New diocesan employee eager to spread faith to others

For Jason Cordova, diocesan administrative assistant for the Secretariat for Family and Pastoral Life, faith has always been an important part of his life.

Cordova grew up in Kendall Park and continues to attend Mass at his home parish of St. Augustine of Canterbury where he was an altar server from the age of 11 throughout his teen years. He further cultivated his faith during his time attending Rutgers University, New Brunswick, continuing his ministry as a server and becoming active in the campus ministry program.

“My faith has been a big part of my life since I was young, but really became the foundation of my life in college,” he said, adding that campus ministry was “extremely influential” in developing his spiritual life.

He later went on to spend a year teaching religion to middle schoolers at St. Augustine of Canterbury School.

“It was in this position, where I saw up close how the youth interact with faith — both the good, and the parts that could use improvement,” said Cordova, who also had opportunities to work with youth through eight years of umpiring baseball and softball.

In his new role, Cordova supports the diocesan Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, the Office of OCIA (Order of Christian Initiation for Adults) and the Office of Discipleship Formation for Children. He also provides assistance with social media for the Office of Communications.

“I am very excited as all of these fit well into my passion for spreading the faith,” he said. “While my role is primarily administrative, I really look forward to learning more about the big picture aspect of these ministries and providing input where I can.”

As someone who has taught in a Catholic school and who has been part of young adult ministries for several years, Cordova hopes to leverage his background and experiences in this position.

“I feel that I can bring a youthful, yet experienced, perspective to the table,” he shared. “Ultimately, all three offices that I support are tasked with, in some way, making the faith more accessible, which is what I care most about. Furthermore, I really hope to be able to incorporate social media in a way to engage with the youth and young adults in the Diocese.”

Cordova also has a military background, having participated in the ROTC program at Rutgers for all four years – training to be an Army officer while enlisting in the New Jersey Army National Guard. While he had planned his future around this ambition, unforeseen circumstances put him on another path.

“It was through my faith that I knew God had other plans for me,” he said. “With a then-uncertain future, I knew that ultimately, my greatest passion was serving the Church in whatever capacity I could.”

As he started looking for job openings in the Diocese of Metuchen, he found the posting for the job he now holds and jumped at the opportunity.

“Immediately I applied, knowing that if it was the Lord’s will, this job would suit my talents perfectly,” he said. “Thankfully, God’s hands were all over it, and I was hired shortly thereafter.”
Cordova also has a passion for studying theology and hopes to pursue further studies in the future.

“I think that studying the faith is extremely important in order to strengthen our own faith,” he said, “as well as to be able to effectively evangelize others.”