Location: Regency VII

This session offers an opportunity to appreciate the relationship between good liturgy and effective stewardship and the important role that a “singing assembly” plays in fostering and nurturing communal prayer. Practical tips on how to accomplish lively liturgy and developing a music program that will send your community out into the world to be about the Gospel!

Speaker: Tom Kendzia
Recording Artist, Composer, Clinician, Director of Music
Christ the King Parish
Kingston, Rhode Island

Moderator: Mark Ayers
Steward for Music and Liturgical Ministries
St. Mary Magdalen
Altamonte Springs, Florida

Tom Kendzia is a liturgical composer who has been a catechetical consultant for over 20 years. He appears regularly at national and international events for catechists, liturgists, and musicians as a speaker and performer. Mr. Kendzia has been active as a parish music director since 1977, and has over 25 recordings of liturgical and instrumental music published by OCP. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Manhattanville College. He is a contributing author, consultant, and recording producer for the new Sadlier Sacrament Program, and recently named their national consultant for liturgy and music. He has been the music director at Christ the King Parish, Providence, Rhode Island, since 1986.

Location: International North

Prior to the call of Pope Francis to share the “Joy of the Gospel”, the Church of the Nativity embarked on a process “to grow disciples, develop a healthier parish community, and more intentionally and effectively serve the New Evangelization.” This presentation includes the Church of the Nativity’s story and shares the three key strategies that drove the transformation of the parish. These strategies have more than doubled the weekend attendance while tripling offertory giving.

Speaker: Reverend Michael White
Pastor
Church of the Nativity
Timonium, Maryland

Speaker: Tom Corcoran
Associate to the Pastor
Church of the Nativity
Timonium, Maryland

Moderator: Reverend Christopher Heath
Pastor
St. Hedwig Catholic Church
Los Alamitos, California

The Reverend Michael White is an award-winning and best-selling author. He has co-authored the books Rebuilt, Tools for Rebuilding, and Rebuilding Your Message, with combined sales of more than 100,000 copies. Many say Rebuilt has changed the conversation about parish mission and culture in the American Catholic Church. Father White has spoken to diocesan gatherings and conferences nationally and internationally. He has been the keynote speaker at Proclaim Conference in Sydney Australia, Alpha Ireland, and at conferences for the Archdioceses of Boston and Montreal and Krakow. Father White earned his bachelor’s degree from Loyola University Maryland and his graduate degrees in sacred theology and ecclesiology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He worked as personal secretary to Cardinal William Keeler, who was then archbishop. During that time, Father White served as the director of the papal visit of Pope John Paul II to Baltimore. During his tenure as pastor of the Church of the Nativity, the church has tripled in weekend attendance to more than 4,000. Commitment to the mission of the Church has grown, evidenced by the significant increase in giving and service in ministry, and genuine spiritual renewal.

Tom Corcoran is an award winning and best-selling author. He has co-authored the books Rebuilt, Tools for Rebuilding, and Rebuilding Your Message, with combined sales of more than 100,000 copies. Many say Rebuilt has changed the conversation about parish mission and culture in the American Catholic Church. Over the last few years, Mr. Corcoran has spoken to diocesan gatherings and conferences nationally and internationally sharing his unique insights about renewing and rebuilding parishes. He has been the keynote speaker at Proclaim Conference in Sydney Australia,Alpha Ireland and at conferences for the Archdioceses of Boston and Montreal. Mr. Corcoran has worked at the Church of the Nativity for 19 years. He currently serves in the position of associate to the pastor and is responsible for weekend message development, strategic planning, fundraising and staff development.When he is not working he enjoys cooking, sports, and taking Tae Kwon Do with his son. Mr. Corcoran has been married 18 years to his wife Mia. They have seven children and live in Parkville, Maryland.

Location: Regency VI

“As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world.” – St. John Paul II. Catholic formation begins at home, and Catholics spend most of our time off of Church property. So why does stewardship formation focus on what happens at the parish? Is stewardship formation focused on the needs of parishioners, or the needs of parishes? Come hear more about ordinary stewardship of the home, the family, of everyday life.

Speaker: Mr. Brian Niebrugge
Parishioner
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Parish
Oakville, Missouri

Moderator: Cynthia Bosh
Stewardship Coordinator
All Hallows Parish
LaJolla, California

Brian and Kathleen Niebrugge have been married for almost 19 years. They and their five children, with one more on the way, belong to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Parish in St. Louis, Missouri. Ms. Niebrugge is a licensed speech/language pathologist who has given the most recent years of her career to educating the couple’s children at home. She runs a monthly girls club where girls learn various skills and receive formation in human and religious virtues. She holds a master’s degree in speech and language pathology from Fontbonne University. Mr. Niebrugge has worked for the Archdiocese of St. Louis since 2001, serving as executive director of stewardship and the Annual Catholic Appeal since 2010. He is a basketball coach, a baseball coach, and leads a men’s study group. He also speaks to groups on matters of family, fatherhood, and holiness in ordinary life. Mr. Niebrugge is a member of the ICSC board of directors.

Location: International South 

Accountability” is headline material these days. Accountability is something all of us must face to some degree, and it should not be daunting or intimidating. This session will provide details for how the Church and her leaders can keep themselves accountable before God and one another. Topics covered include conflict resolution, stewardship, finance and parish councils, institutional accountability, and more.

Speaker: Deacon James Brett
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish
Tempe, Arizona

Moderator: Ana Juarez
Business Administrator
St. Alfred Parish
Taylor, Michigan

Deacon James Brett is the director of finance and stewardship for Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Tempe, Arizona where he has been assigned as a deacon for 17 years. As a deacon for over 20 years, he has been active in many liturgical ministries along with involvement in the RCIA process. He has been active in implementing all phases of stewardship at the parish for 10 years. Deacon Brett has been a presenter of workshops at the regional and diocesan level over the course of the last five years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from Arizona State University where he also taught financial and managerial accounting from 2002 to 2010. Prior to working at the parish he worked for a chemical manufacturing company first as a cost accountant before being promoted to controller from 1987 to 2000. Deacon Brett is married, has two children and nine grandchildren.

Location: Learning Center

Promoviendo la Comunión, Alentando la Participación / Promoting Communion, Encouraging Participation

Esta sesión ofrece la perspectiva del obispo sobre cómo nuestra participación en la Eucaristía como el Cuerpo de Cristo, no solamente nos une como Iglesia, sino que también nos empodera como corresponsables, y nos envía a continuar como discípulos misioneros para llevar el Evangelio a un mundo en desesperada necesidad de la amorosa presencia de Cristo.

This session offers a bishop’s perspective on how our participation in the Eucharist as the Body of Christ not only unites us as Church, but empowers us as stewards, and sends us forth as missionary disciples to carry the Gospel into a world desperately in need of Christ’s loving presence.

Speaker: Most Reverend Donald Hanchon
Auxiliary Bishop
Archdiocese of Detroit, Michigan

Moderator: Jessica Orzechowski
Parish Services Coordinator
Archdiocese of Detroit, Michigan

Bishop Donald Hanchon was ordained the 26th auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in March 2011. Ordained a priest for the archdiocese in 1974, Bishop Hanchon has served as both an associate pastor and pastor. He has served as a spiritual director for the archdiocese’s seminary; and has been a member of the archdiocesan presbyteral council and its college of consultors. From 1981 to 1986, he was the archdiocesan director of vocations. He then studied Spanish and Hispanic culture in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and in San Antonio, Texas, and was appointed special liaison to the Hispanic Catholic community while being assigned as pastor to parishes serving the Hispanic community. In 2005, he was awarded the title “Monsignor.” While pastor of the archdiocese’s largest Hispanic worshipping community in Detroit, Most Holy Redeemer Parish, he invited to the parish campus Covenant House Academy/West, a charter high school; and in 2008 the first Detroit-area coeducational Catholic high school in many years, Detroit Cristo Rey, part of the Cristo Rey national network. Bishop Hanchon earned a bachelor’s degree in English at Sacred Heart Seminary, Detroit. He holds master’s degrees in theology from the University of Detroit, and liturgy from the University of Notre Dame. He earned his master of divinity degree from St. John’s Provincial Seminary in Plymouth, Michigan

Location: Hanover E

Handout:

Presentation: Major Gifts

Catholic schools today cannot survive on tuition and bingo proceeds. School administrators and staff need strategies and tools to move beyond the annual appeal and special events to secure needed resources. In this session, you will learn how to apply the principles of identification, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship to create and manage a robust major giving program at your school.

Speaker: Joyce Schreiber
Director
McMahon Parater Foundation for Education
Diocese of Richmond, Virginia

Moderator: Patricia Calka
Office Staff
ICSC
Dearborn Heights, Michigan

Joyce Schreiber came to the Diocese of Richmond in 2012 with more than 30 years of development and marketing experience. While working with CCS, she served as a national and international capital campaign consultant for clients including the United Nations Foundation, John Carroll University, the American College of Rheumatology Research & Education Foundation, and the United Methodist Church. For more than six years, she was director of station development services at National Public Radio in Washington, DC. Prior to that, she was a director of development and marketing at The Ohio State University, Nashville Public Television, and Florida State University. A lifelong Catholic, she received her bachelor’s degree from Xavier University in Cincinnati, her master’s degree from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and completed the Executive Management Institute at the University of Wisconsin graduate school of business.

Location: Hanover AB

The key to sustainability and lowering costs is retaining current donors. This session will define donor retention and discuss the proper metrics to measure success. We’ll discuss how your measures compare against the national averages, including those obtained through the Fundraising Effectiveness Project. You’ll see how you can obtain and track your results, including lifetime value of a donor, and why that matters.We’ll also offer recommendations and best practices to improve your donor retention.

Speaker: Jon Biedermann
Vice President
DonorPerfect Fundraising Solutions
Fort Washington, Pennsylvania

Moderator: Rick Jeric
Executive Director
Women’s Care Center
Columbus, Ohio

Jon Biedermann, vice president of fundraising solutions for SofterWare, has served the nonprofit community for over 20 years. In 2001, he launched DonorPerfect Online, which pioneered SaaS (Software as a Service) fundraising solutions for nonprofit organizations. Prior to joining SofterWare, Mr. Biedermann spent over four years with Procter & Gamble, serving as a lead developer in their sales management systems division. He has presented numerous seminars and webinars on the use of fundraising technology for nonprofit organizations and is recognized as an expert on Internet-based fundraising strategies. Mr. Biedermann sits on the boards of several youth-oriented charities.

Location: Hanover D

The Diocese of Brooklyn, the only fully urban diocese in the country, just completed the Generations of Faith Campaign raising $128,000,000 on a goal of $80,000,000. An impressive 615 families gave above $25,000, with an additional 2,200 families making a gift between $10,000 and $25,000. Virtually all of these donors played an active role in their local parish campaigns. In this session learn how the diocese is working to strengthen the stewardship role of these major donors through diocesan ministry.

Speaker: Thomas Kissane
Principal and Managing Director
CCS
New York, New York

Speaker: John Notaro
Director of Operations and Programs
Catholic Foundation for Brooklyn and Queens
Brooklyn, New York

Moderator: Patrick Grace
Executive Director
Catholic Community Foundation
Cleveland, Ohio

Tom Kissane is a principal and managing director of CCS. For twenty-seven years, he has provided professional fundraising counsel to scores of Catholic dioceses and hundreds of parishes. He currently serves on the board of directors of ICSC and several nonprofit institutions. His areas of expertise include feasibility and planning studies, landscape analysis, development audits, philanthropic assessment programs, major capital campaigns, annual giving efforts, endowment fundraising and board recruitment. A partial list of the dioceses Mr. Kissane has been privileged to serve include the Archdioceses of Baltimore, Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington, D.C.; and the Dioceses of Arlington, Brooklyn, Bridgeport, Buffalo, Charlotte, Metuchen, Ogdensburg, Paterson, Pittsburgh, Portsmouth, Providence, Rochester, Rockville Centre, Scranton, Syracuse, and Trenton.

Location: Hanover C

Understanding how millennials connect to their local communities and the world at large is key to re-engaging them with the faith and Catholic philanthropy. Come learn how to connect with this vital generation.

Panelists:
Jeff Adams
Associate
Alston & Bird, LLP
Atlanta, Georgia

Ryan Johnson
Senior Project Manager
GDS Associates
Marietta, Georgia

John Lanier
Executive Director
Ray C Anderson Foundation
Atlanta, Georgia

Angela O’Donoghue
Youth Minister
Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church
Brookhaven, Georgia

Moderator: Juliet Greco
Director, Major and Planned Giving
The Catholic Foundation of North Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia

Jeff Adams is an associate attorney at Alston & Bird LLP and has been with the law firm since he began practicing law in 2008. The focus of his practice is commercial real estate and related private equity matters. Mr. Adams is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and a lifelong parishioner of the Cathedral of Christ the King. He and his wife, Hilary, make their home in midtown Atlanta and are both avid supporters of their alma mater, Duke University.

Ryan Johnson is a senior project manager for GDS Associates, a multi-service energy consulting firm. Since graduating from Georgia Tech 12 years ago, Mr. Johnson has been working to diversify his clients power supply needs and is an industry expert in utility-scale renewable energy projects. He is currently the chair of the Catholic Charities Atlanta Young Professionals Society, a group of talented, diverse young adults who are striving to become the next generation of leaders in the community through philanthropy, social fundraising, servant leadership, and spiritual enrichment. He recently received the Cindy Nofi Servant Leadership Award after participating in the 2016 Catholic Charities Atlanta Leadership Class. Mr. Johnson is a proud husband, father of two girls, engineer, and runner. He and his family live in Marietta and attend Mass at the Catholic Church of St. Ann.

John Lanier is the executive director of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation, a private family foundation carrying forward the legacy of its namesake by supporting environmental sustainability initiatives. In 1973, Mr. Ray Anderson founded Interface, which became the world’s largest carpet tile manufacturer. From 1994 until his passing in 2011, he worked tirelessly to advance sustainability at his company and in the business sector generally. Mr. Lanier, one of Ray’s five grandchildren, shares his late grandfather’s passion for the earth and its natural systems. He is an attorney by training and lives in Atlanta with his wife and son. They are parishioners of St. Thomas More Parish in Decatur, Georgia.

Angela O’Donoghue is currently the youth minister at Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Church in Brookhaven, Georgia. She graduated from the University of Georgia where she earned a marketing degree with an emphasis in digital marketing. She is an avid reader, traveler, and quote enthusiast. She also volunteers with The Catholic Foundation of North Georgia and Habitat for Humanity.

Location: Hanover FG

Discipleship has, at its core, a personal experience with Jesus Christ. Our digital age has provided an immense number of distractions that can greatly reduce an individual’s opportunity to hear this invitation to meet the Lord. This presentation will provide new and creative ideas and methods that parishes can use to cut through all of the other noise to get their messages to those who are yearning for Christ.

Speaker: Travis Gear
Solutio
Colwich, Kansas

Moderator: Rock Beharry
Director of Stewardship, Development and Pontifical Mission Societies
Diocese of Georgetown
Guyana, South America

Before beginning work with Solutio, Travis Gear held a youth ministry position with Holy Name Catholic Church in Winfield, Kansas. He then served the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas, as the director ofTotusTuus, a summer camp and catechetical program, for three years prior to joining Solutio. A self-taught website and social media expert, Mr. Gear has experienced from within ministry the challenges that many parishes face when attempting to implement an engaging online communication scheme. He lives in Andale, Kansas, with his wife, Maria, and their five children.