Deacon Michael Hall told the story of how and why he gave up his 33-year career as a lawyer to become a Roman Catholic deacon at the Rotary Club of Lloydminster’s luncheon. Geoff Lee Meridian Source
Michael Hall went from being a buttoned-down lawyer in Lloydminster for 33 years to a man of the cloth, begging the question, why.
Hall is a deacon at St. Anthony’s church and began talking about his journey as a guest lunch speaker at the Rotary Club of Lloydminster on Monday by finding common ground with Rotary ideals.
“A couple of them reached out to me. One of them is the idea that the Rotary Club is heavily involved in establishing international relationships,” said Hall.
He says the other one is the care that the club has for other people and he commends them for that.
“I’m here for the same reasons you’re here,” Hall said.
Hall said he grew up in Humboldt as an admitted Sunday Catholic and went to the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon where he articled and came to Lloydminster to practice in 1985.
Despite being a successful lawyer earning a big paycheque and raising three adult kids with his wife, Cheryl, Hall felt something was missing in his life.
“The thing that was missing was the peace he felt from what he told a captivated Rotary audience were details of his three personal encounters with God following the death and funeral of his father in 2007.
“I knelt down and felt a peace that I pray every one of you experiences some day. It’s a peace of just knowing you’ve had an encounter with God,” said Hall about one of them.
He told the Meridian Source, in a nutshell, he received a call from God to be a deacon.
“He wanted me to become a deacon and I listened to the call and it’s where it took me,” he explained.
He became an ordained minister in 2016, noting his law career does relate somewhat to his work with the Catholic church today.
“It helps me when dealing with people. It helps me be a critical thinker, because as a lawyer, you are involved in critical thinking, and it helps me think on my feet,” said Hall.
He says initially, he practised mostly litigations and criminal law, lots of personal injury law, and collections law.
“Later as my practice grew, I did a lot more real estate law, corporate-commercial law and wills and estates.”
Hall says a deacon is an ordained minister of the church primarily to help serve the poor, to help those who are underprivileged, and to assist where needed at the mass by providing homilies, marriages, baptisms and funerals.
“Most of my ministry is the school ministry, so I go into the schools quite a bit, so I help out teaching Kindergarten to Grade 12,” explained Hall.
He has no doubt that kids and adults are in need of spiritual direction these days.
“You can just look around and you can see the decisions that are made around us, the problems from everything from mental health to crime to selfishness,” said Hall.
“It’s all pointing to the direction that we need more spiritual growth and health.”
In his spare time, Hall plays hockey, runs and plays guitar in a band called the Sandy Beach Boys.
