“Cultivating Communities of Solidarity and Service”
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
Are you ready to revitalize your parish’s faith-justice work?
We’ll provide you with the strategies and connections to take a holistic, synodal-based approach to nurturing a more just, spiritually grounded, and vibrant parish community.
WHY ATTEND?
- Form new connections with parish ministers who are actively engaged in this work. Together, we will create a roster of participants to let you know who you can contact throughout the year for community, support, and ideas!
- Gain strategies for your parish justice work, inspired by the Ignatian charism. You’ll hear from parish leaders, activists, and both directly-impacted individuals and allies in the contexts of migration, ecology, and racial justice. Throughout the day, you’ll be provided with space to start to dream and action plan for revitalizing your community.
- Explore the principle of Synodality and the call for broad participation and leadership in faith-justice work.
- Explore coalition-building and what collaborative action between parishes and partner organizations could look like.
12-12:45 PM ET | 9-9:45 AM PT
Prayer
Keynote: Danielle Harrison
1:00-2:00 PM ET | 10:00-11:00 AM PT
Breakout Sessions
Migration Accompaniment Network
Jovana Nieto
National Accompaniment Coordinator, Jesuit Refugee Service/USA
Parishes as Hubs of Environmental Advocacy
Nancy Lorence
Parishioner, St. Francis Xavier Church (NY)
Relational Organizing as an Instrument of Hope and Peace
Ogechi Akalegbere
Director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church (MD)
2:00-2:30 PM ET | 11:00-11:30 AM PT
Break
2:30-3:30 PM ET | 11:30-12:30 PM PT
Breakout Sessions
Utilizing the Pastoral Circle to Guide Your Parish’s FaithJustice Work
Fred Kammer, S.J.
Founding Director, Jesuit Social Research Institute
Synodality and Parish Justice Work
Maureen O’Connell, Ph.D.
Director of Synod and Higher Education Engagement, Discerning Deacons
3:30-4:00 PM ET | 12:30-1:00 PM PT
Break
4:00-5:00 PM ET | 1:00-2:00 PM PT
Issue-Area-Based Networking
5:00-5:15 PM ET | 2:00-2:15 PM PT
Closing Prayer
K E Y N O T E
Danielle Harrison
Originally from Haiti, Danielle Harrison now resides in St. Louis. She has worked for the governing staff of the Jesuits in the former Missouri Province, developed a retreat ministry in Southern California, created a center for spiritual development for a hospital system in Lubbock, Texas, and worked for the UCS Province as part of the Slavery, History, Memory, and Reconciliation Project.
Danielle holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College, a J.D. from Saint Louis University Law School, and an M.A. in theology from the Aquinas Institute. She has taught theology in the St. Louis area and currently serves as mission integration leader at Cor Jesu Academy, is a member of the preaching team at King’s House Retreat Center in Belleville, Illinois, and works with secondary schools on integrating their mission, vision, and charism, especially focusing on diversity, faith, equity, and belonging.
PRESENTER: PASTORAL CIRCLE AND PARISH JUSTICE WORK
Fr. Fred Kammer, SJ
When Fr. Fred Kammer, SJ, entered the Society of Jesus in 1963, Vatican II had just opened, and its teachings shaped his formation as a Jesuit. He felt called to the vision of a “modern church” that stood with its people against unjust governments and social systems. From 2009 to 2021, he addressed social justice issues as director of the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University New Orleans. A joint project of the university and the Jesuits USA Central and Southern (UCS) Province, JSRI addresses issues of poverty, race and immigration in the Gulf South through research, education and advocacy.
Father Kammer founded JSRI while he was provincial of the former New Orleans Jesuit Province. He previously served as president/CEO of Catholic Charities USA, the nation’s largest voluntary human service network. He has also worked in a number of programs for the underprivileged, both as a lay volunteer, an attorney, an advocate, and an administrator. The New Orleans native earned a law degree from Yale University and M. Div. from Loyola University in Chicago. His three written works encapsulate what has been his life’s focus: promoting a Catholic faith that does justice.
PRESENTER: SYNODALITY AND PARISH JUSTICE WORK
Maureen H. O’Connell
Maureen O’Connell has more than 20 years of experience in Catholic higher education, the majority of them anchored in teaching and learning spaces oriented by social justice pedagogies. In addition to her work with Discerning Deacons, she is Professor of Christian Ethics at La Salle University in her native city of Philadelphia, where she offers courses in peace and justice, racial justice, feminist engagement with religion, community organizing, and place-based learning. She is also engaged with faith-based organizing through POWER, Faith in Action’s affiliate there. She has authored three books, the most recent of which, Undoing the Knots: Five Generations of American Catholic Anti-Blackness (Beacon Press, 2021), examines her family’s history with racism in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. She holds a BA in History from Saint Joseph’s University and a PhD in Christian Ethics from Boston College.
Registration Fees
FAQ’s
I don’t attend a Jesuit parish. Can I still come?
Yes. While the Summit is grounded in Ignatian spirituality and serving the Jesuit network, it is open to all who have an openness to the Ignatian approach and a desire to build a more vibrant faith-justice parish community.
How many parishes will be represented at the Summit?
Past Summits have gathered 10-15 parishes in the Jesuit network and beyond. This year’s Summit seeks to gather 20+ parishes from across the U.S. to encourage greater cross-institutional collaboration and sharing of best practices and ideas.
Who should attend the Summit?
The Ignatian Parish Justice Summit gathers a mix of parish constituents. It is suitable for parishioners and parish staff who are actively involved in social justice ministries and committees.
Questions
Please contact Erin Brown at ebrown@ignatiansolidarity.net or (216) 200-4359.