Meet the deacon candidates: Scott Elder
Scott Elder signs the Oath of Fidelity at St. Patrick Cathedral on June 3, 2024. (NTC/Susan Moses)
FORT WORTH — With praise and thanksgiving to almighty God, Bishop Michael Olson will ordain three men to the permanent diaconate on June 21. The men have undergone five years of discernment and formation as they prepare to serve Christ's Church more deeply.
In advance of the Mass of Diaconate Ordination at 7 p.m. on June 21 at Vietnamese Martyrs Parish in Arlington, we would like to introduce the deacon candidates one at a time. Please join us in prayer for these men.
Scott Alan Elder
Raised Baptist, Scott Elder did not know much about the Catholic faith until he met his wife, Carol, in college. Elder instantly fell in love with the liturgy and sacraments of the Church.
Elder was confirmed into the Catholic Church on a snowy Easter Saturday in 2005. Since his confirmation, Elder has served in a variety of roles at his home parish of Our Lady of Lourdes in Mineral Wells, including as a catechist, lector, usher, and third-degree knight in the Knights of Columbus.
Elder ultimately heard his call to service in working at retreats and talking with other men about their faith.
He began discerning the diaconate when serving as a team member on an ACTS retreat. Two fellow team members, Deacon Scott France and Deacon Rigoberta Leyva, both recommended that he consider formation.
Shortly after, Father Balaji Boyalla, SAC, approached Elder with information in hand concerning deacon inquiry meetings. Then Elder knew he better listen as God was trying to get a point across. After much prayer and consultation with his wife Carol, they agreed the diaconate was a good path to serve Christ, for both of them and their family.
Following graduation from Texas A&M University, Elder received a doctorate in jurisprudence from Northwestern School of Law in Portland, Oregon.
For the past 24 years, he and his wife have owned and operated a bottled water company in Mineral Wells while raising three children.
Their oldest son, Zach, was killed in a car accident his senior year at Texas A&M, which was during Scott’s second year in the deacon formation program.
“I will forever be grateful to God that I was able to fall back onto the deacon formation program during our period of immense grief,” Elder said. “Having the tools and resources available to be able to help me, Carol, and our two girls through that very difficult time will always mean so much to me.”
Since his time in RCIA prior to his confirmation and throughout diaconate formation, Elder has enjoyed theological study and learning about the history of the Church and the Church Fathers. He found his time spent in formation as a volunteer hospital chaplain and with homebound ministries to be a special gift from God, an opportunity to share God’s love and to see the face of Christ in others.
He hopes to continue to serve the faithful through hospital chaplaincy and homebound ministry after ordination, and he prays to be a voice of God and an example of Christ’s love to those suffering a loss like his family suffered.
“Lord, help me to be effective in action, gentle in ministry, and constant in prayer,” Elder prayed. “Help me to be configured in your image and always do your will.”