Deacon-principal Lawrence Houston earns national honor

As the archdiocese’s only permanent deacon-principal, Deacon Lawrence Houston (pictured above) shares his love for singing and preaching at prayer services, Masses and other events at St. Joan of Arc School in New Orleans. “(My role) allows me to bring a word to the kids, talk with them about things that are going on, help them to see a better direction – a better way of making choices – to talk about Christ as an example of the life we strive to live,” he said. (Photos by Beth Donze, Clarion Herald)

By BETH DONZE
Clarion Herald

Deacon Lawrence Houston says there’s nothing better than when he spots one of his students having an epiphany – whether it’s mastering a lesson in academics, grasping some abstract spiritual teaching or realizing that even a minor change in behavior can lead to a happier school day.

“You can see when that proverbial light bulb has come on for them because it marks a change in how they approach things, how they do things,” said Deacon Houston, who recently completed his second year as principal of St. Joan of Arc School in New Orleans.

“It’s the same for Christians,” he added. “When that light bulb comes on and we say we accept Christ in our life, it means we’re different from that point forward. We’re improving; we’re moving forward.”

Deacon Houston, a 31-year veteran of Catholic education, recently was named to an elite group of nine school leaders who received the “Lead, Learn, Proclaim Award” from the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA). Three principals, three educators and three pastors were cited for this year’s honor, which recognizes dedication to faith formation in one’s Catholic school community.

“I am called as a Catholic educator to educate the whole child, and so to receive this award is a humbling experience,” said Deacon Houston, 53. “To be chosen from among the many wonderfully qualified Catholic educators from around the United States makes me thankful and proud to be placed by God in Catholic education.”

Musically inclined teenager

A native of St. Louis, Deacon Houston grew up Baptist, first encountering Catholicism after transferring to a Catholic school in third grade. He went on to attend Cardinal Ritter College Prep – named for the bishop who integrated St. Louis’ Catholic schools – where he honed his tenor voice in the choir, played football and served as president of his junior and senior classes.

During his senior year, Franciscan Father Thaddeus Posey – a Cardinal Ritter teacher and the founder of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University – introduced him and two other promising music students to the visiting chair and co-chair of Xavier’s music department.

“(Father Posey) had set up auditions, but he hadn’t told us; we auditioned, right there on the spot,” chuckled Deacon Houston, who accepted a partial scholarship to study music at Xavier with a concentration in vocal performance. Deacon Houston, who harbored the typical performing artist’s dreams of “making it in New York” after graduation, experienced the thrill of touring the country with Xavier’s musical ensemble and traveling to Rome to sing at the 1988 Beatification Mass of St. Katharine Drexel, Xavier’s foundress.

“But God said, ‘I have other plans for you,’” said Deacon Houston, who had converted to Catholicism toward the end of his time at Xavier, propelled by his engagement to his future wife, Erica. He also felt drawn by the Eucharist and the church’s explicit dedication to social justice.

“Within the Catholic Church there is a lot of explanation as to why things are done,” Deacon Houston observed. “As I grew up Baptist, people didn’t explain things. You just did it, because you saw others do it, without really understanding why.”

Another life-changing moment came the following fall, when Edmundite Father Michael Jacques, pastor of the newlyweds’ home church of St. Peter Claver, asked Houston if he would be interested in replacing a teacher at the parish school. Deacon Houston found his niche, finishing out the school year at St. Peter Claver, spending the next six years teaching at St. Monica Elementary and returning again to St. Peter Claver for more than 20 years –13 of them as assistant principal and three as principal.

His initial plan to devote five years to the principalship took a turn when declining enrollment and an insurmountable budget shortfall led to the school’s closure in 2019, after nearly a century of educating African-American youngsters.

“I just came to the realization that God wanted me in that (final principal’s) position because he knew what was coming up, and he needed somebody that the people knew and that the people would be comfortable with walking that journey with them,” Houston said of the painful period.

A teaching principal

As fate would have it, St. Joan of Arc, a school in the city’s Carrollton neighborhood founded in 1893 by the Sisters of the Holy Family, was seeking someone to succeed its own principal, Dionne Frost. Now, in addition to being the lead administrator of St. Joan of Arc’s 172 students, Deacon Houston is a “teaching-principal” of three classes: fifth- and sixth-grade music, and seventh-grade financial literacy.

“Many of our teachers have been here for 10-plus years,” said Houston, touting St. Joan of Arc’s neighborhood location and multi-generational legacy of students and alumni.

Ordained as a permanent deacon in 2010, Houston said he became aware of the permanent diaconate when a fellow music minister mentioned he was in formation.

“I tell people all the time, just because I have that title of ‘Deacon’ before my name, it doesn’t make me any holier than anybody else,” said Deacon Houston, who with his wife are the parents of two adult children.

“My faith journey is just like anybody else’s faith journey – it’s one day at a time; it’s getting up and making the decisions that all of us have to make: ‘Will I serve (God) today? Will I not serve him? Will I make the right choice today?’”

bdonze@clarionherald.org