2022 Theme: ‘See How They Love One Another’: Community and the New Evangelization
March 25-26, 2022
This annual conference is held on the campus of Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. The Symposium brings together scholars, field professionals and students for a time of fellowship, reflection and dialogue concerning topics integral to the Catholic Faith and the New Evangelization.
The 2022 speakers include Sohrab Ahmari, Sherry Weddell, and Stephen Bullivant!
New this Year! The Business Track focusing on Catholic business principles.
The 2022 theme, ‘See How They Love One Another’: Community and the New Evangelization, looks to the example of the early Christian community as a model and guide for building authentic Christian community in the world today. The early Christians developed a clear identity as a people “in the world, but not of the world,” whose life of selfless and sacrificial love for their neighbor witnessed to the Greco-Roman world a new way of being and living. Christians today are faced with the challenge of creating and sustaining evangelizing communities, resisting the forces of consumerism, individualism, and secularism at work in our contemporary world.
This year, attendees have the option to join a special Symposium experience geared towards professionals in the business world. The Business Track is intended to provide, not only academic foundations for loving one another at work as indicated by this year's theme, but also practical examples of what business leaders are doing to manifest their faith in and through their work.
Business Track attendees follow the same overall Symposium schedule, attending the entire Symposium beginning on Friday evening and finishing on Saturday night with the closing reception, participating in all keynote speaker sessions and meals.
On Saturday, track attendees will join business-specific breakout and featured speaker sessions which focus on bringing to life the idea of loving one another in the workplace. Two additional breakout sessions will host leaders from businesses who have integrated their faith into their business practices (Virtuosos) and will allow Q&A from attendees.
The Business Track's speaker session will feature Michael Matheson Miller from the Acton Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Our final breakout session will feature a panel of experts discussing how retained wealth can be used to provide transformational solutions to poverty and evidence love and real progress within our communities.
Just indicate that you wish to attend the Business Track sessions when you register for the Symposium to participate in this exciting new opportunity.
All events in Murphy Recreation Center unless otherwise noted.
6:00 p.m. | Registration/Check-In |
7:30 p.m. | Opening Remarks and Keynote Lecture Sohrab Ahmari, “A Political Economy of Evangelization” |
9:00 p.m. | Reception |
8:00 a.m. | Continental Breakfast |
8:30-9:30 a.m. | Keynote Lecture Stephen Bullivant, “Social Graces: Why Community Matters - and How It Works” |
12:30-1:45 p.m. | Lunch Business Track participants are especially encouraged to participate in networking time during lunch. |
5:30 p.m. | Sunday Vigil Mass Guadalupe Chapel in St. Benedict’s Abbey Celebrated by Archbishop Joseph Naumann (Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas) |
6:45 p.m. | Dinner |
7:30 p.m. | Concluding Keynote Lecture Sherry Weddell, “God Has No Grandchildren: How a Community of Disciples Can Change the Church and the World” |
9:00 p.m. | Reception |
Sohrab Ahmari
The American Conservative
Sherry Weddell
Catherine of Siena Institute
Stephen Bullivant
St. Mary’s University (U.K.)
Larry Chapp
Dorothy Day Catholic Worker Farm
Leonard DeLorenzo
University of Notre Dame
Jennifer Baugh
Young Catholic Professionals
Pete Burak
Renewal Ministries
Michael Matheson Miller
Acton Institute
The Symposium on Transforming Culture is an annual conference sponsored by the Gregorian Institute at Benedictine College. The Gregorian Institute’s mission is to contribute to the renewal of Catholic culture and the defense of religious liberty in America by engaging, equipping, and developing the next generation of Catholic leaders. The Symposium supports this mission and offers a unique forum for current and emerging leaders to share ideas and best practices.
At the Symposium scholars, field professionals, members of religious communities, clergy, and students present papers based on their research and professional experiences. It is a time of fellowship, reflection, and dialogue concerning topics integral to the New Evangelization. In this respect, the Symposium fulfills Pope Francis’ statement:
“Universities are outstanding environments for articulating and developing this evangelizing commitment in an interdisciplinary and integrated way. Catholic schools, which always strive to join their work of education with the explicit proclamation of the Gospel, are a most valuable resource for the evangelization of culture, even in those countries and cities where hostile situations challenge us to greater creativity in our search for suitable methods.”
If you have questions about the 2022 Symposium, please contact Dr. Matt Muller.