Professional Development Webinar Recordings

The Bible is so long, it's easy to lose sight of the forest, because you're lost in the trees. Join Dr. John Bergsma, associate professor of theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville and a senior fellow at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, as he shares perspectives, techniques, and light-hearted sketches that make it easy to learn, remember, and teach the "big picture" of the Bible storyline. Based on his new book, "Bible Basics for Catholics," Dr. Bergsma's visual approach can be adapted for a variety of settings in the parish or school, for catechesis, evangelism, or faith formation.This webinar was moderated by Dianna Leinen, former parish resources marketing specialist at Ave Maria Press. The Professional Development Webinar series is presented exclusively by Ave Maria Press in partnership with the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership and the National Association for Lay Ministry.

In this webinar Pat Gohn, author of the new book Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious, and Endow's Executive Director and Bodacious Foreword writer, Terry Polakovic, discuss the top themes that celebrate the gift of womanhood from a Catholic perspective. In this "Top Ten" style presentation, (with apologies to David Letterman), Pat and Terry unpack the wisdom and the beauty of the feminine genius, with a special emphasis on a woman's blessed dignity, beautiful gifts, and bodacious mission.Using a "best of" approach, these two educators will offer fast-paced snippets quoting key resources and magisterial documents that can be used as conversation starters with women, as well as offering resources that can become the basis of local parish curricula or discussion groups for women.The new evangelization will never move forward without women understanding their specific role in it. Here's a great place to start.

The best measure of success for a marriage preparation program is the faith, the attitudes, and the behaviors that engaged couples take into their marriage. Among the activities that correlate positively with marital success, according to the social scientists at the National Marriage Project, are a couple’s belief that God is at the center of their marriage and their regular church attendance together.How important is regular church attendance? Dr. Bradford Wilcox writes in a 2016 reports published by the Institute for Family Studies that 78% of couples that attend church together regularly are very or extremely happy in marriage.So, how do you get couples to come to Mass on Sundays after they get married?In this webinar, marriage experts and authors of the Joined by Grace books, will examine four factors in marriage preparation that instill the attitudes and behaviors necessary to make marriage preparation successful.Learn more about Joined by Grace at JoinedbyGrace.com.