4:15 PM-5:15 PM | FRIDAY | myParish Blog Content

5-01 Integration Session/Next Topics/Action/Follow up – Room K
– Michael Brough and Jim Lundholm-Eades
(Invitation Only)

5-02 Developing Support for Catholic LGBT Students: Training for Counselors and Educators – Great America Room 3
– Aaron Bianco
This session is designed to help teachers and student counselors understand their Catholic LGBT students. To help the educator provide a safe atmosphere to cultivate dialogue. (Witness)

5-03 The Sunday Eucharist: Transforming Parishioners into Joyful Missionary Disciples – Room C
– Father Kenneth Boyack, CSP
Participants will learn how to encounter Christ more completely in the Eucharist, and as a result, become more intentional missionary disciples. They also will learn about Living the Eucharist, a Lenten renewal ministry that enables individuals, small groups, families, and the entire parish to better understand the Eucharist, participate more fully in this sacrament, and then live the Eucharist each day as effective witnesses for Christ. (Worship)

5-04 Don’t Let Your Parents Drop Off and Run: How to Engage Parents while Their Kids Are in Class – Room 203
– Paul Canavese
While the church teaches that parents are the primary educators of their own children, parents often don’t know where to start and need our help to learn how to do so. Parents face unique challenges raising their kids in the faith today, but rarely have the opportunity to explore them in a faith context. Find out how to lead parents in animated discussions and what we have learned leading parent groups while kids are in class. (Witness)

5-05 The Key to Successful Classroom Management? Relationships! – Room J+
– Terry Cotting-Mogan
Come and learn some practical ways to strengthen your classroom management through relationships with and among your students. Creating a classroom community will increase attendance, participation, smiles and decrease discipline issues. (Witness)

5-06 Forming Catholic Identity through Stories of Grace – Great America Room 2
– Dr. Leonard J. DeLorenzo
If we are to shape our whole lives as a Christian story, we must first learn to recognize, craft, and share stories of grace about particular life experiences. This session will introduce seven principles for crafting stories of grace for teens, young adults, and even not-so-young-anymore adults that allow us to speak of God’s action in our lives in persuasive and very real terms. (Witness)

5-07 Called to Communion: A Reconciling Faith in a Polarized Society – Room 202
– Mary Doak
This session will explore the challenges to our individualist culture implicit in central biblical stories as well as in Catholic sacramental practice. Instead of a faith that is centered on “me and Jesus,” Catholic Christianity affirms, in both Scripture and Tradition, that God calls us to the privileged (and crucial) task of working with God to reconcile the human community—to God, to each other, and to the natural world. (Word)

5-08 Connecting Youth to Liturgical Music and Empathy Building: Testimonies and Strategies – Great America Room 1
– Audrey Gomes and Claire Wemp
In this interactive workshop, we ask young people themselves what a thriving music ministry program looks like to them, and what they recommend for creating music ministry leadership opportunities that appeal to youth. Hear strategies from the core workshop presenters, hear and sing music samples, and hear from a moderated panel of dynamic young musicians spanning from elementary to high school as they share their own recommendations for cultivating the next generation of liturgical music leaders. (Worship)

5-09 The How-to of Preparing and Directing Retreats for Kids – Room 210
– Kathy Hendricks
The idea of leading a retreat might sound daunting or unrealistic, especially if we think of it in terms of a lengthy or totally silent experience. In this workshop, we’ll look at ways to prepare and direct children in retreat experiences that are engaging, creative, and deeply spiritual. Even if time is limited or the space is less-than-ideal, you will find ideas for drawing kids into prayer, reflection, and sharing. (Witness)

5-10 Vocations in the Church Today: Everybody’s Problem, Everybody’s Solution – Room 206
– Father Joe Kim
Gone are the days when seminaries and convents were full. Gone are the days when Catholic schools were run by religious. Are vocations to the priesthood and religious life a thing of the past? How can Catholic schools encourage vocations to the Church today? This session will explore the current local and national vocations situation and its root problems. Find out how you could pray, call and lead our young people today. (Witness)

5-11 Intercultural Competencies – Room 211
– Maria del Mar Muñoz-Visoso
“Go and make disciples of all nations”, these are the parting words of the Lord Jesus to his disciples before ascending into heaven. This missionary mandate is still the call of today’s disciples. In this workshop we will take a look at the work of evangelization in today’s culturally diverse communities and environment. We will also discuss the basic elements of intercultural competence and its various pastoral applications.

5-12 The Presence of God as a Promise in the Gospel of Matthew – Room 209
– Father Sergio Ovando
The first Gospel ends with these words: “And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). Beginning with a reflection on the Presence of God in the Old Testament (Shekhinah), we will demonstrate how God is also present in the New Testament. Finally, we will examine how God’s presence remains a promise for our time and a hope for future generations. (Word)

5-13 The Time is Now! Early Investment in the Faith Formation Lasts a Life Time – Room 204
– Pam Perrino
Explore the latest research on how young children preschool through third grade learn and make understanding of their world. Reflect on your current faith formation practices with these young children and discover a way to ignite your enthusiasm and theirs as you set the faith foundation for the youngest of our disciples while exploring the beauty of God’s Love. (Witness)

5-14 Engaging In Global Solidarity: Transforming our Classrooms and Evangelizing our Entire School Community – Room 205
– Deacon Ruben Solorio
Engaging In Global Solidarity: Transforming our Classrooms and Evangelizing our Entire School community. This workshop will help you to deepen your school’s engagement in global solidarity as a response to God’s mercy. Participants will engage in a dialogue about how to inspire students to learn about the U.S. Church’s efforts for Global Solidarity and take you on a Journey with Jesus using scripture, Catholic Social Teaching and the Corporal Works of Mercy. (Witness)

5-15 The Good Life: Virtue Ethics in Social Media – Room 201
– Sister Nancy Usselmann, FSP
Social media’s use for information and self-expression can sometimes become an outlet for angry rants, misinformation and indiscretion. Media mindfulness is built on the foundation of critical inquiry, bringing one’s values into conversation with the media messages. But what do we really value? Are those values congruent with the virtues? Virtues are habits of being that promote respect as the core of a happy life. How can we live the good life within a digital culture? (Witness)

5-16 Meet Them Where They’re At: Best Practices in Inclusion – Room 212
– Lindsey West
Ministry with individuals with disabilities doesn’t have to be daunting or complicated. This workshop suggests best practices in how to reframe our ministries (and parishes) to be sources of inclusion that meet the needs of all members of the Body of Christ, but especially individuals with autism and other disabilities. With an estimated 1 in 5 families impacted by at least one disability of some kind, this workshop offers practical ideas that can benefit every parish community. (Worship)