7:30 - 8:45 PM
General Session

Have We Come All This Way for Birth or Death?
-- Sr. Kathleen Harmon
This title, adapted from T. S. Eliot’s “Journey of the Magi,” intimates that the shadow of the cross was already present at the birth of Christ. This presentation explores the paschal mystery relationship between the wood of the cradle and the wood of the cross, and how the season of Advent-Christmas is completed in our Easter celebration of death and resurrection.

And With Your Spirit: Training Methods for Liturgical Ministry
-- Very Reverend Robert Webster
-- NEW Liturgical Ministry Training Handout
The Church requires that theological, practical and spiritual training be given for all who serve in ministry. The coming introduction of the revised Order of Mass and the 3rd Typical Edition of the Roman Missal in English gives us a great opportunity to restudy, retrain, reintroduce and reenergize all our Liturgical Ministers.

The Power of Rites to Form in the Faith: The Role of Ritual Celebrations in RCIA
-- Jerry Galipeau
Discover ways of celebrating the various major rites of the RCIA to enliven the faith of catechumens, candidates, and the entire parish community. This workshop will also offer tips on celebrating the so-called “minor rites” of the RCIA: Blessings, Anointings, and Minor Exorcisms.

Multimedia in Worship
-- Aaron Kohl and Lisa Weis
A discussion regarding both the practical considerations of the use of multi-media technology in the Liturgy as well as the pros and cons of live feed, worship participation and the appropriateness of use.

New Music for Christmas and Advent
-- Reverend Michael Joncas
Sing through recent liturgical compositions for the Season of the Incarnation from GIA, WLP, and OCP.

Sightsinging 101, Part 1
-- Jennifer Kerr Breedlove
Many texts for teaching musical literacy approach it from an instrumentalist point of view; those who sing, however, need to know before singing not only the name of the note, but what it should sound like. This session will explore an approach to sight-reading geared specifically toward helping singers become comfortable with musical notation. (Continued in Breakout B)

Coming Soon to an Altar Near You!
-- Reverend Michael Joncas
The translated texts, their underlying Latin originals, and the principles by which the translation was created.

Role of Music in the Catechumenate
-- Jerry Galipeau
Music is an integral element in the Church’s celebration of the liturgy. Explore ways that ritual music can enhance and punctuate the various rites of the RCIA.

The King Shall Come When Morning Dawns: Liturgical Environments Part 1
-- Very Reverend Robert Webster
-- NEW Environment Workshop Handout
-- NEW 2009-2010 Advent Calender
Autumn, Ordinary Time, Advent and Christmas gracefully blend one into another. Each requires careful preparation for this transition and progression. A discussion to inspire creativity to touch the eye, the ear and the heart.

10 Ways to Get Your Kids to Sing
-- David Anderson
Come learn ten proven ways to stimulate, encourage and foster the art of praying together in song with children and young people. Experience ways for your children to sing their faith!

Sightsinging 101, Part 2
-- Jennifer Kerr Breedlove
Many texts for teaching musical literacy approach it from an instrumentalist point of view; those who sing, however, need to know before singing not only the name of the note, but what it should sound like. This session will explore an approach to sight-reading geared specifically toward helping singers become comfortable with musical notation. (Continuation of Breakout A)

I’ll Be Home for Christmas: Penitential Celebrations
-- Rev. Ben Berinti, CPPS
With its thematic movement from “darkness to light,” Advent is rich with possibilities for penance, conversion & transformation. This workshop explores liturgical, catechetical and formational opportunities that go far beyond rounding up enough priests for confessions at the all-too-familiar Advent penance service.

Recharge the RCIA: Apprenticeship Is the Key
-- Jerry Galipeau
This workshop will help participants recharge the parish RCIA process by focusing on the Church’s originating vision for the catechumenate, which places apprenticeship as the model for Christian formation.

When Does the Manger Go Up? Liturgical Environments Part 2
-- Very Reverend Robert Webster
-- NEW Environment Workshop Handout
-- NEW 2009-2010 Advent Calender
In those frantic and exciting days of the “O Antiphons,” is there a graceful way to allow Christmas to dawn through the darkness of Advent? It is more than a purple vestment and altar frontal?

Conducting Electricity
-- Jennifer Kerr Breedlove
For anyone interested in moving beyond cues and beat patterns to explore ways of truly connecting with the individuals in your ensemble, harnessing the energy of musicians and assembly, and conducting some real electricity into your music-making! For directors of any level. Bring a baton if you habitually use one.

Using Your Voice to Lead Prayer
-- Sr. Kathleen Harmon
Bringing together good vocal technique, leadership skills, and a clear understanding of how different musical elements function in the liturgy is a must for cantors. Learning how to do this is a life-long task.

Look What I Found: Overlooked Ritual Gifts from the Advent/Christmas Closet
-- Rev. Ben Berinti, CPPS
Reaching into our own overstuffed closets, we tend to grab the same, easily accessible items out of them, forgetting what’s even buried in there! So it is with the wealth of traditions crammed into our Advent-Christmas “ritual closet." In this workshop we’ll open that closet and dig around to see what’s there beyond a wreath, a kneeling Santa, and shepherds in bathrobes.

Embracing the Vision: Sacraments that Form Us in His Image and Likeness
-- Sr. Linda Gaupin
Leading people to sacraments and celebrating sacraments is the most important thing we do as Church. Moments of sacramental preparation highlight the intimate relationship between catechesis and liturgy. The National Directory for Catechesis gives us a whole new vision for sacramental catechesis. This workshop will explain the new context for doing sacramental preparation in the parish that involves the whole community and promotes liturgical prayer as an integral formative component.

When Do the Magi Come and Go? When Is It Time to Put the Manger Away? Liturgical Environments Part 3
-- Very Reverend Robert Webster
-- NEW Environment Workshop Handout
-- NEW 2009-2010 Advent Calender
Christmas builds to the Solemnity of the Epiphany and then leads us back to Ordinary Time. Allowing the Days of Christmas, the environment and the Ritual to make this season of Incarnation tender and new!

Religious Education and School Liturgies
-- David Anderson
How are children formed by the liturgy? How can young people live out the liturgical year? This session will offer ways to prepare and live the liturgy as celebrated in religious education programs and Catholic school settings.

Chants of Advent/Christmas
-- Charles Thatcher
Gregorian chants derive their beauty, form, and spiritual force from the scriptural and liturgical texts at their core. Focusing in particular on the chants associated with the Advent and Christmas Seasons, this session will touch on this essential relationship between text and tune. Simple, practical, and pastoral ways of incorporating chant into parish liturgy will be explored, along with the interpretation and rendering of the chant melodies.

9:00-11:45 AM
Spanish Music Session

Liturgy of the Hours in Advent/Christmas
-- David Anderson
Ideas and resources for celebrating the Liturgy of the Hours in the parish. Special emphasis will be given to Advent andChristmas.

Let the Little Children Come To Me: Children and the Baptismal Catechumenate
-- Sr. Linda Gaupin
Children of catechetical age who have not been baptized follow the general pattern of the catechumenate and receive baptism, confirmation, and eucharist at the Easter vigil. This workshop will discuss issues of adaptation and formation that pertain to children in the catechumenate.

What’s in Your Attic? Using What You’ve Got
-- Bruce Croteau
How often when preparing the liturgical environment do we fail to use what may already be in our “environmental repertoire?” Must we make new purchases or create bigger and better applications each season? What materials can be used again, but in a different way? Come explore and share the creative options available when you have to “use what you’ve got.”

Sing to the Lord: A Musical and Theological Perspective
-- Reverend Michael Joncas
Using the document “Sing to the Lord”, participants will explore the principle of progressive solemnity, the genres of liturgical song, the preparation of personnel, and criteria for judging the appropriateness of liturgical compositions.

Responsorial Psalm as Bridge to the Gospel
-- Sr. Kathleen Harmon
The responsorial psalm is a bridge that helps the assembly move from the first reading to an encounter with Christ in the gospel. How does the psalm do this? What does this mean for the cantor?