Among the 300 catechumens taking part in this year’s diocesan Rite of Election were four Franklin County sheriff’s deputies being instructed by Father Joseph Yokum, sheriff’s office chaplain and pastor of Grove City Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church.
The four are from three parishes and because their work schedules differ, they are meeting with Father Yokum at a time convenient for all.
Two of them, brothers Ryley and Tyler Mullins, “grew up sort of Catholic but were never baptized,” Ryley said. Deputy Garret Owens said he had a family that “went to a Protestant church but only on big days like Christmas and Easter.” Detective Mike Raven said he grew up in a single-parent home that was “spiritual but not religious.”
All four said they wanted more of a faith dimension in their lives and that when Father Yokum invited deputies to form an Order of Christian Initiation class, they were ready to respond to the invitation.
“Tyler and I often went to Mass at (Columbus) St. Mary Church in German Village,” said Ryley Mullins, 30, a deputy for 12 years who joined the sheriff’s office after being medically discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps during training at Parris Island, South Carolina.
“Our dad and a grandmother were strong Catholics but never asked us about baptism and we never mentioned it to them. Then I got older, life got in the way and I never got close to God.”
Mullins said he went to a Catholic church when he was in the Marines “and I began to feel a sort of peace there and started praying more,” but didn’t investigate Catholicism further until meeting Father Yokum.
“Sometimes he’d ride on patrol with me, we’d get to talking and praying together and he felt more like a brother than a priest,” Mullins said. “When he talked about an OCIA class of deputies, I knew I wanted in.”
He said what has touched him most in learning about Catholic doctrine is the full realization that God has given human beings free will.
“You see some of the things you do as deputies and say to yourself, ‘Why does God let things happen this way?’’ he said. “Discovering what the Church teaches has made me realize that it’s not God that causes bad things, but it’s human beings, because He has let us determine things while at the same time, He ultimately has a plan for everything.”
Tyler Mullins, 27, a deputy for almost seven years, said, “Even though Ryley and I had all this exposure to the Catholic Church while growing up, I had no idea how much God and Jesus love people and care for them. You hear about this idea of an angry God, but everything I’ve learned has shown God loves me to an extent I could never have realized.”
Tyler and his wife, Megan, a “cradle Catholic,” attend Our Lady of Perpetual Help, have been married for a few months and are expecting their first child. Ryley and his wife, Danielle, were married in late 2023 and have a six-month-old son. They live in Sunbury and he anticipates becoming a parishioner at St. John Neumann Church there and joining the Knights of Columbus.
Raven, 54, a 31-year sheriff’s office veteran, was born in England, came to the United States as an infant and was raised by a single mother in Grandview Heights. He became a U.S. citizen at age 17 and served for six years in the Marine Corps, mostly in the Reserves. During his active duty, he was part of Operation Desert Storm, “but we stayed on a ship the whole time and never made it to land,” he said.
He has been married to his wife, Nyla, for 10 years. They have an 8-year-old son, Jax, and attend the New Albany Church of the Resurrection.
Raven said his becoming Catholic is a process that has evolved over several years. “I’d always believed in a higher power without being more specific than that,” he said. “I felt I was being called to serve by whatever that power was, so I joined the Marines and got into law enforcement.
“After I met Nyla, I started going with her to (now-closed Columbus) Holy Rosary-St. John Church and it opened my eyes. The priest and people there were very approachable, not like the stuffy holier-than-thou image I had of church people. It got me to thinking more about maybe becoming Catholic.
“Then my wife’s parents invited me to a dinner where I met Father Joe and I found him to be very outgoing. I’d also see him at crime scenes and on ride-alongs, so I was glad to take him up on his offer to learn more about the Church. I had a lot of questions for him because I wasn’t going to blindly go into things, and he’s answered them all to my satisfaction.”
“I’ve seen many things in three decades with the sheriff’s office that are not natural and have bothered me greatly,” he said. “One thing that always amazed me is how often people are forgiving in those kind of cases.
“I can’t tell you how many scenes I’ve been to and asked why people lived or died, and how often people have said they forgive whoever is responsible for a crime. Forgiveness is a hard thing. It’s one of the most selfless things I can think of, and yet many times people are willing to do it.”
He said that in his faith journey, “one thing that has stood out for me is something I learned at homicide investigation school from a New York detective who has worked more than 800 cases. He said, ‘Remember, we work for God.’ I’ve kept those words in mind ever since. It’s as though God has provided a crutch for me by giving me the coping skills and the compassion you have to have in in a job like mine.”
Tyler Mullins said he had gained some knowledge of Catholicism by occasionally going to Mass while staying overnight at a friend’s house during his childhood and by going to Catholic weddings and funerals.
“I grew up around the Catholic Church and began wanting to know more about it, and after one wedding in particular, I realized I wanted to take religion seriously and it seemed the best way was through the Catholic Church,” he said. “I think part of it is that I’m a sucker for tradition and the Church has 2,000 years of history behind it.
“I live in Grove City and know Karen Cook (adult faith formation director at Our Lady of Perpetual Help). She told me about Father Joe’s class for deputies, and I knew Father from seeing him at the police academy, so I jumped in feet first to join the class.”
“I had no idea that no matter where you are around the country or the world, every Catholic church has the same Mass,” he said. “The language may be different and there may be different forms, but no matter where I go, I know there will be a Liturgy of the Word, Scripture readings, and a Liturgy of the Eucharist and that I’ll be able to receive Christ in the Eucharist once I’m baptized. That’s really beautiful.”
Owens, who is single, has been a deputy for a year and a half after working at the Kenworth truck manufacturing plant in Chillicothe.
“I’m blessed by a great extended family and they’re delighted I’m joining the Church,” he said. “They’re 100 percent fully supportive and that helps me know I’m doing the right thing.”