Last month, Kristina and I drove our five kids over ten hours to beautiful Roanoke, Virginia. This was our first time taking all of our kids on an out-of-state road trip, and we had no idea how the drive would go. Thankfully, we packed enough snacks that it went very smoothly and we had a lot of fun.
The reason for our trip was that I was invited by Our Lady of Nazareth parish in Roanoke to present a day-long conference about healthy ministry and spiritual abuse for all of the church staff in their deanery. There were over forty participants there including bookkeepers, deacons, front office staff, youth ministers, priests, and (my favorite) catechists.
While I’ve given presentations and workshops about spiritual abuse dozens of times, most of the time my audience self-selected to be there. That wasn’t the case for this group. This event was a professional development day that the staff were asked to attend. And it was a wonderful day! The participants were engaged with the presentations and the group discussions were lively. It was such a great time being with this group of ministers.
Most of my work, from my counseling to my workshops, is online. This allows people from all over the world to have access to these resources. But there’s something really wonderful about connecting and engaging with others in person.
I’d love to visit your parish to give a presentation or day-conference. See the poster below for the details!
So awesome to hear parishes are having you come speak. Keep up the great work!
You, Kristina, and the five kids are inspiring disciples, Paul. Thanks for that.