Our popular Summer and Winter Forum programs offer Catholic adults and young adults an opportunity to learn and grow in a comfortable, familiar environment.
We choose presenters from among pastors, pastoral leaders and academic experts on both the local and diocesan level. We ask them to address a variety of interesting and important issues which shape the lives of adults and young adults in the Church and society today.
During the current pandemic Forum programs will be conducted online.
Use this link to join the conversations:
meet.google.com/etf-xtsx-bbp
Our Summer and Winter Forum programs are made possible in part by a grant from the
Archbishop Kucera Center for Catholic Intellectual and Spiritual Life at Loras College.
Take-Away
Adults and young adults who participate in this opportunity will:
• learn more about important issues which affect our lives as Catholic Christians.
• have an opportunity to dialog with distinguished pastoral leaders, theologians and academics.
• appreciate the challenges and opportunities of a changing Church in a changing world.
Related Links
Archive of 2021 Winter Forum Programs
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Current Schedule
Winter 2022
Rethinking Parenthood In the Catholic Tradition
Presented by Dr. Jacob Kohlhaas
The Church's tendency to prioritize sexual concerns has overshadowed public awareness of the larger, wholistic Catholic commitment to the common good and tends to distort the broader understanding of Catholic social values. A preoccupation with sexual ethics, narrowly defined around physical, sexual acts and biological reproduction, has also impoverished Catholic theological understanding of parenthood itself. In this presentation Dr. Kohlhaas explains how his new book, Beyond Biology--Rethinking Parenthood in the Catholic Tradition, seeks to integrate the lived experience of Catholic parents into the church's concerns about human sexuality and broader social issues.
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Faithful Truth-Telling In An Age of Dis-Belief
Presented by Fr. Dale Launderville OSB
Giving witness to our faith in an environment of dis-belief is more difficult than ever. In our time in America, it has become all too common for individuals to make faith claims without any facts to back them up. What are the realities or facts that we can bring forward to support our faith claims and validate our experience in a secular environment? In this presentation Fr. Launderville examines the challenges of testifying to our faith to an audience jaded by disbelief. Fr. Launderville looks to the scriptures, especially the psalms, for encouragement and guidance for sharing genuine encounters with God that have an impact on us and overflow to those around us.
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The Covid pandemic has brought to light various challenges facing the church, many of which existed before the pandemic but were hidden or accentuated by the pandemic. One of the major challenges is providing dynamic, vibrant parish communities in a time of declining participation and qualified pastoral leadership in the face of the declining number of priests. In this presentation Mr. Henderson will discuss some of the challenges facing the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Dubuque and will highlight the efforts which the Archdiocese is making to address those challenges in the spirit of Pope Francis' synodal process.
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Learn More About Our Presenters
Nancy Gordon is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Covenant Church and is former director of the California Lutheran Homes Center for Spirituality and Aging, from which she retired in 2017. Nancy has a MSLS degree from the University of Tennessee and a M.Div. from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary. She is the author of “Sensing the Sacred--A Small Group Worship for Persons with Alzheimer’s” found in Dementia Friendly Worship and “Touching Spirits, Programming for Meaning and Connection” in The Essential Spirit. Sensing the Sacred is a multi-sensory worship experience for people with dementia; the Growth Opportunities program is a multi-dimensional spiritual and wellness program for seniors. Nancy is also co-author of Good Mourning--Help and Understanding in Time of Pregnancy Loss published by Word Books in 1989 and republished as Silent Cradle by Light and Life Press in 1998. She has published and presented frequently on the spiritual needs of seniors and those with dementia.
Jeff Henderson is Director of Pastoral Planning and Leadership Development for the Archdiocese of Dubuque. In that role he works with priests and lay leaders to plan for the future of parishes and assists in leadership training in the Archdiocese. Previously, he served the Archdiocese as Director of Stewardship Development and Superintendent of Schools. Mr. Henderson grew up in Manchester and earned a BA in Social Studies from the University of Dubuque. He has an MA in Education Administration and an Education Specialist degree from the University of Iowa. He began his administrative career as the first lay principal of LaSalle High School in Cedar Rapids in 1991 and led the effort to consolidate the former Regis and LaSalle High Schools into Xavier High School. He served as the first principal of Xavier from 1997 to 2004. Jeff and his wife Lisa live in Cedar Rapids and are members of St. Jude Parish.
Jacob Kohlhaas is Associate Professor of Moral Theology at Loras College in Dubuque, where he teaches courses in Christian values, social justice, and sexual ethics. Dr. Kohlhaas is a native of Algona, Iowa, and a graduate of Wartburg College. He has an MA from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and a doctorate in Systematic Theology from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. His recent book, Beyond Biology--Rethinking Parenthood in the Catholic Tradition (Georgetown University, 2021) explores the relationship between sexual ethics and parenthood in modern Catholic thought. In addition to the contemporary theology of parenthood, Dr. Kohlhaas has written and presented on sexual ethics, environmental ethics, ecclesiology, and ecumenism. Jacob and his wife Kelly are the parents of two children and members of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Dubuque.
Fr. Dale Launderville OSB is a native of Storm Lake, Iowa and a Benedictine monk of St. John's Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota. He currently serves as professor of theology and dean at Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville. He received a Master of Divinity degree from Saint John's in 1979 and a doctorate from The Catholic University of America in 1987. He served as dean of the School of Theology from 1989 to 1999 and as rector of Saint John's Seminary from 1992 to 1997. His latest book, published by Liturgical Press in 2010, is Celibacy in the Ancient World. He is currently working on a two-volume commentary on the book of Ezekiel.
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For more information contact:
Associate for Adult Faith Formation • 320 Mulberry St. Waterloo IA 50703
Phone: 319-234-0498 • Email: DBQwcaf@dbqarch.org
[Last Update 01.12.22]