Archbishop Daniel Buechlein Excellence in Catechesis honoree from Tell City loves ‘watching the faith click for people’

Megan Rust, parish catechetical leader for St. Paul Parish in Tell City, poses in the parish’s church with the faith community’s pastor Father Anthony Hollowell after he presented her the archdiocese’s Archbishop Daniel Buechlein Excellence in Catechesis Award on Aug. 16. (Submitted photo by Brooke Greene)

By Natalie Hoefer

Megan Rust was working for AT&T several years ago when she was invited to help with her Evansville, Ind., parish’s youth ministry at-home mission trip.

“I had no background with kids,” says Rust. “It was just a determined priest who thought I’d do well with kids, and people-pleasing me who couldn’t say no.”

The priest’s hunch was right. Rust “fell in love with youth ministry” and began volunteering as a catechist for sophomores at her parish.

Her love for “helping people find Christ” became a calling. Nine years ago, she left AT&T to become the parish catechetical leader for St. Paul Parish in Tell City.

“It’s the best job in the whole world because it doesn’t feel like a job,” says Rust. “I truly mean that. I love what I get to do.”

The love she’s poured into her ministry for nearly 10 years was recognized recently when Rust received the Archbishop Daniel Buechlein Excellence in Catechesis Award, the highest honor given by the archdiocesan Office of Catechesis. (Related story: ‘Catechesis for Discipleship Award’ honors witnesses to Christ)

“My favorite thing about Megan Rust is her genuine enthusiasm for the faith and her deep love for others,” says Deanna Dean, archdiocesan coordinator of catechetical resources. “God has blessed her with a wonderful sense of humor, which she thoughtfully uses to connect with and minister to those around her, … serving others with excellence.”

But the highest praise comes from a mother moved by Rust’s approach in preparing her autistic child for first Communion.

‘A true disciple of Christ’

“Her soft voice and kindness toward [him] was ever present in all she did,” the woman wrote to Ute Eble, archdiocesan director of catechesis.

The mother appreciated the special catechetical material used to help her son understand the sacrament.

But even more touching to her was how Rust “held him, hugged him, offered breaks, asked for the music to be softer. … Through her love, kindness and devotion to her job and to the children, she made my autistic son feel loved, safe, heard and understood.”

The woman also “greatly appreciated the love and generosity” Rust extended to her as well, calling St. Paul’s catechetical leader “a true disciple of Christ.”

Rust’s area of responsibility extends beyond St. Paul. The parish shares resources and leadership with three other Tell City Deanery faith communities: St. Mark in Perry County, St. Michael in Cannelton and St. Pius V in Troy. Among various groupings of the “quad parishes,” she leads kindergarten through eighth-grade religious education and preparation for certain sacraments. For all of the parishes, she oversees youth ministry, Order of Christian Initiation for Adults, adult faith formation and works on behalf of the Tell City Deanery with the leaders of the one-week Totus Tuus summer youth faith program.

“I love that no day is ever the same in my job,” she says. “It’s not 50% office work and 50% time with people—it’s more like 10% and 90%.”

She’s particularly pleased with the growth of the quad parishes’ youth ministry.

“When I started, we didn’t have a regular youth group—we just did NCYC [National Catholic Youth Conference] and mission trips,” Rust recalls.

She and her “team of fabulous volunteers” created an official youth ministry which the kids named IMPACT Youth: Influencing Many People as Catholic Teens. It includes monthly gatherings and programs like Java with Jesus and Lunch on Us, with as many as 40 youths participating at a time.

“To grow from nothing to that—it just warms my heart that these kids keep coming back,” says Rust. “One of my favorite parts of my job is watching the faith click for people.”

That reward holds true for adults as well as youths.

‘Supporting and loving people’

Rust admits that working with kids “is a primary part of my job.”

But this past spring during an adult class, she was moved by “watching people work really hard to develop that relationship [with Christ] and deepen their faith. That really drives me. If I leave somewhere and you know that Jesus loves you and there’s nothing you can do to change that, then I feel like I’ve done my job.”

Being a catechist requires patience, the ability to adapt quickly and an open mind, says Rust.

“Every time I meet with catechists, I tell them we have to meet [people] where they are and that we’re plantings seeds we may never see the results of,” she says.

Rust is drawn to three particular saints in her ministry. She is inspired by St. Maximillian Kolbe offering his life in the place of a concentration camp prisoner in Auschwitz in 1941 selected for death who had a family. She is motivated by St. Catherine of Siena’s quote, “Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire.”

And she draws strength from the lesser-known St. Maria Troncatti, a Salesian sister canonized in 2025 whose order sent her to evangelize in the Amazon region of Ecuador in 1922.

“They wanted to send her to the jungle, and she was like, ‘No, I’m good,’ but they sent her anyway,” says Rust. “She let go of her will.

“My job is like that. At first, I was resigned to saying ‘no’ because, as a single person, finances are a huge thing, and working for the Church, you won’t get rich in money—but you get rich in so many other ways.”

Rust admits she “got a little teary-eyed” when she learned about receiving the Archbishop Daniel Buechlein Excellence in Catechesis Award. “It was very unexpected—I just do my job every day.”

It’s a job she says she “can’t do alone.” Rust expresses gratitude for the support she receives from St. Paul’s staff and its pastor Father Anthony Hollowell, from the the other parishes she serves, and “from my ministry support group of fellow women who work across the archdiocese.”

She says her job is “so much more than teaching the faith.”

“I get to build relationships with people,” says Rust. “I get to know them and be there for some of the brightest parts of their life and sometimes the saddest. It’s all about supporting and loving people.”

In the end, she gets more than she gives, says Rust.

“This job has deepened my faith in ways I didn’t know it needed to deepen.” †