Regional liturgy conference offers January study week

The 58th Annual Study Week for
the Southwest Liturgical Conference
(SWLC), with the theme “Go in
Peace, Glorifying the Lord by your
Life,” will be held Jan. 15-18 at the
DoubleTree Hotel at Reid Park.
It’s where the Mass ends and the
work of the Mass begins.
Although the SWLC comprises
28 dioceses in eight states, “it’s for
everyone in the pews,” said Dominican
Sister Lois Paha, Diocese of
Tucson director of Pastoral Services.
“The whole event is an opportunity
for formation for our local people.”
She encouraged anyone interested
in attending from the Diocese of
Tucson to submit their registration
before the early bird rates expire
Dec. 31. Otherwise, the $150 conference
fee increases to $200 for
registrations submitted by Jan. 1-14
and to $250 onsite.
Although hundreds of diocesan
liturgical leaders attend from Texas,
Arkansas, Oklahoma, Wyoming,
Colorado, New Mexico and Utah,
Arizona parish leaders will be able
to hear the same national liturgical
leaders in six general sessions and
more than 30 workshops.
“The majority of the conference
registrants would be expected to
come from the hosting diocese,” Sister
Paha said. “The opportunities for
quality liturgical prayer, study and
reflection and interaction with other
persons in liturgical ministry can
be a source of renewed enthusiasm
for the work of liturgical ministers
within the Diocese.”
Following are the general session
speakers and their topics:
- Father Paul Turner, “Meet Yourself:
Coming and Going,”
- Robert Feduccia, “Liturgy in a
Missionary Key,”
- Rita Thiron, “Christ’s Message
is Made Known by Word and Deed,”
- Deacon Owen
Cummings, “Worship
and the Catholic Imagination:
The Church as
Sacred Space,”
- Dolly Sokol, “Liturgical
Ministry: Call, a
Gift, a Responsibility,”
- Hosffman Ospino,
“Sent to Accompany
through Witness and
Solidarity.”
Each speaker offers
national expertise in
their areas of ministry.
Father Turner is the
Worship director in
the Diocese of Kansas
City-St. Joseph,
Missouri and serves
as a facilitator for the
International Commission
on English in the
Liturgy (ICEL). Feduccia will appeal
to youth and young adult ministers,
and is a founding member of the
Youth Liturgical Leadership Program
at St. Meinrad School of Theology in
St. Meinrad, Indiana, which sponsors
the “One Bread, One Body” program
for young people.
Thiron is the executive director
of the Federation of Diocesan
Liturgical Commissions (FDLC)
and a seven-time book author,
specializing in the Rite of Christian
Initiation of Adults. Deacon Cummings
holds the Regents’ Chair in
Theology at Mount Angel Seminary
in St. Benedict, Oregon, and previously
served as director of education
and formation at the Cathedral
of the Madeleine in Salt Lake City,
Utah. Sokol specializes in liturgical
ministry, serving on the SWLC and
FDLC boards. Ospino, an associate
professor of Theology and Religious
Education at Boston College, Chestnut
Hill, Massachusetts, has written
extensively on Hispanic Catholics.
Sister Paha also noted that some
of the workshops provide a means to
highlight local talent. For example,
Salvatorian Brother Silas Henderson
and Peggy Guerrero of Jordan
Ministry are leading workshops on
Discipleship and the Call to Ministry,
and Lectio Divina, respectively.
There are also other national speakers
and musicians, such as Pedro
Rubalcava, Tom Booth and Michael
Prendergast, leading workshops.
Keynote speakers will also be leading
workshops in their areas of expertise.
For more information or to register
for the SWLC study week, visit
swlc.org/tucson-2020.