Professional Development Webinar Recordings

There are two essential questions young people ask during their faith formation:Who is Jesus?How can I get to know him for myself?Short of giving them a two hour lecture, what can we do to engage young people in practical, inspirational, and innovative ways that help them discover the answers to those questions and in the process actually form a relationship with the Lord?The answer is quite simple: teach them to pray, help them dive into Scripture, lead them to the Sacraments, and give them opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus. When we help them do these things (pray, read, receive, and serve), then Jesus becomes far more than a fairytale figure or concept in a textbook. He becomes someone with whom they can have a real, personal, and authentic relationship.Join author and speaker Katie Prejean McGrady in this high-energy presentation for anyone who works with youth in the Church today.

Pope Francis on Faith and Evangelization: Insights into Lumen Fidei and Evangelii GaudiumGet the PowerPoint and handouts for this webinar: Webinar Downloads. In the first year of his papacy, Pope Francis gave us two incredible documents to read, study, and apply to our daily lives. Lumen Fidei (The Light of Faith) offers an overview and reflection on the meaning of faith and how it is important in the life of the Church and in the lives of individual Christians. Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) is a call to arms for the Christian faithful to step out of their comfort zones and become missionary disciples and spirit-filled evangelizers.Jared Dees, author of The Lumen Fidei Study Guide and moderator of this Professional Development Webinar Series, will share some reflections for Catholic faith formation and evangelziation based on these two very important documents.The webinar will be divided into two parts:First, Jared will summarize and elaborate on the key points of both documents in a short overview that could easily be shared or adapted for parish presentations of these documents. (Free downloads will be available for webinar participants.)In the second part of the webinar, Jared will point out specific ways parish ministers can apply these documents to the way they carry out their work as pastors, DREs, catechists, teachers, faith formation leaders, retreat leaders, and parents.

Three years ago—about the same time that Pope Francis published Amoris Laetitia—Archbishop Joseph Kurtz asked Deacon Stephen Bowling to search for a new marriage preparation program that spoke to millennials and fostered life-long bonds between the engaged couple and the Church. Bowling, director of the Office of Family Ministries for the Archdiocese of Louisville, came upon Joined by Grace, a marriage prep program that emphasized the connection between marriage and the other six sacraments. In this webinar, Bowling will share many practical tips and strategies he has learned in the last three years to help you bring a fresh approach to marriage preparation in your parish or diocese.

Seven Habits that Define our Catholic IdentityIn this informative webinar based on his book The Heart of Catholicism, Bert Ghezzi presents a vivid picture of what it means to be a Catholic. He describes in a lively popular format seven practices that shape us as Catholics.Bert lead participants in a discussion about the of these seven critical behaviors:\ndeveloping a personal relationship with Jesus;celebrating the Sacraments;observing the Liturgical Seasons;praying and reading Scripture daily;participating in your parish;sharing your faith; andpracticing Catholic social justice.\nYou will leave the webinar with a clearer and more confident sense of your identity as a Catholic.