Even as the world’s attention is focused on the late leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Robert Cleveland believes the church’s future depends on the involvement of those at the local level.

So when leaders of his parish in Camden asked Cleveland, 52, to consider attending a class that would prepare him to serve as a permanent deacon, he readily accepted.

“I saw early on that if the church was going to be a vital church, more laypeople would have to be involved,” he said in an interview.

Last June, Cleveland was ordained as a permanent deacon, a part-time job. A lifelong Roman Catholic who is married – as are all of the ordained deacons in Maine – he earned a master’s degree in pastoral studies from Loyola University in Chicago. The degree is one of the requirements for the ordained position.

Cleveland, who lives in Hope, has a career outside the church. He is an assistant vice president for information technology with Camden National Corp., the parent company of Camden National Bank and other banks.

“This is a 180,” he admitted with a chuckle.

But Cleveland sees the role of deacon in the church as one rife with opportunity.

Part of what someone like Cleveland brings to the job is the spiritual perspective of a middle-aged man who has experienced the challenges of work and family.

Deacons can visit sick and dying parishioners and counsel.

“We sometimes end up doing administrative work,” which is also important, Cleveland said, but much of the work is to “visit folks at home.”

The Greek word from which the English word “deacon” derives means “service,” he said, and that should drive the work.

If no priest is available, a deacon can take on some of the duties of a priest.

“I can do baptisms, marriages, and funerals that don’t have a Mass,” Cleveland said.

Though his home church is Our Lady of Good Hope in Camden, he was assigned to St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Rockland. With the reconfiguration of parishes in Maine, deacons like Cleveland likely will be called on to do more, possibly even serve full time.

“I could basically run the parish full time,” he said, “if it’s needed and I’m available.”

The availability question is still unresolved.

Cleveland said if he were to take the plunge and make himself available to serve full time, he might be assigned to a church in, say, Limestone, which would mean leaving his family home.

Still, Cleveland enthusiastically embraces the deacon role.

“It’s tremendously satisfying,” he said.