For Immediate Release
September 19, 2008

NCCW Contact: Andrea Schellman
703-224-0990, x. 104, aschellman@nccw.org
Local Contact: Angela D. Martinez
801-360-0387 omartini25@comcast.net

NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN

GENERAL ASSEMBLY PROGRAM DETAILS

Arlington, VA—Speakers and workshops at the National Council of Catholic Women’s (NCCW) General Assembly will offer attendees concrete suggestions for leadership development and program implementation. The NCCW will convene its 2008 national meeting September 24-28 in Salt Lake City, Utah, under the theme “NCCW—We are Women of Faith, Women of Action.” More than 600 council leaders and members from around the country are registered for the meeting at the Sheraton City Centre.

Also, NCCW will honor its regional recipients of the NCCW Our Lady of Good Counsel Award on September 26 and recognize one as the national recipient of the award. Biennially, this award honors an outstanding council member from each of three geographic regions for her contribution to council and for her service to church, family, and community. The 2008 three regional recipients are:

NCCW Region I—Rita Macewicz, Madison Diocesan Council of Catholic Women;
NCCW Region II—Mary Ann Schwab, San Francisco Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women;
NCCW Region III—Eileen Widmer, Knoxville Diocesan Council of Catholic Women.

Program Highlights

In recognition of both the increasing role of lay pastoral ministers and the ever-enlarging arena of parish activities, leadership themes and ideas are on the agenda.

A Council Leader: Vital Link in the Mission of the Church, presented
by Carole Goodwin, Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for Louisville, Kentucky, will provide suggestions for integrating the responsibilities of leadership in a volunteer organization with service to the ministry of the Church.

Attendees will also be able to preview components of NCCW’s new leadership training program and participate in workshops specifically designed for council officers and program leaders.

And The Only Thing that Doesn’t Change is Change: Growing, Flourishing, and Leading in Times of Transition, by Education Consultant M. Elizabeth Tardola of Beloit, Wisconsin, will offer concrete suggestions for guiding parish and diocesan volunteer organizations through community transitions.

Five other workshops will offer background and practical ideas to help local and diocesan women’s groups implement programs that meet the needs of their parishes and communities.

Two workshops tie in with the U.S. bishops’ initiative to support successful, committed marriages. The Eucharistic Spirit of Marriage, by Rev. Larry Kulick of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, will discuss how the vocation of marriage is an expression of Eucharistic love. Change the World by Protecting Marriage: How to Support and Promote the Bishops’ Pastoral Initiative on Marriage, by Lorrie Gramer, Rockford, Illinois, Family Life Office Co-Director, will provide suggestions for local organizations to support this initiative.

In Children and a Safe Environment: Protecting Our Children in the Womb and After, NCCW members M. Jane Mueller and Patricia Smuck follow up on NCCW’s groundbreaking role in the Catholic Coalition for Children and a Safe Environment and offer specific steps to reduce environmental dangers to our children.

The 2009 Synod on Africa: What It’s About, How to Prepare, by Stephen Hilbert, USCCB Foreign Policy Advisor, will explain the purpose and issues to be addressed at the upcoming Synod.

Using Catholic Social Teaching to Form Our Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, by Suzanne Belongia, Social Justice Director of Winona, Minnesota, will discuss how the seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching offer a roadmap for conscience formation, community engagement, and legislative activism.

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