Annual Faith Formation Conference Aug. 1

Amarillo—The sixth annual Diocesan Faith Formation Conference for all parish leaders, catechists, Catholic school teachers, lectors, RCIA leaders, parents and all involved in parish ministry will take place Saturday, Aug. 1 at St. Mary’s Cathedral, 1200 South Washington.

Registration begins at 8:30am, with Bishop Patrick J. Zurek leading Morning Prayer at 9:00. Also participating in Morning Prayer will be St. Laurence Church guitarist Natalie Zamora.

Bishop Zurek was installed as the eighth Bishop of Amarillo on Feb. 22, 2008. He was ordained a priest in St. Peter’s Basilica by Blessed Paul VI on June 29, 1975. He served as a priest in the Diocese of Austin until his episcopal ordination as Auxiliary Bishop of San Antonio by then-Archbishop Patrick F. Flores on Feb. 16, 1998.

After Morning Prayer, Bishop Zurek will address attendees, followed by presentations from two keynote speakers.

Joseph D. White, Ph.D, a writer, editor and consultant to Our Sunday Visitor and a clinical child psychologist, will give two talks. In the morning session, he will speak on Engaging Children and Teens in their Faith in a Culture of Distractions and after lunch will present a talk entitled Do The Right Thing: Forming Catholic Conscience in Children and Youth.

Victor Valenzuela will deliver a talk entitled Catechesis Is a Key Moment in the Process of the New Evangelization. He has been in ministry for 20 years including classroom teaching, youth ministry, teacher training and participating in writing and developing of new materials.

Cost of the conference is $15.00 per person and includes lunch. For more information, contact Sister Janet M. Abbacchi, SSND, Coordinator of Faith Formation for the Diocese of Amarillo at 383-2243, ext. 113 or ext. 111.