On March 25th, the Augustine Institute presented the first annual Diocesan Catechetical Conference for the Diocese of Charlotte in Greensboro, NC. There were 94 parish leaders from all across the Diocese that participated in the conference that provided workshop tracks for Religious Educators, Adult Faith Formation, and Parish Evangelization. Lucas Pollice, Director of Parish Programs and Implementation at the Augustine Institute provided the keynote address entitled “The New Evangelization: The Extraordinary Mission of our Time,” and encouraged the participants to embrace this providential time in the Church as a “New Pentecost” beginning with Vatican II which provides this extraordinary mission of the New Evangelization. “This is not business as usual when it comes to evangelization and catechesis,” explained Pollice. He emphasized that we are not to be afraid to try new and bold initiatives when it comes to bringing the Gospel to our modern culture.
The workshop breakouts were met with great enthusiasm and were presented by experienced Augustine Institute trainers from across the country, including Scott Sollom from Franciscan University of Steubenville, Michelle Nilsson from the Diocese of Madison, and Martha Tonn from Immaculate Conception Parish in Denton, TX. Chris Beal, the Diocesan coordinator of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Charlotte, commented that the response was “overwhelmingly positive” and was very pleased with the partnership with the Augustine Institute for their very first Diocesan Catechetical Conference.
The Augustine Institute regularly offers training conferences for dioceses across the country and provides training for RCIA, Adult Faith Formation, Catechetics, and Parish Evangelization and formation for clergy. Since 2013, the training team from the Augustine Institute has conducted trainings in 15 dioceses. If your diocese is interested in the Augustine Institute providing a training conference, please contact parishcare@formed.org for more information.
