RECongress 2011 - Period 1: Friday, March 18, 2011

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4-01 Liturgical Movement for Children: Connecting the Dots (Workshop closed)

Learn how to use music, movement, gesture and dance to “bring alive” the stories and messages of our faith. Find how exciting it is to weave the elements of dance into your lesson plans to create a hands on approach to learning. Come ready to move while learning songs and dance that can be used in the K-8 classroom or at children’s liturgies.

The “new” atheists have emerged as strident critics of religion. Fr. Robert Barron has found that, more often than not, he agrees with them – for the God they deny is one that many would deny as well. He will explore this curious situation with the help of St. Thomas Aquinas.

4-03 Trust in Me: Songs of Faith for Children’s Catechesis (Workshop closed)

John Burland will share a variety of engaging songs that celebrate and affirm God’s presence in our lives each day. These songs are suitable for children at the elementary level and will enrich and energize faith formation across a range of catechetical themes. Incorporating movement, gesture and practical strategies that work, this workshop will keep you singing and moving as we celebrate our Catholic faith.

This workshop will deal with two recent events where the U.S. Catholic bishops demonstrated the absolute centrality of the Church’s teaching on abortion – the Obama election, and the 2010 health-care reform package and how the Catholic Health Association entered this discourse. Why is it that abortion plays the central role in the Church’s teachings about moral absolutes? How does the reception of the Eucharist play a part in this discussion?

There are turning points – crises, failures, disappointments, losses – that change our journey. They beg the questions: How am I meeting life? Do I even know what life is? There is a power in every circumstance, no matter how difficult, that holds the key to many things. The first prison wall is my own unwillingness to know and listen to the turning point that is right before me.

Come and experience the power of young people being ministers of music for parish life. Jaime Cortez will share some of his ideas that have been successful in the parish and also in the school settings. Young people will assist in this workshop as song leaders, lectors and musicians.

Concert artist, clinician and teacher, Jaime Cortez has been leading music for worship for more than 25 years, and over 20 years as a pastoral musician for the Phoenix Diocese, where he is presently Director of Liturgy and Music at Holy Cross Church in Mesa, Ariz. Cortez has been a workshop presenter at every major national conference in the country and has also given workshops and concerts in England, Wales and Japan. He has six music collections that are published by OCP.

4-07 The New Roman Missal: Part 2 – Mystagogy and Pastoral Responses (Workshop closed)

This workshop will consider the pastoral, ecclesial and theological issues at stake in the new Roman Missal, and offer an overview of possible pastoral responses. Particular attention will be given to the issue of “reception” of both the current and previous Missal. (This is a continuation of Session 3-09.)

We stand at a difficult time in our Church when many church leaders are insisting on a more robust assertion of Catholic identity, while others are concerned the openness and creativity Vatican II promised are all but gone. There is often heated disagreement on what it means to be Catholic today. This presentation will try to diagnose the causes of our highly charged experience of church tension and then explore some helpful responses.

Participants will explore various leadership roles necessary for effective parish youth ministry and the gifts, skills and training needed to build strong adult teams. Adult leaders are called to focus their ministry on the example of Jesus. Come and explore servant leadership for youth ministry.

Dr. Carole Goodwin has spent the last 15 years in diocesan leadership and is presently Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese of Louisville, Ky. She recently completed four years as Chair of the Board of Directors for the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, based in Washington, D.C. Dr. Goodwin has taught all age groups, from grade school through graduate school, and has presented in many dioceses across the United Sates and Trinidad. She has made multiple appearances at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress.

Toward the end of his public ministry, Luke’s Gospel has Jesus ask, “When the Son of Man comes again, will there be faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8). Was Jesus imagining a time like ours? Today’s best-selling books recommend a “new atheism.” Social commentators claim that ours is a “secular age” that actively discourages religious faith. The Pew Report on Religion in America claims there are 30 million “former” Catholics in the United States alone. So, will there be faith? This workshop proposes that “it all depends on what, why, and how we teach it.”

4-11 Soul Friendship: A Hopeful Ministry for the Future Church (Workshop closed)

The ancient Celts and early Church Mothers and Fathers called the ministry anam cara (“soul friendship”). Learn about this remarkable pastoral practice that is emerging in the face of daunting institutional challenges. Here is an ancient wisdom path for the soul of every seeker to find support and direction in life. Related to the ministry of spiritual direction but immersed in the great mystical traditions, anam cara may be one of the most promising breaths of fresh air for 21st-century Christianity. Learn why Brigit of Ireland wrote in the fifth century, “A person without an anam cara is like a body without a head.”

In our times, religion is privatized and morality is equated with sex. We wonder if our lives make a difference, where God is, and why it is so difficult to know what is deepest in our hearts. Can a Catholic vision of the moral life help us not only to cope but to flourish personally and socially?

Marianist priest Fr. James Heft is currently the Alton Brooks Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and President of its Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies. He has taught 30 years at the university level, and formerly served as a professor, provost and chancellor at the University of Dayton in Ohio. Fr. Heft has written and edited seven books and published over 150 articles and reviews.

We live driven, distracted and depleted. Is there a different way? Terry Hershey invites us to heed the simple instruction from our childhood. Stop. Look. Listen. Three simple words can free us, encourage us and help us to live fully awake in the present, and to literally see God in all things. Three simple words can give us the permission to absorb – to rest, see and listen to – the fullness of life that surrounds us, and make us glad to be alive.

In planning for lifelong faith formation, it’s not all about classes and content – it’s also about spending quality time together and making supper. No one likes to share a meal more than Bill Huebsch does! In this workshop, he will teach you how to make shared meals a key part of your own life and the life of your parish. You will learn the “theology of food,” the place of meals in the life of Jesus, practical ways to help households sit down to table together to make meals more significant, the Eucharistic connections, and several good recipes and menus. Bring a note pad!

Singing is meant to play a major role in our liturgical prayer life, but is often taken “lightly” in the role of catechesis. Join in this lively workshop that places music – and especially singing – in the center of a great catechetical program for the whole community.

Composer, author and performer, Tom Kendzia spends his time working with diocesan, parish and national conferences throughout the United States and Ireland. Kendzia is presently Director of Music at Christ the King Church in Kingston, R.I. He has over 100 songs published; his most recent collection of liturgical music is titled “Endless Is Your Love.”

ValLimar Jansen – singer, composer and recording artist – has served as a college/university professor, a leader of worship, prayer and workshops at conferences across the country and abroad. Jansen was recently nominated for a 2010 Unity Award, for Female Vocalist of the Year, and selected to serve as the first solo female MC of the 2011 National Catholic Youth Conference.

Whether you are single by choice or by circumstance, those who find themselves without a permanent life partner are constantly challenged to think beyond the stereotype that life begins when you walk down the aisle. This workshop takes a candid look at some of the myths that singles face and explores how a spiritual outlook can help singles lead a full and abundant life.

We live with complex issues and problems that no one person can address. We need each other and we need to learn better ways to work together. This workshop will address the attitudes, skills and practices that will assist participants to become more skill-full co-laborers by creating collaborative environments. Obstacles to collaborative ministry will also be explored.

Even in a world defended and fearful of outsiders, Christians are invited to reach beyond borders, welcome strangers, and discover there the God who has promised to dwell among the least. Using stories from her cross-cultural work with refugees, Sr. Marilyn Lacey encourages us to open up to God’s goodness always flowing toward us in surprising, humorous and life-altering ways. This session offers a fresh faith perspective on the immigration issues that face many societies today.

Sr. Marilyn Lacey has worked among refugees and migrants for 30 years. The Sister of Mercy is founder and Executive Director of Mercy Beyond Borders, a non-profit organization to help displaced women and children living in extreme poverty. Sr. Lacey formerly served as Director of Immigration, Refugee and Employment Services for Catholic Charities, based in San Jose, Calif., and is author of a book, “This Flowing Toward Me: A Story of God Arriving in Strangers.” In 2001 she was personally honored by the Dalai Lama as an “Unsung Hero of Compassion.”

4-19 Stewardship as Spirituality: Helping Busy People Grow Closer to the Lord (Workshop closed)

Good stewardship of temporal and fiscal resources is a key element in sustaining and furthering the mission of the Church. Fr. Daniel Mahan will emphasize stewardship as a way of life, a way of holiness. He will discuss the four qualities of a good steward – gratitude, responsibility, generosity, and making a return to the Lord with increase – and the difference these qualities make in the life of the parish.

Many cultural issues and practices have emerged since the term “liturgical inculturation” became popular during the 1990s – e.g., texting during Mass, postmodern attitudes, “the cultural wars,” the growth of international priests, etc. How do these issues (and more) affect our worship experiences today? This workshop provides an update of the top 10 cultural issues that all clergy, liturgical ministers and pastoral leaders ought to be aware of.

So much of the fabric of our liturgical “circle of life” is contained in the songs we sing. Michael Mangan will take us on a musical journey sharing his passion for vibrant, inclusive and meaningful music in parish and school liturgy and catechesis. Come ready to sing, move and learn some new repertoire to help fully, actively and consciously participate as we celebrate the liturgical seasons.

Composer, presenter and music liturgist, Michael Mangan has composed 150 songs that are widely used in school and parish liturgy and catechesis. He served as a Catholic elementary music specialist for 12 years in Brisbane, Australia, and now for the past 15 years he has toured Australia, New Zealand and North America presenting concerts at more than 1,500 schools. Mangan, who is Music Director at All Saints Catholic Parish in Brisbane, is also in demand at conferences as a presenter and music director.

We spend the early years of our lives struggling to get our lives together. Then we spend the generative years of our lives struggling to give our lives away. But, ultimately, our final struggle and our final gift to each other and to God is how we give our deaths away. How do we give our deaths away? The Gospels describe this as “the passion” of Christ; the mystics call it the “dark night of the spirit.” Here we reflect on the final stage of discipleship.

Since earliest times, humankind has sought to describe, define and name the sacred essence we have come to call “God.” This workshop invites participants to expand and enrich their relationship with the Divine One by exploring a wide variety of names. This creative exploration includes names from all three Abrahamic religions. Each name offers glimpses of divinity that inspire, challenge and deepen one’s perception and lived experience of the Holy One.

Sr. Joyce Rupp, a member of the Servants of Mary community, has been a facilitator and speaker at retreats and conferences for 30 years in the United States, Canada, Africa, Asia, New Zealand and Australia. She describes herself as a “spiritual mid-wife.” An award-winning author, Sr. Rupp has 21 books, including her latest, “Fragments of Your Ancient Name.” She also serves as Co-Director of The Institute of Compassionate Presence, based in Omaha, Neb., and as a volunteer for hospice.

The Gospel of Matthew provides the Sunday readings for the upcoming Cycle A of the Lectionary. This workshop will identify the characteristic theological and pastoral motifs that run through this Gospel, which guided the Church through a profound time of transition as the Christian mission broke out into the Gentile world.

4-25 Guilt Trip or Baptismal Call? How to Recruit Volunteers for Meaningful Service (Workshop closed)

Need volunteers? Want volunteers? Stuck on how to get them? Volunteers are the backbone of much of the church’s work. This workshop will provide a template for discovering which volunteers you need, provide information on what you can expect from volunteers and, most importantly, cover how to get volunteers. The basics of volunteer recruitment combined with the Gospel call to serve will be covered. Leave knowing what you need, want and how to get them!

As Director of Volunteer Services for the Girl Scout Council of Orange County in California, Vikki Shepp works with a volunteer group that is 5,000 strong. Additionally, as a ministry consultant, she has been involved in many aspects of ministry with volunteers, staff, youth and diocesan leaders. Shepp has spoken at diocesan events and national conferences, including the L.A. Congress and World Youth Day in Toronto, Canada, in 2002.

It is our baptismal call to proclaim the Good News. But how do we do this in a culture that often seems to be hostile to the Gospel? This workshop will examine cultural impediments to understanding and therefore receiving the Gospel. We will see how recognizing these can help us proclaim the Good News in our contemporary society.

Fr. Michael Sweeney is President of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif., where he also teaches. He is co-founder and former Co-Director of the Catherine of Siena Institute in Colorado. Fr. Sweeney has developed and offers retreats and talks in over 50 U.S. dioceses and in Canada and Indonesia on the theology of the laity, vocation and pastoral governance.

What are the attitudes necessary to be a hopeful minister who utilizes media? This multimedia presentation will uplift and encourage all who find media a tool to assist in teaching and evangelization.

4-28 Acting on Behalf of Justice: Stories of Gospel Living in the 21st Century (Workshop closed)

The news that surrounds us is pretty depressing most of the time. We hear about all the things that are going wrong in our world. Yet, there are many people living the Gospel vision of right relationship, justice, non-violence and love. This session will highlight stories of those who are living out the principles of Catholic social justice teaching in ways that inspire and invite others to do the same. This session will provide hope as we learn how what we do today actually contributes to the future development of succeeding generations.

Nancy Sylvester is founder and President of the Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue, based in Detroit. She is past President of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, past-vice president of her congregation, and a former NETWORK staff member for 15 years. An author and speaker, Sylvester has addressed numerous diocesan conferences, university institutes, assemblies of women religious and major national and international conferences.

4-70 THE VIETNAMESE COMMUNITY – A CULTURE OF BEAUTY
(Note: Bilingual Workshop in Vietnamese/English)

The Vietnamese Catholic community is one characterized by rich liturgical inculturation, reverence for elders, strong devotional life, beautiful music and a unique chant tradition. How can the spirituality and devotional life of the mainstream be enriched from this “culture of beauty”? Will second-generation Vietnamese-Americans continue and sustain this richness and offer it to the mainstream parish life?

Franciscan Brother Rufi no Zaragoza is based in Oakland, Calif., and serves as a liturgical music consultant and as Project Coordinator for OCP. Continually surveying the richness of multicultural communities, he lectures on the joys and complexities of intercultural worship. Several months of each year, Bro. Zaragoza teaches in Vietnam and travels through Asia, researching liturgical inculturation of the East and developing bilingual resources. He has numerous articles in Today’s Liturgy magazine.

Paul Nguyen is Director of Music at Corpus Christi Church in the Diocese of Orange, Calif., and an artist with OCP. He has presented workshops at the National Pastoral Musicians Conference and for Alaska Discipleship Days 2006. Being a 1.5 generation immigrant where he can navigate comfortably between the mainstream and Vietnamese traditions, he works to bridge the gaps between the two traditions and between generational divides.

2011 RECongress Period 4

Religious Education Congress
March 19, 2011
10:00 - 11:30 am

2011 RECongress Period 4

Religious Education Congress March 19, 2011 10:00 - 11:30 am

Religious Education Congress
March 19, 2011
10:00 - 11:30 am