Family helped develop director’s role of advancing Church’s mission

Ask Richard Lanahan the reasons he sought the role of director, diocesan Office of Development, and you will learn of his tradition of service to the Church first kindled as a youth in South Jersey.
 

“It runs in the family,” Lanahan said with a smile, recounting his days as an altar server at St. Jude Parish, Blackwood, during the term of a certain young parochial vicar (and his future boss): then-Father, now-Bishop James F. Checchio. Foreshadowing his own role in the life of the Church, Lanahan’s father, James, served as director of Development for the Dioceses of Trenton, then Camden, for many years.
 

Service to the Church also was instilled in his brothers, James and Matthew. “In the summer, mom would say to us, ‘Come on, boys, let’s go clean the church to get those confirmation hours,’” he recalled.
 

Lanahan attended Catholic schools throughout his entire educational career, first at his parish school, St. Jude Regional, then Paul VI High School, Haddonfield. He graduated from Kings College, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in history and high school teaching certifications from both Pennsylvania and New Jersey; and earned a master’s degree in business administration with a specialization in business systems and analytics at La Salle University, Philadelphia, in 2019.
 

Lanahan has served as major gifts officer at Kings College; the director, Institutional Advancement, Lansdale (Pa.) Catholic High School, and senior director, Development, Lynch Development Associates, Huntington, N.Y.
 

His position in the diocese fits within his faith-based professional choices.
 

“It ties directly to who I am as a person with regards to being a Catholic, what I have done during my entire career: attending Catholic high school and colleges, working for Catholic development firms, again building and driving the mission of the Catholic Church,” he said.
 

His new position includes working with the Bishop’s Annual Appeal, aiding small parishes with their capital campaigns and reaching out to older Catholics to assist with estate gifts. Goals include increasing the Bishop’s Annual Appeal figures and finding more resources for seminarians and Catholic Charities.

Lanahan has a message to those Catholics who question donations to the diocesan-level Bishop’s Annual Appeal when they already support their local parishes: it’s all about being a better Catholic.
 

“It, ultimately and overall, helps the four counties (Somerset, Middlesex, Hunterdon and Warren) served by the diocese, especially in feeding the hungry and supporting the poor,” he said. “It’s using charity as a way to become closer to God.

“You can’t run any organization without dollars,” he continued. “It’s about building on the mission of the Church and we can’t do that without relationships and money. It’s important to continue to ask our donors for that support, for if we don’t ask, we don’t receive.”
 

Lanahan and his wife, Alissa, live in Doylestown, Pa., with their two children, Brynne and Declan, and are eagerly awaiting the birth of their third child this summer. Their home parish is Our Lady of Guadalupe, Buckingham Township, Pa.
 

Considering his new mission to strengthen the many resources of programs which aid so many within the four counties, Lanahan reflected, “There are things we can do and things we can fix. There’s always room for growth.”
 

Then, echoing his days as a member of his high school and college lacrosse teams, he concluded with a sports analogy.
 

“It’s about who has the skill set to move the ball forward, to grow in faith.”