Fr. Ed Influence On A Person's Life

Father Edwin (Fr. Ed) Schmidt made an impact on everyone who met him. Last week, a family came up to me telling me they were sorry to hear that Fr. Ed Schmidt had passed away. The husband said, “Fr. Ed was a great man. We met him only a few times. There was a time when my wife was in a wedding and Fr. Ed was the priest during the wedding ceremony. At the dinner after the wedding, he sat our table; that is when we really had the opportunity to meet him, to learn about him. He was a guy that was dearly loved by all.” This is exactly how most people described Fr. Ed. That family was even a baptist family enjoying a catholic priest. Fr. Ed did not let boundaries stand in the way. He did all for the glory of God. He worked, worked, and worked to …show more content…
The St. Martin’s Catholic Church, where he was last a priest at for over 20 years, was a strong community of volunteering through leadership. When a small task came up, someone covered it. When someone was completing a task, you would hear that they were simply offering it up. Life becomes more enjoyable when others are not complaining about a task; when they desire to volunteer in other needed positions. Not only did Fr. Ed influence each individual to help but he also encouraged teams of individuals to work together. Sometimes, you may hear Fr. Ed say in the same sentence to, “Offer it up”, “Many hands make light work.” This was clearly seen throughout the year. Every year around Christmas and Easter, decorating and “dedecorating”, as Fr. Ed would always call it, became quicker and quicker. Why did it become quicker? Because many people in the parish came together to “offer up” their time in order that the work may be light for others. Fr. Ed was fully in wherever he was at. He made St. Martin’s Church his priority as it was his family. The words he would say to everyone as they were telling each other bye was, “God love Ya!” Those sayings were most common coming from …show more content…
Ed was well respected and loved by everyone, no matter what denomination you were. Many people loved Fr. Ed because he lived through showing the love of God, he influenced, he encouraged others to lead, and he was there to help anyone accomplish what was needed for the mission. These are important natural traits he had received from God. These are some of the same traits that Humphrey discusses within his book, Effective Leadership: control, influence people to achieve goals within a group, value and desire for a group, and to problem solve (Humphrey 2013). Fr. Ed would be a part of every committee and group found within the church because he was involved. Everyone checked plans and ideas with Fr. Ed; this occurred mainly out of respect for Fr. Ed. Most people respected his views and opinions about a decision; therefore, they followed what he thought would be best after discussing options with other people also. Communication with other people, leaders and nonleaders, is key also for great effective leadership. This communication is important to have others involved in leadership. This type of leadership is a shared leadership; a way to empower others in the church (Humphrey, 2013; Northouse, 2014). This shared leadership was given out to the Deacons, members of the Parish Council, Worship and Spiritual life committee, along with others within the church. There were also organizations such as the Knights of Columbus that worked through the church for the community