National Symposium Calls U.S. Church to Refocus on Mission
'God's Missionary People' to Be Held Oct. 3-6, 2004 in Louisville, Ky.

CINCINNATI (May 4, 2004)-The mission of the Church is the proclamation of the Reign of God. In an attempt to refocus the U.S. Catholic Church on this mission, Glenmary Home Missioners, in cooperation with the United States Catholic Mission Association (USCMA), is sponsoring a national symposium Oct. 3-6, 2004, in Louisville, Ky.

Glenmary's sponsorship of this symposium is a continuation of its commitment to share insights on mission and missiology with the larger Church. Glenmary priests, brothers and lay coworkers have been proclaiming the Reign of God in rural areas of Appalachia, the South and the Southwest since 1939.

"God's Missionary People: A New Way of Being Church" will look at mission both in theory and practice. Keynote speaker Father John Fuellenbach, SVD, will present the theological overview in his opening address, "The Church as Mission." Workshops will focus on how a "missionary people" can engage some of the major issues of our day: multiculturalism, the media, fundamentalisms, youth, the mega-city and the forgotten among us. This year, USCMA will hold its annual meeting in conjunction with this mission symposium.

"We want to challenge participants to envision a new way of being Church," says Glenmary Father Wil Steinbacher, coordinator of the symposium. The Church in the recent past has "turned in on itself," Father Steinbacher says. "The focus has shifted from the 'Church as mission' to a more organizational sense of Church which focuses primarily on maintaining itself and ministering to the people who already come through our church doors."

"But Church isn't just about being fed at Mass once a week," he continues. "It's about being fed--and then going out into the world and sharing that 'food' with others--especially the poor. It's about helping to bring about the Reign of God and witnessing the gospel in our daily lives."

Other presenters at the symposium include M. Shawn Copeland; the Rev. George Hunsberger; Father Robert Schreiter, CPPS; Sister Dianne Bergant, CSA; Archbishop Thomas Kelly, OP; Bishop William Houck; Sister Marie Chin, RSM; Edwina Gateley; Glenmary Fathers Frank Ruff and John Rausch; Rabbi Herman Schaalman; Aminah McCloud; Angela Appleby-Purcell; the Rev. Lois Barrett; Father Anthony Gittins, CSSp; Father Steve Bevans, SVD; and many other panelists and workshop presenters.

"We hope this symposium will spark the missionary imagination," says missiologist Father Steve Bevans, SVD, of the Catholic Theological Union. He is a member of the committee planning this conference. "We want to invite people to imagine Church in a new way," he says, "a way which will proclaim the Kingdom and address the needs we see around us--just as Christ would."

Organizers hope to attract all those involved in professional Church ministry to the October symposium: bishops, priests, missionaries, men and women religious, pastoral associates, mission office directors, religious educators and lay ecclesial leaders.

"Vatican II called us to understand the Church as the 'people of God,'" says Father Steinbacher. "This symposium hopes to raise awareness that the 'people of God' is first and foremost a 'missionary people.'"

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For more information, contact Father Wil Steinbacher at 615-256-1905 or wsteinbacher@glenmary.org

For a complete schedule