In a world of Catholic celebrities who proclaim the faith in the luminous digital sphere, Ann Lankford stands out as a quiet model of effectiveness in the field of catechesis and evangelization.

For the last 23 years Lankford has labored as director of the Diocese of La Crosse Office of Evangelization and Catechesis, embracing what she calls the “generous single life” and exerting influence that has reached well past the Wisconsin diocese’s borders.

One such example has been the “Understanding and Living the Virtues” program Lankford developed with the help of her sister, Carol, a consecrated virgin. The program, which is free and available on the diocesan website, has been picked up by parishes and schools throughout North America. It introduces 12 different virtues, explains why they are needed and shows how they can be practiced at different age levels from preschool through adult.

But Lankford’s impact has been felt in other ways as well. Petroc Willey, professor of theology and catechetics at Franciscan University of Steubenville, said her work in evangelization and faith formation is evident in the flourishing that is clearly seen in the La Crosse Diocese. “It reflects her loving long-term commitment to stability in her leadership in this area. It is striking how this concrete gift of herself over such a sustained period has allowed others to grow within a predictable and inspiring vision of ministry, and so to entrust themselves with her as collaborators.”

Willey said Lankford’s commitment also has been intensely personal as she has apprenticed and mentored others. “She attends to people so much through the gift of herself to help those around her develop in faith and in skills. The successful virtues program she has developed is very much a part of this approach. She helps people into a formation of the whole person, taking seriously the exercising of the virtue ‘muscles’ in the Christian life.”

Real Life Catholic’s Chris Stefanick, who worked with Lankford as a youth minister early in her tenure in La Crosse, added, “She’s a really unique witness as a single person who’s given the heart of her life to the Lord. I always saw in her spirit profound availability to Jesus and whatever he wanted, which is the essence of consecrated life. Without being consecrated, she has lived out the essence of that life, but that’s also the essence of the Christian life: to embrace whatever state God has you in. She’s done that joyfully.”

Stefanick said Lankford also is a model for women in the Church, exemplifying a feminine way of leading marked by a woman’s natural tendencies to nurture, be empathetic and listen. “In Church leadership over a long period of time, those feminine characteristics end up getting more done. Ann embodies that beautifully.” This extends, Willey added, to her collaboration with priests and guiding other catechists into the same healthy partnership with them.

At one time, however, Lankford was on a completely different path, seemingly destined for a career in tennis — until what she now sees as God’s providential timing intervened.

After a conversion, a health issue that took her off the tennis court, and a venture into youth ministry, Lankford found herself at Franciscan University, getting a master’s degree in theology and Christian ministry with a specialization in catechetics. She went on to spend four years as a director of religious education in Schuyler, Nebraska, before becoming director of catechesis and evangelization for the Diocese of La Crosse.

Throughout that time, Lankford has followed the advice a professor gave her at the start of graduate school: to identify and pursue her passion.

Through the influence of the late Barbara Morgan, founder of the catechetics program at Franciscan, Lankford’s passion became what Morgan called “The Story”: how men and women are created to be united in a relationship of love with God, how they lost that union through original sin, and how Jesus restores it.

Everything she has done since has been centered on telling that story and helping others do the same. Working with priests and laypeople in parishes and schools, Lankford has developed and expanded resources for religious education, faith formation and evangelization. She presents in the diocese’s diaconate and lay-formation institutes and at new-teacher formation for Catholic schoolteachers, facilitates online groups of religious-education directors and youth ministers through the “Franciscan at Home” program, and works with the diocese’s catechumenal ministry, helping Hmong people to become Catholic.

As a “Marian Catechist,” an apostolate started by Servant of God and Jesuit Father John Hardon, Lankford consecrates herself annually to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, committing to such daily practices as Mass, the Rosary, spiritual reading, and teaching the faith. Although such a commitment can sound too demanding, she said, “It’s kept me faithful because I have no business doing this job without a dedicated, committed prayer life.”

Her call to single life is something that became clarified for her about a year ago. “It was a long time in coming,” she said, “and it feels good to have it settled, to know that it’s not that I would not have been suited [for marriage], but that this is what God has uniquely called me to.”

Lankford believes singleness is the best state of life for her work because it allows her not only the time to do everything required of her, but to pray. “It’s not like I’m a workaholic,” she explained, “but I work a lot.” If she did have a family, she said, “Probably the first thing to go would be my prayer life. This is not an option; I cannot do this work if I do not have a solid relationship with Jesus Christ.”

Before embarking upon service to the Church, Lankford had played tennis in high school and at William Woods University in Fulton, Missouri, where she majored in French for secondary education. When she graduated from college, many high-school fine arts programs, which included French, were being cut, so she turned to tennis, teaching at tennis camps and getting her certification as a teaching pro from the U.S. Professional Tennis Association. Ultimately, she landed at a large tennis club in Milwaukee, where she taught for 12 years. While in Milwaukee, she experienced a conversion that transformed her from a “Sunday Catholic” into a fervent, committed follower of Christ.

Lankford said the seed of her conversion likely was watered by the prayers of her parents and seven siblings, and it took root one Sunday at Mass. “I was mid-step in the main aisle leaving and realized I had not heard one word.” She realized she was being a hypocrite by just showing up for Mass and knew that she needed to do something about it.

Summoning the discipline she had developed through her sports background, she decided that she would choose one aspect of the Mass she could focus on for 10 minutes and then start adding five minutes at a time.

“I would go to Mass and try my best to stay focused and really listen,” she said. “It worked.”

As she grew in her faith, Lankford continued teaching tennis, but her first indication that God had something else in store for her professionally occurred when a doctor advised her to quit because of the strain speaking loudly was putting on her vocal cords. She went to work in sales for a title insurance company and was enjoying the job when a priest from her hometown in Missouri who was struck by her newfound religious zeal asked her to consider serving as his parish youth minister.

She took the position, but after about a year, she realized that she had taught everything she knew. “I thought, ‘If I’m going to stay in this, I’ve got to go learn the faith.’” That summer, she took a class at Franciscan and later enrolled in the university’s master’s program.

Her first religious-education job after getting her master’s was in Schuyler, working for two parishes, and about the time she was thinking about moving on, she learned about the position in La Crosse.

Since then, she has followed her calling in a way that reflects a description her brother Mike once penned of her as being “the kind of person who when she finds her mission, she’s all in.”

Although she no longer plays tennis because of physical issues, she still enjoys watching matches and occasionally views some of the major tennis tournaments.

Still, the changes in her life that led her out of tennis into her work for Christ and his Church represent pure gain, not loss, for her. “I found the pearl of great price,” she said, “and it was the faith.”