About Hooked on Joy
Founded in 2016
Hooked on Joy began from an overflowing of joy that I felt in discovering who I really was and what I was really called to do. As I pursued coaching certifications and began coaching others, it was clear to me that this ministry was a great part of what God was calling me to do.
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At the urging of people that I had coached and a group of dear friends, I developed an approach to coaching that allowed couples to be the ones who experienced the great
joy of discovering and uncovering the gifts and strengths in one another. This eventually became Strong2gether and my experiences with hundreds of couples continued to build on my understanding of this eye-opening process for couples. One of the great beauties of it, however, is that since we are each unique, each couple is unique, and I will never exhaust the joy of discovering the beauty of another relationship. I suppose God feels that way about us.
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As I began, through my work in parish evangelization, to get more requests to speak, and also built up a following for my daily Gospel reflections, I thought it appropriate to bring all of the things that are part of the Joy God has led me to under one 'roof'.
About Gary Fritsch
Founder of Hooked on Joy
After a 25-year corporate career with an American healthcare giant, it became clear that God was calling me to something else, something that I had no schooling or work experience for. Clifton Strengths helped me understand a deeper level of giftedness that transcended work skills, or years of experience - I uncovered the things that I was MADE FOR.
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One of these things was helping others to discover themselves in this beautiful process that was both intuitive and biblically aligned, as it reinforced our complete uniquity - we are the one and only one that can do what we do in the way that we do it.
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In the eight plus years since I left my corporate career behind, I have worked as a Director of Evangelization, led mission trips, been a Pastoral Associate, completed four years of diaconate training, coached over 300 people in Strengths finders including over 100 couples in the Strong2gether program, wrote a book of Gospel reflections for the Easter Season and completed my Masters degree in Theology.
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I have been so blessed to regularly lead Bible studies with over 100 participants and have led over 450 people through a program called The SEARCH, which (re)introduces people to the Christian faith and Catholicism. Our SEARCH program was one of the largest in the country with over 240 people participating each week for seven weeks.
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All of this is the result of God's blessing as I pursued what he made me for, despite being almost completely unqualified in the traditional sense.
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Gary works as the Director of Evangelization at Saints Martha and Mary Parish in north Pittsburgh. He and his wife Barb have five grown children and he is the proud 'G-Dad' of 5 grandchildren.
