Call To Action 2006 Conference

Call To Action 2006 National Conference
Features

Introduction

Plenary Speakers

Presentations

New to Conference?
We will offer an orientation to Call To Action’s history and mission, as well as vital information on conference activities. Meet other newcomers and get help navigating the weekend program. This Welcome Session will be held on Friday at 2:30 PM.

CTA Seeks to be an Inclusive and Anti-Racist Community
We are very much aware that the membership and leadership of Call To Action, as with almost all institutions and organizations in this country, participate in systems of white privilege. However, we have begun the work of transformation: we have embarked on a long term anti-racism initiative and commissioned a new CTA anti-racism team. We have made some progress, but more is needed. We have to open our hearts and imaginations to creating incentives and interests on the part of persons of color to join us at conference and in our on-going efforts to be authentic church. We are One Body. Our gatherings must begin to reflect that oneness by becoming inclusive. Our sisters and brothers in diverse racial and ethnic communities bring unique gifts: different perspectives, cultures, ways of understanding the world and expressing the faith. We need those gifts to be a truly inclusive Church, the whole people of God. Please help us reach leaders and members of other racial and ethnic communities. How wonderful it would be if each of us sought the participation of at least one newcomer person of color to conference. Also, please consider making a special donation to assist people of color to attend the conference. To do this see the registration form on page 7. Even if financial support is not possible, invite a person of color to join us. (As an added incentive, see page 7 about bringing two newcomers and getting a free registration for yourself.)

Return with two newcomers and get a free registration!
CTA wants to thank faithful National Conference participants who come back. We also want to encourage outreach to newcomers, and to ethnically diverse communities not well represented in the past (see above). So we are offering a free full-conference registration to any 2004 conference participant who registers with two new full-time attendees who have never been with us before. We’ll award a prize to the person who brings the most newcomers. All registrations must be placed in the same envelope and mailed together so that we will know who is to receive the complimentary registration. Questions? Call (815) 332-7084.

Volunteer Choir
Join the volunteer choir for Sunday Eucharist. Three hours of rehearsal are required during the weekend, including Saturday lunch hour. If you can make the rehearsal commitment, sign up on your registration form. To receive your choir packet by mail, be sure to register by Oct. 15.

Caucuses
Interaction and networking are just as important for building church as listening to speakers. Ample times and places are reserved for caucuses formed by conference participants. Contact CTA at (773) 404-0004, ext. 260 to obtain a caucus application. Caucus applications must be received by September 15, 2006 to ensure a listing in the conference program book, which will make it easier for people to find and connect with you.

Regional Networking
Local and regional groups for church reform are sprouting like daisies all over North America. If you wish to start one, plan to attend the 8 PM Saturday session to share stories, swap strategies, plan more cooperative efforts, and see how CTA can help. In addition, plan to attend a regional caucus at Saturday lunchtime, and to network at the Friday evening plenary when you sit in your state area.

Take Action Table
Conference attendees often are eager to act on behalf of justice and peace, but don’t know where to begin. The Take Action table (part of the CTA Booth) in the Exhibit Area is a place to start. Pick up materials that will help you take immediate action on societal justice and peace issues. Stop by and talk to the volunteers about issues that concern you, or bring action materials you wish to share.

2006 Wall of Prayer
So many people ask for the prayers of our powerful Call To Action community. We invite you to bring pictures, mass cards, mementos of your loved ones, so that we may pray for them and with them during the conference weekend. There will be a public display for announcements of births and deaths, illnesses and joys, burdens and blessings. We will call it Call To Action's 2006 Wall of Prayer.

CTA 30th Anniversary Quilt: Bring your quilt piece in November.
We are inviting every individual, prayer group, parish, community and organization to help us create a Church Reform Quilt. If you are part of this movement to renew our church, create a quilt piece that represents your ministry or the charism you bring to this renewal process. We will collect the pieces of the quilt at the November 2006 conference and during the following year we will stitch them together as a representation of the diverse community which is renewing our church. For further information please contact us by email at CTA@cta-usa.org and we will send instructions for dimensions, etc.

After the DaVinci Code movie, what do we really know about Magdalene?
Ann Graham Brock compares the book/ movie fiction of Mary's marriage to Jesus with genuine evidence in ancient manuscripts that Mary's relationship with Jesus and place in the early Church have indeed been lost. She draws on her latest book, Mary Magdalene, the first Apostle: The Struggle for Authority, to sift fact from fiction and assess implications for our faith. Brock has taught New Testament and world religion courses at the University of Colorado, Harvard Divinity School and other campuses. She appeared on The Real DaVinci Code on the Discovery Channel and in British TV documentaries. Sat., 10:15 AM (7.02) and 8 PM (12.02)

Prayer and Eucharist
Opportunities for prayer abound. Eight concurrent prayer experiences are scheduled at 7:30 AM Saturday and 7:45 Sunday. Consult the schedule and session descriptions. Many of these prayer sessions use music, chant, dance, art, or movement. There is a quiet meditation room for individual prayer. Or visit the Mandala area in the Exhibit Hall for a hands-on spiritual exercise The conference will close with Sunday Eucharist.

Children’s Program
There will be lots to keep children active and involved at conference this year. For younger children (3 to 7 years old) there will be stories, arts and crafts, music and games and other activities. Children 8 to 12 years old can participate in a special program exploring peace and justice themes. There will also be opportunities for children's program participants to tour the exhibits, see performing artists and take part in prayer experiences. Friday pre-conference activities for children (3-12) enable parents to participate in Friday Seminars or Days of Reflection. Register children on the registration form. Children must be preregistered: there will be no on-site registration for this program. Program details will be mailed to parents in October.

Teen Program
Do our teens know their Church is much bigger than their parish? Do they resist church, suggesting they won’t go once they’re of age? Is your parish leaving your teens spiritually undernourished? Are you concerned that we are losing our children from a faith that could sustain them through life?

We invite you to bring your teens to the CTA Conference. We’ll have programs designed to challenge them and expand their view of social justice. Issues will be presented in a way that provides historical perspective, while showing relevance to their own experiences. Teens will have question-and-answer sessions with conference presenters, and opportunities to socialize with their peers in a thought-provoking atmosphere. Register teens on the registration form. Teens must be preregistered: there is no on-site registration for this program. Program details will be mailed to parents in October.

Next Generation (’20s & ’30s) Events
Join us Friday night for the Next Generation Coffeehouse, our conference kick-off event! Meet other young progressive Catholics while enjoying great food, music and conversation. Saturday at 2:30 PM (10.11), make sure to attend the young adult FaithSharing CommUnion workshop where you’ll
learn the basics on how to begin a FaithSharing group in your local area. Then, on Saturday evening, don’t miss the Next Generation Fishbowl for a chance to talk personally with one of the conference speakers and other young progressive Catholics on issues you care about. Be sure to mark your age on your conference registration (page 7) to receive a copy of our pre-conference packet that gives you tips about affordable housing, cheap eats and where to hang throughout the weekend. Also, check out the special registration rates for students. Can’t wait for conference? E-mail Nicole@cta-usa.org to learn how to get connected to this growing nationwide movement of Next Generation Catholics now. Check out the special registration rates for students! For information about scholarships click here.

Call To Action movement marks 30 years
Responding to Vatican Council II and Pope Paul VI’s “Call To Action”, the U.S. Catholic Bishops called on laity, priests, religious and bishops to a two-year consultative process that culminated in a U.S. bicentennial year
conference, “With Liberty and Justice for All, A Call to Action” in Detroit, October 1976. The bishops asked the delegates: what is the charism, what should be the character of the Catholic Church in America? Guided by the Spirit, the conference described a Church of inclusion, justice and accountability. At the conclusion, Detroit’s Cardinal John Dearden implored the delegates, “This weekend we have experienced a new way of being Church. Go home and keep us bishops accountable.”

This challenge gave rise to our CTA organization in Chicago the following year. Always careful to pursue justice both in the church and in society, CTA expanded in members and in projects. After sponsoring "The Call for Reform of the Catholic Church” signature ad in the New York Times on Ash Wednesday, 1990, CTA members emerged in all 50 states. For our 20th anniversary in 1996, our national conference drew a record 5,000 participants in Cobo Hall, Detroit, where Dearden had hosted the inaugural convention in 1976. As was fitting, CTA in its 25th year saw its membership crest at 25,000. Today 53 local CTA chapters and cooperating organizations are hard at work for a just Church.

Join the Lay Synod movement
Birth Pangs: Seeing the New Church Coming to Life

Lena Woltering will discuss the lay Synod movement that is gaining attention across the country. As people recognize their responsibility to be part of the renewal of our Church, they are challenging the powers that be by claiming their right to participate in making decisions that affect the life of the Church. Hear the stories and learn the techniques and strategies that can be replicated in your diocese to reclaim our rights as lay people in a hyper-clerical institution. Woltering has been on the CTA national board for 10 years and works as chapter organizer for CTA. She was coordinator of FOSIL (Fellowship Of Southern Illinois Laity, a CTA affiliate) for its first 10 years. FOSIL has held six very successful Lay Synod gatherings in the past four years. Fri., 3:15 PM (2.13) & Sat., 8:45 AM (6.12)

Award to Cindy Sheehan, peacemaker
Call To Action is pleased to present its 2006 Leadership Award to America's best known mother of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq, Cindy Sheehan. A practicing Catholic from Vacaville, Calif., who served for eight years as her parish youth minister, Sheehan grieves for her son Casey, 24, an Army Humvee mechanic killed by insurgents on April 4, 2004, Palm Sunday, three weeks after arriving in Iraq. Casey had been an altar boy for 10 years, a Eucharistic minister, and an Eagle scout. He was the oldest of Cindy's four children. He had re-enlisted after serving one stint in the Army because he
thought it was the right thing to do.

Cindy connected with other Gold Star Mothers of slain U.S. troops, and started speaking out on July 4, 2004. She has been speaking out ever since. In August 2005 she and her sister traveled to Crawford, Tex., to speak to President Bush, was refused access, then announced she would camp outside Bush’s ranch until he agreed to meet with her. National television and print media focused on her vigil at “Camp Casey,” and hundreds of like-minded opponents of the U.S. war in Iraq soon gathered around her. She then began a nationwide speaking tour under the banner of “Gold Star Families for Peace.”

Cindy was arrested in front of the White House last September, gave a keynote address at the World Social Forum in Caracas in January, and was arrested at Bush's 2006 State of the Union address merely for wearing a t-shirt that said, “2,245 Dead. How Many More?” She is the author of two books, Dear President Bush and Not One More Mother's Child. You can visit the Gold Star Families’ website at www.gsfp.org. Cindy Sheehan will speak Saturday evening and will receive our award at the Sunday plenary session.