RECongress 2010 - Period 8: Sunday, March 21, 2010

CONGRESS 2010 WORKSHOPS & LINKS
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8-01 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Small Group Leaders (workshop closed)

As we all know, teaching a middle school or high school faith formation class is not as easy as it looks. In fact, it can be downright maddening at times. We signed on to make a difference. Instead, we feel like banging our head against the wall and walking away from it all. Take heart. There is hope! Come join us as we explore the principles and practical strategies to effectively minister to our young people.

Fr. Lawrence Boadt will lead an exploration of the key spiritual insights of both Old and New Testaments and how we can not only develop a biblical spirituality as Catholics, but also make the Scriptures the source of our daily prayer, especially through Lectio Divina.

A cooperative effort on the part of several leadership groups dealing with catechesis has led to a set of standards for persons in ministry. This presentation will offer some strategies for selecting and training persons for ministry in catechizing.

This workshop will develop ways in which we open ourselves to receive God’s infinite gifts. As we receive God’s love into our lives we will also find ways to share this experience with others. As we grow in our spiritual life we become more effective spiritual guides.

Have you noticed that sometimes the presider at prayer makes all the difference? With one presider, prayer is heartfelt, effective and life-giving, but with someone else it seems routine or even dead. What about when you preside? In your classroom, in rituals with children, in adult formation sessions or even family gatherings, how can you ensure that when you craft and lead prayer, it falls into the life-giving category? This practical session teaches tools and tips to counteract deadness, helping you to effectively lead good prayer.

While wisdom is said to come with age, little prepares us, at any age, to face the losses that come to us and those we love. Being older doesn’t make it more appreciated or appropriate, though it may be more frequent. Our older adults, the largest group in many parishes, tend to feel forgotten, marginalized and often overwhelmed by the many losses in their lives. We will consider what loss is, unique losses among older adults, the cumulative effects of loss, how loss isolates, and how the church must respond.

Good conversation is a vivifying and at times even edifying experience. It can delight and enlighten the heart. Yet, Americans seem to be losing the ability to hear and accept the opinions of others. Fast-paced talking with equal give and take is rapidly being replaced by monologues, diatribes and rhetorical tactics. Responsive civility, let alone Christian kindness, is sadly passing away. This session will address the art of Christian conversation, and its necessity for adult faith formation and theological discourse. This session is recommended especially for those in ministries of evangelization, education, catechesis, youth and right to life.

The Catholic Church is learning to harness and embrace new media and social networking technologies to respond to the call for new evangelization. From the Vatican’s YouTube channel, to hundreds of Catholic podcasts and applications on iTunes, to thousands of Catholic interest groups on Facebook, today’s Catholics are turning to new media for faith formation, fellowship and evangelization. Learn to employ new media technologies in adult catechesis and explore the creative use of podcasting, streaming video and social networking techniques. A brief overview of software options and resources for new media basics will be provided.

Each of us has had life-changing experiences that help shape our faith journey and ultimately lead us to the work we do in bringing others to the well of Christ’s love. "Come and go with me to that land," where there will be no more sadness, tears or even death as we share experiences of the living God through ritual and music.

Tom Kendzia has been a professional liturgical musician for over 30 years and has 20 collections of liturgical and instrumental music. He has appeared in concert and as a speaker throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and the Far East, and he is regularly featured at national conferences. Kendzia is the National Music and Liturgy Consultant for Harcourt Religion Publishers, and since 2002, has been the Music and Worship Director of the East Coast Conference for Religious Education.

8-10 Moving from Requirement to Entitlement: The Young Adult Journey from Inheritance to Ownership

It is often said that the most neglected part of the Catholic church family is the young adults. Is there a way for these younger members of the Catholic family to make the transition from being "young people" to "young adults" as they wrestle with also being Catholic?

All people have a culture, and God works through each culture. This workshop will demonstrate the importance of multiculturalism for the ministry of catechesis. It will also propose practical strategies for catechetical ministers to plan and develop their faith formation efforts that reflect the incredible abundance of the Catholic faith tradition and the God-given dignity of the people they serve.

Isaiah’s is the dominant prophecy of the Hebrew Bible, and his prophecy has become a central part of Jewish and Christian teaching over the millennia. Judaism and Christianity interpret the very nature of prophecy differently and certainly view Isaiah’s prophecy differently. Rabbi Michael Mayersohn will share the Jewish understanding and interpretation of those prophecies of Isaiah that are especially important to Christianity (Chapters 7, 9, 11 and 53). See how Judaism and Christianity can reach such different understandings of the same text, and how we can look at the same words and understand them differently in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

8-13 Life in Abundance? Catholic Teaching on the Environment and Impact on Poor People

This workshop will explore the serious moral questions raised by environmental degradation, particularly climate change. What does an authentically Catholic approach to climate change look like? What are Pope Benedict and the Catholic bishops saying? How can I make a difference as an individual, a teacher, a student? We will focus specifically on the Catholic Climate Covenant: The St. Francis Pledge to Care for Creation and the Poor.

Daniel Misleh is founding Executive Director of the Catholic Coalition on Climate Change, based in Washington, D.C. The Coalition is comprised of 12 national Catholic organizations including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, where he previously served as Director of Diocesan Relations. For the past 20 years, Misleh has given workshops and keynote addresses to engage the Catholic community at the national, state and diocesan levels on the ongoing debate and solutions to climate change.

Diagnosed with late-stage ovarian cancer in 2004, Lynn Neu found herself standing in the need of prayer. She sent out an email cry for help that unleashed the power of prayer, community and the Internet … and gave birth to an online community of loving kindness and ministry called "The God Box." Building relationships and learning how to pray don’t happen overnight. Sickness and death do. Here, Lynn shares how she learned to pray, how family, faith and friends helped her heal, how cyberspace can become sacred space, and how you can develop your own lifeline should you be the one singing, "It’s me, it’s me, it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer."

Lynn Neu is a nationally recognized speaker, trainer and author. She has served as a Catholic high school religion teacher in Racine, Wis., as Director of Youth Ministry for the Milwaukee Archdiocese, as Campus Minister for the Catholic Community at U.C. San Diego, and as Adjunct Professor for the Center for Ministry Development. She is the author of "God Box: Seeking Justice" and "The God Box: Hope Strength Courage @ Your Fingertips."

Despite the scandals in the Catholic Church and the decline in membership, there are large numbers of people, including inactive Catholics, who still feel some attraction to the church. They are "seekers," but they will usually not make the first move to connect. But if someone reaches out to them, they will often respond. This workshop will present some simple, practical ways for individual Catholics and parish communities to connect with these seekers, without being pushy or offensive.

The theory of evolution is frequently viewed as a significant threat to religious belief, particularly those religions, like Christianity, that affirm divine relationship with the world. Drawing upon exciting new trends in the religion/science dialogue, this workshop examines how a Christian theology of evolution can yield surprising insights into God’s interaction with the world. Creation, on such a view, is a "loving risk" undertaken by a God who encounters us in the mode of creative vulnerability.

If music can be a gateway to the soul drawing us into another dimension, what can we learn from the jazz greats and saints when they share the source of their deep energy and vibrant celebration of life in all its fullness? We shall "travel light and dwell deep," touching base with luminaries ranging from Dizzy Gillespie to Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, from Louis Armstrong and Annie Lennox to Walter Brueggemann and the Archbishop of Canterbury!

We are in the second generation of labor recovering the wisdom and practice of adult initiation in the Catholic tradition. This session will explore whether this process is fulfilling its promise of transforming the church. This session will include presentation and facilitated discussion.

One of the most difficult ideas proposed by conservative/fundamentalist arguments about Scripture is that the Old Testament presents only one view of the issues that these writings discuss. In this session, Dr. Daniel Smith-Christopher will argue that the Old Testament already contains internal debates on a variety of issues – and rather than seeing this as a threat to Scripture – these debates are, instead, an exciting invitation to dialogue with Scripture in both prayer and study. If discussion and debate is not part of biblical theology – why does the New Testament present Christians debating with each other regularly as a part of their life together in faith?

We need to dance like no one is watching; sing like no one can hear … and laugh like a child at play, giggling with delight. The healing power of laughter is within each of us. Through laughter, we connect with others. This connection evolves into relationships which enable us to seize in-the-moment joy and free one another to risk becoming more wholly the person we were created to be. Through relationships, we call forth each other’s gifts and realize possibility that could not be imagined alone. Astounded by everyday blessings, we live life from a place of abundance and discover the richness of our true self.

In this era of ecumenical and interreligious sensitivity we sometimes gloss over what divides us. Or, in the opposite direction, we might tend to measure our own worth by highlighting and criticizing the shortcomings of other religions or Christian denominations. That’s not what this presentation is about! It’s about the positive – what makes us tick? Why be Catholic? Are there any core beliefs, practices or slants-on-life which make Roman Catholicism "unique," or at least "distinct"? Yes, there are six of them!

Many of us need help in dealing with pain (our own and that of others) and with our efforts to hang on to hope. This workshop will provide help by exploring the universality of pain, pain as wise adviser, and the great Christian paradox of cross and resurrection. Using Scripture, stories and humor, Sr. Melannie Svoboda will also probe the nature of hope and offer suggestions for sustaining hope in our contemporary world.

Tired of the same old "youth group" gathering that occupies their time but not the hearts and minds of the young teens who are present? How can we be faithful to our catechetical calling to echo the faith and lead young teens down the road of discipleship while making sure that we actively engage and apprentice them in the process? Let’s have some fun as we actively answer these questions together. Warning: This workshop is very hands on – you will not leave empty-handed or empty-headed!

Catechesis is the church’s formal effort to share the light of faith. Realistically, what can catechists and parents expect as a result of active involvement in parish K-12 programs? This session will take a realistic look at the one-hour, once-a-week, 30-times a year structure currently in place in many parishes and suggest how it might be used more effectively.

8-25 Every Day Above Ground Is a Good One! Learning to Appreciate God’s Abundance

Abundance is not something we are used to. It is tempting to be more conscious of what we don’t have, than what we do. In this workshop we will consider how to grasp and then communicate the sheer generosity of God. By exploring this theme we will consider the uplifting role that gratitude can play in our lives and that the first obstacle to gratitude is to fail to see what God has done for us. By using church teaching, the spiritual masters and poets, images and stories, we will consider together not only how to experience God’s abundance, but also how to communicate it in the sessions we lead in our parishes and schools.

Why are today’s ministers burnt out, stressed out and wiped out? Ministers are continually challenged with caring for self while ministering to and with others. Now, Jesus clearly states that the Greatest Commandment is to Love God and your neighbor as yourself. Ultimately our lack of caring for self is a justice issue – which impacts our effectiveness as ministers. This workshop will share strategies for caring for self that are attentive to our spiritual, emotional and physical well-being, which in the process will make us better ministers.

2010 RECongress Period 8

Religious Education Congress
Sunday, March 21, 2010
1:00 - 2:30 pm

2010 RECongress Period 8

Religious Education Congress Sunday, March 21, 2010 1:00 - 2:30 pm

Religious Education Congress
Sunday, March 21, 2010
1:00 - 2:30 pm