Being open to exploring what a deeper faith life could offer was a choice Carter Carruthers made at a young age.
And it’s one over which he feels no regret.
Carruthers joined the staff at Sacred Heart Parish in Norfolk in May. He serves on the evangelization and discipleship team for the Heart of Jesus Family of Parishes with Ellen Wagner and Kathryn Harris. In his role, Carruthers takes on a variety of tasks, including event planning, coordinating resources for parishioners in group leadership roles, and walking with people throughout their faith journey.
“I’m here to serve, to do whatever I can do as a person and fellow sinner to serve other people and their relationship with God,” Carruthers said.
Growing up in the Sioux Falls area of rural South Dakota, Carruthers said his own faith journey began in the same way many others do – encountering God without understanding the true need for spiritual fulfillment.
“Of course, as a kid, you’re like, ‘I don’t want to do this. Why do I have to do this? It’s such an imposition. There’s no physical necessity that I do this,” he said of attending Mass. “Obviously you eat because you’re hungry. You don’t necessarily – especially as a kid – have awareness of your spiritual hunger.”
But as he grew older, Carruthers said he made a “formative choice” to be open to exploring what a deeper faith life had to offer. Now, he understands that God was working through that choice, and he sees the graces he experienced even as he went through the difficulties of his parents’ divorce.
“When middle school came along, and I was struggling with that interior sense of emotional homelessness,” said Carruthers, who describes himself as an introvert whose family was always a priority. “Having a broken home kind of made me lose my sense of identity, as well. It wasn’t until I was headed for confirmation that I started to realize that faith should be or not be a priorty to me.”
Carruthers said the graces he had received from God helped move him in the decision to make faith a priority. That became especially obviously as it came time to choose a confirmation saint.
Carruthers said he wanted to choose a saint whose story would be meaningful to him, but he struggled finding a connection until he learned the phrase “Viva Cristo Rey!” at a Catholic youth conference.
The phrase originated during the Cristero War in the late 1920s, when Catholic rebels fought the Mexican government. One of the young rebels, Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio was only 14 years old when he was captured by the government and martyred for refusing to renounce his faith.
Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio – who became a saint in 2016 but was still a “blessed” when Carruthers was confirmed – was martyred for his faith at roughly the same age Carruthers was at his confirmation.
“That left a huge impression on me, on what the faith is worth and you can see that it kind of builds on the prior graces, as well. There’s a sense that this is worth something.”
In high school, Carruthers became connected with two separate parishes – one near his dad’s home and one near his mother’s home. He also got involved in a a post-confirmation youth group and continued to cultivate graces through his relationships there.
In between time, he worked in construction and then later became involved at the Newman Center while attending South Dakota State University. The Newman Center opened him to say “yes” to a variety of faith-building opportunities like attending SEEK, going on mission trips, participating in Bible study and begin involved in discipleship.
“All of that was really informative,” he said. “It kind of came to a point like, ‘There’s all this new info and it needs to be processed and categorized or it’s not going to change me.”
He took a semester away from school to re-orient himself and began discerning religious life. At the end of his semester off, Carruthers pivoted back to college and started studying theology.
Carruthers received his bachelor’s degree from Holy Apostles College & Seminary and is currently pursuing a master’s degree from there as well. He began his role on the evangelization and discipleship team for the Heart of Jesus Family just in time to be part of Called by Name: A Heart of Jesus Revival.
“Just coming from an outside-looking-in perspective from the start, just the idea that there was a revival taking place was really moving to me,” he said. “In my dad’s parish – and most of the parishes I’ve been a part of – mission has taken a back seat. It’s not a focus, not a priority or even a thought in the mind at all of the people. It’s such a blessing to see a community that is taking some effort to begin at least or if not already is unfolding what God has available for us to do for Him.”
Carruthers said he’s open to helping people on their journey of faith and helping others have an encounter with Jesus.
