Jenny Adams joined the staff at Christ Our Light Parish in 2002. A graduate of St. Cloud Technical College with a major in advertising, she had been working in graphic design for a number of years when she began actively volunteering with youth in the parish, which led to a paid position in youth ministry. She earned her master’s degree in pastoral ministry from Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary in 2013. In 2016, she took on a new role within the parish to develop and enhance communications and assist with various office tasks. She resides in Princeton with her husband, Mike, and two young sons: Davin and Leo.
Category Archives: DMD 2019 Speakers
Joe Beckman
As a youth motivator, Joe Beckman’s mission has been to RECLAIM HUMAN CONNECTION in school communities throughout the world.
Joe has shared his infectious energy, humor, and passion in over 1,000 schools, positively impacting over 1 million people world-wide through:
~student keynotes
~leadership workshops
~staff trainings
~video-based curriculum
Joe resides in Minneapolis with his 3 children and exceptionally beautiful/patient/strong/kind-hearted wife, Jess.
Aaron Carpenter
Aaron Carpenter is the director of the Office of Worship for the Diocese of St. Cloud. He has served as the director of worship at St. Joseph the Worker in Maple Grove, Minnesota, for the last 20 years. He also serves as the artistic director for Land of Lakes Choirboys in Elk River. He has worked with the choir for 15 years. Originally from LeMars, Iowa, he earned a bachelor’s degree in music with a vocal performance emphasis from St. John’s University in Collegeville. He and his wife, Maria, have three children Noah, Isabella and Emma.
Dawn Carrillo
Dawn Carrillo has been involved in ministry since 1993 in the areas of formation, liturgy, and spirituality. She received her master’s degree from Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville in 2002, and completed her doctorate from Aquinas Institute of Theology in Saint Louis, Missouri, in 2015. Dawn’s passion and experience lie in serving as a spiritual director, leading retreats, facilitating group processes for formation and spirituality, and teaching, all for supporting each person’s unique journey to God. She is currently the director of the Center for Spirituality and Enrichment at St. Scholastica Monastery in Duluth.
Juan Escarfuller
Juan Escarfuller, MA, MDiv, is a member of the pastoral team of Instituto Fe y Vida as a multilingual author, motivational speaker-storyteller, trainer, and curriculum developer and instructor with special focus on Sacred Scriptures and adolescent and young adult human development from a Roman Catholic perspective. Juan works at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center as a multilingual health coach and project manager of an NIH-funded community-based research study with 600 Latino families, “Growing Right Onto Wellness (GROW). Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, raised in New Orleans, he earned academic degrees from Yale and Aquinas Institute of Theology. Juan currently calls Nashville home with his spouse and four children, ages 19, 17, 15 and 9, who attend Metro Nashville Public Schools
Anita Fischer
Anita Fischer is a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church in St. Joseph, where she resides with her family. She and her husband are on the cusp of an empty nest with their youngest graduating high school this spring. Anita currently serves as a chaplain at the St. Cloud Hospital, where she has received extensive training on compassion fatigue, trauma exposure response, and resiliency for caregivers and ministers. She holds a master’s degree in pastoral ministry from Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary. You might remember her from her 14 years serving the diocese as the director of the Office of Worship.
Patrick Flynn
Patrick Flynn is director of the Office of Marriage and Family for the Diocese of St. Cloud. He taught at St. John’s for five years, St. John’s Preparatory School for seven years and Cathedral High School for nine years. Before all of that, he was in parish and diocesan youth ministry for over 20 years. Patrick has been married to his wonderful wife, Shelly, for 32 years and they have four grown children (a salesman, a nanny, a teacher and a missionary).
Kathy Janku
Kathy Janku is presently teaching theology at Saint John’s Preparatory School, after receiving her master’s degree in theology from Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary in 2010. Since the inception of The Saint John’s Bible, the School of Theology was instrumental in bringing the Bible to area schools and parishes in its programming called “Seeing the Word.” Kathy is a trained presenter of the Bible and has shared it with many different age groups. In her presenting and teaching, Kathy incorporates the illuminations and methods of The Saint John’s Bible and takes her students to the Bible Gallery in the Hill Monastic and Manuscript Library on a regular basis. Kathy has been an educator since receiving her bachelor’s degree in education from St. Cloud State University in 1982, teaching elementary, college, adult and now high school students.
Erica Karger-Gatzow
Erica Karger-Gatzow is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 15 years of professional practice working with individuals and organizations to make change to foster well-being. Currently she works at St. Cloud State University serving as the Assistant Director of Health Promotion and Marketing. At St. Cloud State, she supervises student initiatives around health and wellness, including a program called Healthy Huskies. Prior to that, she worked as a mental health counselor at the University of Minnesota Morris. She received her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Chicago. Erica enjoys reading paperback books and listening to live music.
Laura Kelly Fanucci
Laura is a wife, mother, writer, and director of the Communities of Calling Initiative at the Collegeville Institute at Saint John’s University. She earned her Master of Divinity degree from Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Notre Dame. She writes about faith and family life at Mothering Spirit and in her nationally syndicated column for Catholic News Service. Laura is the author of several books, including Everyday Sacrament: The Messy Grace of Parenting (Liturgical Press, 2014).