As conference convener, Lisa Bright explains, “The online environment offers a creativity in how we engage. We know people in pastoral settings have crazy schedules. So, while there is a three-day intensive, we are opening Alive in the Spirit to a space that is accessible over a longer period.”
This option is attractive to many in parishes. Carmel Fenton, a conference committee member, says, “People want choice. Pastoral councils can meet maybe four times in June, or a faith group or prayer group or catechist team can gather a few times over four weeks, like a Lenten group, and experience the keynotes that way. I think people really appreciate that they don’t have to try and squeeze it all into three days.”
With parishes and dioceses hungering for fresh hope, new ideas, and positive stories and models of practice in service of Christ’s mission, Alive in the Spirit delivers with over thirty presentations from Australian and New Zealand based practitioners, balancing on-screen input with time for off-screen prayer, reflection and a call to action. There is time for networking with participants, and guides are available to accompany either an individual or group three-day intensive or a one-month engagement.
Keynote presenters include Dr Christina Kheng, a Singaporean pastoral theologian and planning consultant for the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific; Dr Maeve Heaney, Director of the Xavier Centre for Theological Formation at ACU; Luke Tobin, Mission Formation Educator, Catholic Mission; and Dr Dan Ebener, United States leading Author and Lecturer in the space of leadership and organisational change. Each presenter explores an element of Micah’s theme.
Our Catholic Church offers so much richness, and Alive in the Spirit celebrates the good of who we are, while inviting us to continue to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as we engage with the Signs of the Times in our Oceania Region.
Please visit www.aliveinthespirit.com.au or contact the Alive in the Spirit team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
