Events, Etc.

National Parish Voice has identified four U.S. regions for purposes of affiliate coordination, communication efforts and future regional definitions and representation:

WEST
Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Hawaii, Alaska

CENTRAL
North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio

SOUTH
Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida

EAST
Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia

****Print Media Coverage - Be sure to check the website at www.votf.org for reprints and links to recent interviews with Jim Post and articles on VOTF in Newsweek, Commonweal, National Catholic Reporter and St. Anthony Messenger, AND the Herald Sun in Melbourne, to name but a few.

****Parish Voice News - Suzy Nauman and Mary Ann Keyes hit the road! In July, these two National Parish Voices visited the leadership in Albany and Syracuse, NY and then met with a core group in Rochester, NY, where an affiliate is finally getting off the ground under the leadership of Mary Ann Ribble-Brock and a supportive steering committee. September 11th they head for Chicago, IL where they hope to meet with leadership from the many affiliates formed and connect with some in WI and IN. Watch this space for updates on their progress.

VOTF East

****Tri-State VOTF Conference - Being Catholic in the 21st Century - Crisis, Challenge, Opportunity - We are delighted to share information about the exciting October 25th VOTF conference sponsored by the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut affiliates. In fact, we hope everyone is planning (buses--planes, trains, automobiles and subways!) to join us for this event. Our Web site, with complete information about the conference is live! This is a must-be-there for all!
Maria Coffey, NY Chair, VOTF Conference

****Tuesday, September 30 at 6:30, Affinia Southgate Hotel (31st Street and 7th Avenue)."Repair My Church" was the theme newly installed Boston Archbishop, Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap., adopted as he took over the helm of the Boston Archdiocese. Following this call for change in the Church originally given to St. Francis, the Capuchin Mission Development Office is sponsoring a lecture featuring another Capuchin Franciscan, Michael Crosby, OFM Cap. Author of thirteen books including his latest, "Rethinking Celibacy, Reclaiming the Church," Michael will discuss challenges and opportunities ahead for both clergy and the laity. For information/reservations call John Mattras at 212-564-9070 x 256. Suggested contribution is $20. However, all are encouraged to attend. Seating is limited. (Submitted by Mary Ann Keyes)

****GENERAL WORKING GROUP MEETINGS & PLENARY MEETINGS - THIS FALL, Wellesley, MA

A tentative plan is to have two general meetings each month, starting this October. The 2nd Tuesday of each month will be a general WORKING GROUP meeting. Leaders of each Working Group and members will meet, work on and share their plans and progress. Hopefully, each individual Working Group will have additional meetings at a time and place of their convenience. Only the general WORKING GROUP meeting on the 2nd Tuesday each month will be in Wellesley. First meeting is OCTOBER 14th, 7:30-9:30 pm, St. John Parish, Wellesley, Philbin Hall/Parish Center.

For the 4th week Tuesday meeting, we are recommending a general PLENARY MEETING in the model of the early formative plenary meetings at St. John's in the first 6 months of 2002.

We would hope this would be a meeting for all current members as well as an introductory opportunity for new affiliates and members and feature GUEST SPEAKERS. We want this meeting to include the FIVE REGIONS. In addition, would it be more effective if this general PLENARY MEETING were rotated through the FIVE REGIONS of our Boston Archdiocese?

To be successful, we need a steering committee to make decisions, to plan the Plenary Meetings and to promote and advertise and market each meeting. An additional thought; wouldn't it be important, in supporting our spiritual and evangelizing dimensions, to have a quarterly Plenary Meeting AND Liturgy? Reminder: First general WORKING GROUP MEETING - Oct. 14, 2003, 7:30-9:30pm - Philbin Hall - St. John's, Wellesley. OPEN ISSUES: 1. How is meeting information going to get to the leaders of each Working Group and members? 2. Location of monthly Plenary Meetings - in Wellesley or Five-Region Rotation? 3.Who will be part of this Steering & Implementation Committee - from the FIVE REGIONS? Please forward your comments to Frank and Julie McConville at jfmcconville@comcast.net.

****PASTORAL SUMMIT 2003 at the Marriot Copley Hotel on October 6-8, Boston, MA. PASTORAL SUMMIT CONFERENCE TO BRING DIVERSE GROUP OF PASTORS AND LAY LEADERS TO BOSTON

A groundbreaking, Lilly Endowment-funded national conference coming to Boston, October 6-8, brings together Catholics and Protestants from across the country to concentrate solely on local churches - how to help them fulfill their great potential and to help them confront inevitable issues of our time. Through its workshops and keynote speakers, Pastoral Summit Boston will provide answers and solutions for universal issues like how to increase lay involvement, reach into and transform entire communities, attract new members, reinvigorate worship, reach young people and Gen Xers -and much more.

Pastoral Summit Boston will also tackle many current and crucial issues facing churches today: how to deal with brokenness after a sexual, financial or emotional crisis; how to respond to congregants in the face of war and a depleting economy; how ancient contemplative and mystical spirituality is inspiring modern lives; how new grassroots lay initiatives are transforming both individual churches and church structures.

Jim Post, President of Voice of the Faithful, will lead a workshop on "The Flowering of Lay Initiatives." Other workshop speakers include: Tom Beaudoin from Boston College, who will lead a workshop on "Church in Postmodern Culture"; Fr. Walter Cuenin, Pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians in Newton, MA, who will lead workshops on reviving church and parish life; Br. Curtis Almquist, a monk from the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who will lead a workshop on integrating contemplative and mystical life into daily life; and Mike Ashcraft, whose Wilmington, NC, church meets in a middle-school gymnasium and attracts hundreds of Gen X'ers every Sunday. Ashcraft will lead a workshop about helping lay people discover their spiritual gifts and then applying them to a church ministry.

Keynote speakers are Huston Smith, the internationally renowned expert on world religions, who sees the local church as still the place where most people find and practice their faith, and Alice McDermott, the National Book Award-winning author, who will tell of the profound impact of the Catholic faith in her life and work.

Evening and morning liturgies offer a glimpse into both Catholic and Protestant styles of worship. Morning liturgies include Taize, a style of worship originating in France that combines singing, scripture reading and quiet mediation. Evening liturgies include an ecumenical gathering at Old South Church and a closing worship service conducted by the Boston Liturgical Dance Ensemble, a multimedia experience of music, dance and performance.

Pastoral Summit Boston will be the finale of three 2003 national gatherings that built upon the initial 2001 conference in New Orleans. In addition to Boston, two other conferences were held this year in San Antonio and Indianapolis.

"The Pastoral Summit's aim is simple and straightforward - to make churches the best they can possibly be," said Paul Wilkes, a writer and active Catholic layman who is founder and project director of the Pastoral Summit. "What our participants take home is not just theoretical, but actually reproducible. For both clergy and lay leaders, the Pastoral Summit might be looked upon as 'one-stop shopping' for models of local church excellence."

"We chose Boston as a Pastoral Summit site for many reasons," said Wilkes. "It has a rich religious tradition and, because the tragedy of clergy abuse still hangs heavy over its Catholic parishes, we felt it was a city in search of religious and spiritual healing. By providing fresh ideas and new ideas for parish and church reinvigoration, we hope to help in some small way in that healing. We hope to show that the local church has so much unrealized power, power just waiting to be unleashed."

Working in conjunction with the Institute for Church Life at the University of Notre Dame and New England area parishes, churches and denominational groups, the Pastoral Summit has been funded by various grants from the Lilly Endowment. The conferences grew out of another Lilly Endowment-funded project - a study of church excellence that led to the publication of two books written by Wilkes: Excellent Protestant Congregations: The Guide to Best Places and Practices and Excellent Catholic Parishes: The Guide to Best Places and Practices.

"It was quickly apparent, as our team was doing research, that Catholic and Protestant churches can learn from each other's excellence, even when their approaches are so different," Wilkes said. "Good ideas work across traditions. Churches want to sense a mission and feel an excitement in what they do, and as they are always looking for new ways to serve their people and to reach into the world, the Pastoral Summit was created to provide a meeting ground for ideas that should be shared."

Wilkes has written and spoken extensively about the role of religion in personal lives and public life for more than three decades. He is the author of eighteen books, the director and host of television documentaries, and has written for the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine and many other publications.

Registration and brochures for the Pastoral Summit are available online at www.pastoralsummit.org. For more information contact: Svea Fraser at sveaandscott@comcast.net ; Miles Christian Daniels at staff@pastoralsummit.org or call 910-962-7225; FAX 910-962-7491; Pastoral Summit, 1413 Hawthorne Road, Wilmington NC 28403

****SURVIVORS NETWORK OF THOSE ABUSED BY PRIESTS.
SNAP Mid- Atlantic Meeting and Conference. THEME: BREAKING THE SILENCE. For all survivors and their supporters to share, listen, learn, support and plan. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2003 at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) New York City, New York, 8th Avenue & 27th Street, "A" Building, David Dubinsky Student Center, Faculty Dining Room, 8th Floor. 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Contact snapoutreach@aol.com or call 718-492-2177. Indicate if attending all day, a.m. or p.m. $15.00 suggested donation (no one turned away). Breakfast included for morning arrivals. Lunch on your own. Be sure to visit our website at www.snapnetwork.org

Featuring these Speakers, a Panel Discussion and more: "

• Professor Marci Hamilton: Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law "
• Marion White: Exec. Director Child Abuse Prevention Program "
• David Clohessy: National Director of SNAP "
• Sister Sally Butler, O.P.: Supporter of clergy abuse victims "
• Panel Discussion on "Breaking the Silence"

****Nashua, New Hampshire hosts Paul Lakeland - For those unable to participate in the tri-state conference (see below), here's an opportunity to hear Paul Lakeland, the Fairfield University professor who inspired the June 7 Boston gathering in his keynote address. Come to Rivier College in Nashua on Saturday, October 25 for another opportunity to hear Professor Lakeland discuss "Vatican II: Back to the Future" at a 9-3 conference. The $30 cost includes lunch. There will be breakout sessions, one of which is expected to be on canon law as it relates to Church structures, laity, etc. Contact ariggs@rivier.edu for more information.

****A Musical Tribute - On September 28, 2003 at 5:00 pm, a chamber music concert will be performed at the Edward M. Pickman Concert Hall, 27 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA. Admission to the concert will be free. Concert attendees are asked to make a good will offering to support SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests). The program will be presented by John Ferrillo, Elizabeth Ostling and Elita Kang of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Carol Rodland of the New England Conservatory, and Hugh Hinton of the Longy School of Music. Attendees will hear works by Bach, Schumann, DeBussy, Barber, Loefflre and Messiaen. PLEASE HELP TO MAKE THIS EVENT A SUCCESS! For further information please visit the survivor pages of the VOTF Web site or contact Steve Sheehan at: sheehan1777@aol.com

VOTF Central
**** VOTF Cleveland, Ohio Affiliate of Voice of the Faithful sponsored a Mass of Healing on Sunday, August 24, 2003, at Padua Franciscan High School, Parma, Ohio. Reverend Walter Dolan, OFM, was the principal celebrant. A panel discussion featuring child sexual abuse experts and victim advocates followed the Mass. Kay Starr, mother of a victim, was the liturgist. (Details under Voices, Voices Everywhere!)VOTF Central)

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