Faith Formation
Ministry Convention
“Becoming A Church of Intentional Disciples”
November 4, 2017
Schedule/Agenda
8:00 -9:00 a.m. Registration/Exhibits/Coffee
9:00 -10:15 a.m. Mass with Bishop da Cunha
10:15 - 10:30 a.m. Break - Exhibits
10:30 - 11:45 a.m. General Sessions/Workshops
11:45 - 1:00 p.m. Buffet Lunch & Exhibits
1:00 - 2:15 p.m. Workshops & General Sessions
2:15 - 2:30 p.m. Break - Exhibits
2:30 - 3:45 p.m. Workshops & General Sessions
Diocese of Fall River
Faith Formation Ministry Convention Program Offerings Page 2
General Sessions:
Moving Toward a Parish of
Intentional Disciples I:
An Introduction Sessions Codes & Times: G1: 10:30 - 11:45 a.m.
“The Parish is not an outdated institution; precisely because it
possesses great flexibility, it can assume quite different contours
depending on the openness and missionary creativity of the pastor and
the community.” ~ Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, 28.
During this session we will explore how the larger and parish cultures
can support, or thwart, our evangelizing efforts. We will then turn to
the stories of real parishes to discover the four common steps taken to
move toward a parish of intentional disciples.
Presenter: Katherine Coolidge
Moving Toward a Parish of Intentional Disciples
II: The Role of an Evangelizing RCIA and Adult
Faith Formation
Sessions Codes & Times: G2: 1:00 - 2:15 p.m..
The goal of all Christian Initiation and adult formation is the forming
of new disciples and the support of disciples during the “second
conversion:” the deepening, ongoing conversion as a disciple of Jesus
that continues for the rest of our lives. In this session, we will explore
how RCIA and adult faith formation can foster initial and ongoing
conversion through the stories of parishes and dioceses who are
actually doing it!
Presenter: Katherine Coolidge
Moving Toward a Parish of Intentional Disciples
III: Beginning with Prayer
Sessions Codes & Times: G3: 2:30 - 3:45 p.m..
“Let us call upon him today, firmly rooted in prayer, for without prayer
all our activity risks being fruitless and our message empty. Jesus
wants evangelizers who proclaim the good news not only with words
but above all by a life transfigured by God’ presence.” ~ Pope Francis.
This session will explore some ways parishes root their efforts in
prayer and the fruit that has come from their prayers.
Presenter: Katherine Coolidge
“All the baptized, whatever their position in the Church or
their level of instruction in the faith, are agents of evange-
lization, and it would be insufficient to envisage a plan of
evangelization to be carried out by professionals while the
rest of the faithful would simply be passive recipients.
The new evangelization calls for personal involvement on
the part of each of the baptized. Every Christian is chal-
lenged, here and now, to be actively engaged in evangeli-
zation, indeed, anyone who has truly experienced God’s
saving love does not need much time or lengthy training to
go out and proclaim that love.”
(Excerpt from
“Becoming A Parish of Intentional Disciples”)
This is a great
opportunity to form your
Core team for the
revitalization of your
parish.
Diocese of Fall River
Faith Formation Ministry Convention Program Offerings Page 3
Workshops: 10:30-11:45 a.m. W1: ENGAGING MILLENNIALS: Evangelization in
The Age of Facebook, Twitter & Snapchat
The largest growing religious group in the U.S. are the “nones” -
those who belong to no denomination at all. And that number is
highest among Millennials. This workshop will explore ways to
reach out to young people in this age of social media. We will ex-
plore the reasons behind this phenomenon and some ways that we
can make use of contemporary modes of communication to be more
effective evangelizers of youth.
Presenter: Rev. Tom Washburn
W2: Catechist, ME?
“Come and see,” said Andrew to his brother Peter. What does it
mean to teach, to be a parish catechist? This workshop will give the beginning catechists the skills to confi-
dently enter the classroom.
Presenter: Susan Kay
Sponsored by Sadlier
Workshops: 1:00-2:15 p.m. W3: So Much to Teach; So Little Time
Being a catechist/teacher means being a time management special-
ist: from preparation to evaluation. How can we help each other? This workshop will give the new and experienced catechist time
management techniques to help maximize the time spent with
students.
Presenter: Susan Kay
Sponsored by Sadlier
Workshops: 2:30-3:45 p.m. W4: Working with Children with Special Needs
This workshop will provide resources to assist with registration and
intake information, ensuring that everyone involved is aware of
needs and challenges. We will look at strategies to assist students
within the classroom (including visual systems, time timers, and
more), and why they are necessary and important. To help under-
stand the concepts, the workshop will include a “show and tell”
which will demonstrate how we actualize these ideas and strategies.
Presenter: Barbara Domingue
Workshop in Portuguese/Talleres em
Português—10:30-11:45 a.m.
P1: Mariologia: O Papel de Nossa
Senhora na Igreja e o Seu Lugar em
Nossa Fé (Mariology: Mary’s Role
in the Church and Her Place in
Our Faith)
Nossa Senhora é uma pessoa cativante e instrumental
na Igreja e nossa fé. Nesta sessão, analisaremos sua vida e seu papel
em nossa fé, e como podemos imitar sua confiança e vontade de
estar aberto ao funcionamento de Deus em nossas vidas.
Apresentadora: Henelris Marotti
Workshop in Portuguese/Talleres em
Portugués—1:00-2:15 p.m.
P2: Catolicismo 101: O Que Acreditamos?(Catholicism
101: What Do We Believe?)
Nesta sessão, discutiremos uma visão geral do que nós, como católi-
cos, acreditamos. Examinaremos os ensinamentos fundamentais da
nossa fé e a forma como elas se relacionam com nossas vidas.
Apresentador: Deacon Alvaro Soares
Workshop in Portuguese/Talleres em
Portugués—2:30-3:45 p.m.
P3: A Bíblia: Um Poderoso Livro de
Orações. (Bible: A Powerful Prayer
Book)
A Bíblia é um poderoso recurso de oração,
muitas vezes não usamos essa poderosa
ferramenta. Nesta sessão, analisaremos formas de
rezar com a Bíblia, como Lectio Divina e outros métodos.
Venha orar com as Palavras de Deus.
Apresentador: Deacon Alvaro Soares
Diocese of Fall River
Faith Formation Ministry Convention About Our Presenters Page 4
Katherine Coolidge is currently the Called & Gifted Coordinator for
the Catherine of Siena Institute. Previously, she served as a
catechist, program coordinator, youth minister, director of
evangelization, liturgist and pastoral associate. She is a
recognized master catechist in two diocese and possesses a
Masters of Arts in Pastoral Studies form St. Joseph College in
Maine. She and her husband, Michael, have four children and
six grandchildren.
Barbara Domingue, M.Ed., ATP is the Executive Director of
Community Autism Resources, Inc., the DDS Southeastern
Massachusetts Autism Resource Center. She has been the
Director of Faith Formation at St. Dominic’s Parish for 17
years. She has been actively involved in the areas of family
support and autism consultation for the past 25 years and has
served on numerous state and national boards. She also holds
a graduate certificate in the field of Assistive Technology and
is a certified Assistive Technology Professional. Her involvement in the
area of A.S.D. has evolved from her experiences with her 32 year old son
with autism. She (along with her colleagues) has published a chapter on the
topic of the experience of autism in the lives of families in the book
Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Developmental Transactional Perspective;
and her family’s experiences with autism have been included in the book
Uniquely Human: A Different Way of Seeing Autism by Barry Prizant.
Susan Kay is a Consultant for William H. Sadlier with more than 25
years of experience in Catholic schools, parishes, and the
Archdiocese of Boston Office of Lifelong Faith Formation.
She holds a bachelor of arts in English from the Catholic
University of America, Washington, DC, and a master’s
degree in (religious) education from Boston College, MA.
She teaches in the master of arts in ministry degree program
at Saint John’s Seminary, Boston.
Henelris Marotti é Diretora da Missão Louvor e Gloria, um Ministério
da Extensão do Brasil que promove a vida católica. Ela,
juntamente com seu marido, Fabio, coordenou "Aclamai"
um programa de uma semana, servindo brasileiros em
todo o país. Ela atua no Apostolado Brasileiro na Arquidi-
ocese de Boston, e foi destaque em "Radio Alegria de Fé"
promovendo a oração e a vida de fé.
Deacon Alvaro Soares é um diácono permanente para a Arquidiocese
de Boston, é atribuído à Secretaria de Evangelização e
Discipulado, e também é o Liaison para os Serviços de
Renovação Carismática de Boston. Ele atualmente atua na
Paróquia da Sagrada Família em Lowell, MA, onde ele lida
com a preparação do casamento, RCIA, fé, doutrina e
doutrina social sobre os ensinamentos da Igreja e faz parte
do ministério da música. Ele foi instrumental na imple-
mentação de vários programas de formação que preparam jovens e jovens
adultos, ajudando-os a se envolverem em ministérios pastorais. O diácono
Soaores e sua esposa Carla têm três filhos, Alvaro, Jr., Ivan e Natalia, e
esperam seu primeiro neto.
Rev. Tom Washburn, O.F.M., is a Catholic priest and a member of
the Franciscan Order. He holds both a Master of Divinity and
a Master of Theology in Sacred Liturgy degree, from Weston
Jesuit School of Theology in Cambridge, MA; as well as a
Certificate in Youth Ministry from the Center for Ministry
Development in Naugatuck, CT. He is currently a doctoral
candidate at Creighton University exploring new ways of
evangelizing the church today. Fr. Tom currently serves as
pastor at St. Margaret Parish, Buzzards Bay.
Office of Faith Formation
423 Highland Avenue
Fall River, MA 02720
508-678-2828 Fax 508-675-3864
www.fallriverfaithformation.org
Directions to the: Holiday Inn Taunton,
700 Myles Standish Blvd., Taunton, MA
I-495, Exit 9 Bay Street.
Traveling North: Exit Left off exit to 1st set of lights. Turn Right
on to Myles Standish Blvd. Hotel is 1 mile on right. Traveling
South: Exit right off exit to 1st set of lights. Turn right on to
Myles Standish Blvd. 1 Mile on right.
