to the permanent diaconate for the Archdiocese of Detroit this weekend, as Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron is set to preside over an ordination Mass at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Sidney Johnson, 55, of Pontiac; Michael Heard, 63, of Farmington Hills; and Alan Pionk, 56, of Port Huron, will take up the Lord’s calling after years of study at Sacred Heart Major Seminary.
The ordination Mass will be livestreamed on the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Facebook page, as well as on Sacred Heart Major Seminary’s Facebook page.
Each of the men are married with children, and have spent years in secular careers before responding to their calling as deacons, a vocation in which they’ll assist in parishes, preach the Gospel, perform baptisms, weddings and funerals, and direct various forms of Christian service and outreach.
Ahead of their ordination Mass, here’s a little more about soon-to-be Deacons Johnson, Pionk and Heard.
Sidney D. Johnson
Sidney Delano Johnson, 55, of Pontiac, a parishioner at St. Damien of Molokai Parish in Pontiac, is married to Erinn (Preston) and has two children: Myles, 16, and Grant, 12.
Johnson was born in Wayne and attended Inkster High School, graduating in 1984. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in business administration from Davenport University, and has worked in a number of industries over his career, including as a broadcast operations manager, automotive sales purchasing manager, and as a light electronic manufacturing technician. Johnson served three years in the U.S. Army.
Johnson’s journey to the diaconate began when he enrolled in RCIA at St. Damien of Molokai after a “lifelong search for God’s purpose for my life,” he said.
“It was my catechist, Maria Jimenez, who mentioned to me that she saw me as a deacon,” Johnson said. “Approximately two years later, our parish’s new associate pastor, Fr. Jacob VanAssche, exhorted me to consider the diaconate.”
“As a deacon, and not only deacons, but the baptized as well, we must accompany and walk with those who yearn for that encounter (with God), as well as be a witness of Christ’s presence to them.”
Johnson attended an informational night, where “it was as though everything said pertained to me,” he said. “It was after that presentation that I knew within my heart that the diaconate was my calling.”
Johnson, who enjoys weightlifting and reading in his spare time, said he’s looking forward to serving at the altar during Mass, but also to serving in various roles within the community, from evangelization to jail ministry, hospital service and bringing Communion to the homebound.
“My vision includes bringing Christ to the community, as well as bringing the needs of the community for which I would serve to the altar,” Johnson said, adding his ministry could also include "working with the St. Vincent de Paul Society, as well as fraternal organizations such as the Knights of Peter Claver and the Knights of Columbus in feeding the hungry and clothing the naked."
During his internship at St. Thomas More Parish in Troy, Johnson said he’s learned to appreciate the “yearning that people have for an encounter with the living God.”
“As a deacon, and not only deacons, but the baptized as well, we must accompany and walk with those who yearn for that encounter (with God), as well as be a witness of Christ’s presence to them,” Johnson said.
Johnson is a member of the Knights of Columbus’ St. Juan Diego Council 13930, and his wife, Erinn, works as a catechist, lector and member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Knights of Peter Claver.
Michael J. Heard
Michael James Heard, 63, of Farmington Hills, is a parishioner of Presentation-Our Lady of Victory Parish in Detroit. He is married to Rolanda (Williams) and has an adult son, Bryan, 31.
Heard was born in Detroit and attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit, graduating in 1976. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Center for Creative Studies in 1982, and spent 37 years working for Chrysler Corp. (later Stellantis) as a corporate identity brand manager and in business services.
Heard describes himself as a “voracious reader” who loves listening to music, Renaissance art, photography and collecting commemorative baseballs.
Heard contends his journey to the diaconate began before he was even born, when his parents made what he describes as “the deal” with God.
“After losing two children at childbirth prior to my birth, the doctors informed my parents that I was born with jaundice and ‘they shouldn’t bother to name me, because I had very little chance of surviving.’ My mother prayed that if the Lord allowed me to live, He could have me for service to His church,” Heard said.
“Mom referred to this as ‘the deal’ and, along with my dad, emphasized and supported the need for me to always and faithfully serve the church in some capacity,” Heard continued. “I have been blessed in my life by a combination of a nurturing home and parents, loving siblings, a home parish which fostered a great sense of family and many good priests, deacons and religious sisters who walked with me in this journey of hearing the Lord’s call and learning how to respond to that call.”
“After losing two children at childbirth prior to my birth, the doctors informed my parents that I was born with jaundice and ‘they shouldn’t bother to name me, because I had very little chance of surviving.’ My mother prayed that if the Lord allowed me to live, He could have me for service to His church,” Heard said.
Heard has long been active in his parish as a lector, altar server and extraordinary minister of Holy Communion, and his wife, Rolanda, is a member of the parish’s St. Vincent de Paul chapter.
During his internship at St. Fabian Parish in Farmington Hills, Heard assisted with the parish’s Vacation Bible School and at St. Christine’s Soup Kitchen and Food Pantry in Detroit, as well as in the chaplain’s office at Beaumont Hospital in Farmington.
“Knowledge and openness to forging a personal relationship with the Lord, which He has written on our hearts from the beginning of time, is essential to (my) vocation,” Heard said. “As the Lord God revealed to the prophet Jeremiah, ‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you.’
“This is the same Lord God who late in the book of the prophet Jeremiah assures that, ‘For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope,’” Heard continued. “This is the good news of hope and victory over sin and death, based in the Lord, that the life and ministry of a deacon must anchor to his ministry of service to Christ’s body.”
Alan P. Pionk
Alan Paul Pionk, 56, of Port Huron, is a parishioner of Holy Trinity Parish in Port Huron. He is married to Darcy Ann (Fandrich) and has two adult children: Carmen, 29, and Katie, 24.
Pionk was born in Port Huron and attended Port Huron High School, graduating in 1984. He studied criminal justice and human resources management at Wayland Baptist University in Anchorage, Alaska. He currently works as a small arms range manager at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township. In his spare time, Pionk enjoys hunting, fishing and spending time with his family outdoors.
Pionk began to feel a calling toward the diaconate after serving in various roles in his parish community, which left him yearning for more.
“Beginning as an usher, then seeking more and more involvement within the Church, I was unable to reach a point where I felt I was fulfilling God’s intention for my life,” said Pionk, a member of the Knights of Columbus. “I began to think about the permanent diaconate for several years before gathering the courage to mention these thoughts to my wife. Perhaps my own personal fears of not feeling worthy prevented my expression of what I felt God was asking of me.
“I have since come to understand it is by God’s love and divine graces that we are made worthy of our Lord’s promises,” Pionk continued. “Though I was not aware at the time, the Holy Spirit was present and working in my life many years before I began to consider the permanent diaconate.”
“I have since come to understand it is by God’s love and divine graces that we are made worthy of our Lord’s promises,” Pionk continued. “Though I was not aware at the time, the Holy Spirit was present and working in my life many years before I began to consider the permanent diaconate.”
Pionk credited the “diaconate formation team and their wives” for their example, as well as his wife, Darcy, “without whom I would not be in this wonderful position today.”
The Pionks have both served on their parish’s evangelization committee, and as table leaders for ChristLife, a parish-based evangelization program. Darcy Pionk has also served as a lector and parish youth coordinator.
During his internship at Our Lady on the River Parish in Marine City, Pionk served in alcohol recovery ministry, hospital ministry, jail ministry, mentorship programs for young men, and in evangelization programs such as RCIA, Alpha and ChristLife.
As a deacon, Pionk said his vision is simple.
“Deacon Pete Cornell of the formation team remarked one Saturday to my diaconate brothers and I, ‘Shut up and listen to the Holy Spirit. If you do this, you will always follow God’s will and love what you are doing,’" Pionk said. "I intend to follow Deacon Pete’s advice.”
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