Faith Formation Conference to sparkle
Attendees of the 48th annual Faith Formation Conference, to be held Nov. 20-21 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, will be greeted with a fresh crop of presenters this year, among them a United Nations representative for the Sisters of Charity Federation, an expert in liturgical dance and a two-woman musical puppet show.
Social Service Sister Celeste Arbuckle, director of the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s Office of Religious Education and Youth Ministry, said she and other organizers of the event bring in new talent each year so the conference remains vibrant. She also said because half or more of the participants are typically regular attendees of the yearly gathering, planners try to keep the event from becoming repetitive.
The conference draws a wide variety of people including parish religious education teachers, catechists, religion teachers and others from Catholic schools, individuals involved in youth ministries or other parish work, and interested Catholics.
“I get excited finding new people excited about their faith and the new creative ideas that come with that,” Sister Celeste said.
San Francisco Archbishop George Niederauer and Stockton Bishop Stephen Blaire are among nearly 50 presenters. Highlights include:
• Recording artist Mary Rice Hopkins and puppeteer Darcie Maze, who will lead sessions on using music and puppetry to illustrate Bible stories
• Sessions on Catholic social teaching from Caroljean Willie, NGO representative at the United Nations, and Michael Duffy, director of the University of San Francisco’s Lane Center for Catholic Studies and Social Thought
• Liturgical dance expert Carla DeSola, who will lead two sessions on “Dance as Living Scripture”
• Patrick Vallez-Kelly, director of the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s Office of Worship, who will lead talks on the new Roman missal
• Talks centered on Pope Benedict XVI’s declaration of 2009 as the “Year of Africa” from Dan Griffin, Catholic Relief Service’s regional representative for the Horn of Africa, and Steve Pinkston, teacher and Christian Service Director at San Jose’s Bellarmine College Preparatory
In addition to speakers, the gathering will have an exhibit hall with representatives from scores of agencies and groups, including Ignatius Press, Vallombrosa Retreat Center, Pauline Books and Media and Habitat for Humanity.
The conference will also feature Spanish, Korean and Vietnamese language sessions. Among the foreign-language session leaders will be Bishop Dominic Luong, auxiliary bishop of Orange County; Holy Names Sister Sophia Park, professor at Holy Names University and the San Francisco Theological Seminary, and Franciscan Father Rigoberto Caloca-Rivas, founder and executive director of the Multicultural Institute.
Five dioceses sponsor the event: the Archdiocese of San Francisco, and the Dioceses of Oakland, Monterey, San Jose and Stockton. Wendy Scherbart, director of catechetical ministries for the Diocese of San Jose, said though additional dioceses are not directly involved in planning the conference, attendees also come from the Dioceses of Sacramento, Santa Rosa and Fresno.
“The event models the wonderful collaboration of the Northern California dioceses to support the work of our parish ministers,” Scherbart said. “I’m looking forward to the continued presence of a major faith formation conference in our area.”
Tish Scargill, director of catechetical ministries for the Diocese of Monterey, said the event helps all Catholics in the region.
“We hope to be able to provide quality workshops for all those in ministry, not just those in catechetical ministry,” Scargill said.
Sister Celeste said overall costs for the event are projected to be $98,000, down from $101,000 last year. The biggest costs come from renting audiovisual equipment and from the cost of booking the convention center. She said all costs were covered last year by registration fees, a goal that organizers hope to achieve this year as well.
Sister Celeste said she expected at least 2,500 attendees, up about 10 percent from last year’s attendance.
For more information and to register, call (415) 614-5650 or visit www.sitekreator.com/faithformation. Also see Faith Formation Conference registration banner at www.sfarchdiocese.org.
By Michael Vick
From October 16, 2009 issue of Catholic San Francisco.
