Marianist Encounters Conference   Workshops and Presenters'  Information

 

Master of Ceremonies - MC: Brian Reavey

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Brian Reavey served as the first National Director of Marianist LIFE for over seven years and as the Director of Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation for over eight years, where he worked closely with the Brothers, Sisters, Marianist Social Justice Collaborative, Marianist PULSE volunteer program, and Marianist Environmental Education Center. He is a member of the Marianist Visitation State Community and an Affiliate. Brian currently serves as the Advancement Director for Mercy Volunteer Corps and Director & Founder of Retreat to Broadway, a sideline nonprofit project he started in 2005. 

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Prayer and Music Co-ordinator: Scott Paeplow

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Scott Paeplow is an educator, composer, and musician with over two decades of professional music ministry and music education experience.  Scott currently works as the Director of the Vocal Music Program at Archbishop Moeller High School in Cincinnati, OH, after previously serving as the Director of Music Ministry and Director of Liturgy at the University of Dayton.  A strong advocate for congregational participation in liturgical music, Scott has spent the last eight years composing music for worship that is both inviting and accessible.  Scott loves cheering on his Buffalo sports teams, often in futility but also enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife, Mary Kate, and their son, Brendan.

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Workshop Descriptions and Presenters' Biographies

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1. Seeing God in the Face of the Poor and Coming to Know God in Appalachia

Presenters: Dave Campbell, Jerry DiCristoforo, and Eric Eble

As Pope Francis reminds us, “We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental.” The cry of the Earth is intimately linked with the cry of the poor. We have been taught that ALL people are made in the image and likeness of God. This begs the question, “How would our world be impacted? How would each of us be impacted if we truly believed and followed that teaching?” Jerry and Dave will share experiences from their own lives when they have seen the face of God, and when they have struggled to see the face of God. It is their hope that this presentation will challenge others to reflect on how they, too, have seen God in their lived experiences and how we are called to respond to God moving forward.

The second half of the session will examine the history of Appalachia, using UDSAP and Moeller High School’s Appalachia Retreat Program as models for how the Society of Mary can continue its relationship with those impacted by long-term environmental destruction. Like the War on Drugs, the War on Poverty has been waged, and, by many accounts, America lost, especially in Appalachia, where degradation from resource extraction tarnished environmental beauty and economic opportunity, and the opioid crisis continues to ravage families. Yet, the people of Appalachia remain resilient, and Marianists continue to walk with the people of Magoffin County through the University of Dayton Summer Appalachia Program (UDSAP), which enters its sixth decade of building bridges between Flyers and the children, teens, and families surrounding Salyersville. 

 

Dave Campbell is a religion teacher at Moeller High School. Dave is a graduate of Purcell Marian (’83) and the University of Dayton (‘87/’97) and has been a high school teacher for 34 years, almost all that time at either Purcell Marian or Moeller.  Dave teaches Social Justice and is a strong advocate for the poor and disadvantaged in his teaching and extra-curricular activities (co-director of Moeller Appalachia Retreat, Crispaz—El Salvador Encounter Trip, and the Moeller/Zaragoza Student Exchange Program) as well as being the Director for the Marianist Integration Team and coaching basketball. 

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Jerry DiCristoforo serves as Religion Department Chair at Moeller, where he teaches social justice. He is a coach and team chaplain for the cross-country and track team. Jerry earned a Bachelor's in Social Work at the Catholic University of America and a Master's in Theology at The University of Dayton. He has been formed in Marianist spirituality, spending eight years as a Marianist contact, one year living with an inspiring Marianist community, and 20 years teaching at both Purcell Marian and Moeller.

  

Eric Eble is an English teacher, speech and debate coach, Kairos retreat leader, and department chair at Archbishop Moeller. In his seventeen years of teaching, Eric has worked to make choices and voice central to his classroom, giving students agency in determining their passions and reflecting them in their reading and writing choices.  As a junior at the University of Dayton in 2005, he traveled to Salyersville, Kentucky, where he experienced God in community and communion with his fellow students and Magoffin County residents.  Eric deems UDSAP the most meaningful travel experience of his life because it continues to give him new ways to see the face of God in people and nature.

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2. Parenting for Environmental Care

Presenter: Jason King, Ph. D.

​The purpose of this session is to discuss raising children a) to care about the environment and b) to see such care as part of the Christian faith. The theme is to focus on principles and examples of how to develop children's ability to enact care for creation. In Laudato Si’ part of Pope Francis's long-term solution to address climate change is intergenerational solidarity: “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?” (LS 160). He is asking us to care for the environment now for the sake of children's future. In this session, we will explore this question, but in reverse, we will ask the following: How do we raise children now for the sake of the environment's future?

I believe that the answer entails parenting that develops children's ability to enact care for creation. To develop such care has three elements: 

1.     Telling the story of the environment for hope

2.     Modeling environmental care

3.     Fostering children’s own agency. 

The sessions will discuss these three elements and why they are important and generate examples of each that can be used in family life. 

 

Jason King, Ph.D., is the Beirne Chair & Director of the Center for Catholic Studies at St. Mary’s University.  He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. As an undergraduate student, he majored in Mathematics and Philosophy and graduated from Berea College in Kentucky. Dr. King has published extensively, including several books. Most recently, he co-authored a book titled The Green Mister Rogers: Environmentalism in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood (University Press of Mississippi) and co-edited the book Love, Sex, and Families: Catholic Perspectives (Liturgical Press) which won the 2021 Association of Catholic Publishers first place award in theology and the 2021 Catholic Media Association Award first place award in marriage and family living.  In 2017, he published Faith with Benefits:  Hookup Culture on Catholic Campuses (Oxford University Press), and in 2016, he received the Catholic Press’ third place award in gender issues for his God Has Begun a Great Work in Us (Orbis). Dr. King has received several honors for teaching, including the Thoburn Teaching Award at Saint Vincent College and the San Damiano Service Learning Award from Lourdes University. He was a Faculty Fellow at the Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media. He has served on boards and committees for the Catholic Theological Ethics in the World Church, College Theology Society, Society of Christian Ethics, as well as New Wine, New Wineskins.  He currently serves as Editor Emeritus for the Journal of Moral Theology. 

 

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3. The Intersection of Pope Francis’ Ecological Virtues, Conversion, and the Marianist System of Virtues

Presenter: Anthony Garascia

This workshop will explore Pope Francis’ Ecological call to conversion and how the call to holiness and mature spirituality asks us to engage in the practice of personal and social virtues.  Participants will understand how the Marianist System of Virtues is meant to bring a person to deeper wholeness and holiness, but also how it is meant to help create social change through the development of social and corporate virtues.

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Tony Garascia received his Master’s in counseling from Indiana University at South Bend in 1986. In addition, he received a Master's in Liturgical Studies in 1978 from the Catholic University of America. Tony has 35 years of experience counseling individuals, couples, families, adolescents, and children. His areas of specialty include marriage and relationship issues, family difficulties, depression and anxiety, traumatic stress and bereavement work, and sexual identity issues. He works with clients from age seven up. Tony is licensed in the State of Indiana as a Clinical Social Worker.  Tony has written on the “Process of Conversion, Catechumenate, 1989, and “Before I Do”, Ave Maria Press, 1999. Beth and Tony met as members of a Marianist Lay Community in the early 19770’s and have been lay members of the Marianist Family ever since. Tony served as the president of MLC-NA 2000-2003 and the International Organization of Marianist Lay Communities from 2005 to 2009.  Tony is currently a member of the MSJC Integral Ecology Team. Tony and Beth have been members of the Visitation Marianist State Community since 1972 and are members of the Shekan Community in South Bend, Indiana. Tony and Beth are the proud parents of three grown children, one straight and two gay, with two granddaughters and two grandsons.

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4. Student-Centered Environmental Conservation at Saint Louis School

Presenter: Jon Watase

Over the past four years, Jon and his students have made significant strides in environmental conservation, having collected over 10,000 pounds of trash from the Palolo stream, preventing it from entering the ocean. This workshop will focus on the creation of their program and the collaboration required to build a successful restoration project. Join Jon to learn more about their impactful program and their vision for the future. Follow their journey as they educate the next generation on plastic pollution and the critical role of recycling in preserving our environment.

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Jon Watase, a graduate of Saint Louis High School on O'ahu, holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with a focus on Travel and Tourism Management from Mesa State College and an MBA from Chaminade University. He will begin his Master's in Counseling at Chaminade University in the fall. Jon owns Hawaii's first solar voltaic Mamaki tea farm, where he cultivates Māmaki, an endemic medicinal plant. He has completed various agricultural training programs through the University of Hawai'i and has worked as an agricultural instructor and curriculum coach at Saint Louis School for the past four years, specializing in ʻāina-based learning. As a regenerative farmer, Jon is committed to sustainable agriculture and environmental stewardship.

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5. A Mystical Hermeneutic of Nature inspired by Father Chaminade

Presenter: Joseph Nugent

This workshop will outline key elements of contemporary nature-based spirituality. It will explain the theological and psychological bases for the relationship between humanity and nature. Then, it will explore how nature orients us in the deepest parts of ourselves. Both theory and examples will demonstrate how we can experience grace through an intentional attentiveness to nature as it is. Further, Chaminade’s life and texts will be engaged as a prime lens for our own nature-based reflection and apostolic action. The final section of the presentation will include reflection questions for integration, opportunities for discussion, and spiritual practices grounded in nature.

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Joseph Nugent belongs to the Mantle community in San Antonio, Texas. He has been a part of the Marianist family for the past 11 years and has participated in Marianist ministries in Canada, the USA, and Peru. He lived in Hawai‘i for five years, where he broadened his passion for nature while adventuring in the mountains and spearfishing in the ocean. Joseph serves as a Mission Consultant to both Central Catholic High School and Saint Louis School. Currently, Joseph is completing his PhD in Spirituality at the Oblate School of Theology. His academic interests include the System of Virtues, the mystical dynamic of Chaminade’s social system, suffering in Christian development, depth psychology, peace and liberation theology, Mysticism, Missiology, communion theology, and Salesian spirituality.

 

 

6. People and Planet: Agenda 2030 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Presenter: Tony Talbott

This breakout session will focus on the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). We are over halfway through the 15-year plan to achieve sustainable development by 2030, and we are woefully behind schedule. We will look at the Agenda and its similarities to Laudato Si and integral ecology, discuss the history behind it, and critique our global and national progress. We will examine the SDGs, targets, and indicators in detail and share guidance for local action with examples from the University of Dayton and the Dayton region. The content will be shared via an interactive presentation and discussion.

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Tony Talbott is the Director of Advocacy of the Human Rights Center at the University of Dayton. He is co-founder and director of Abolition Ohio, the Miami Valley Anti-Human Trafficking Coalition. He also lectures in Human Rights, Political Science, and Sustainability. He serves on the Ohio Attorney General’s Human Trafficking Commission and researches and writes on human rights, sustainability, and human trafficking.

 

 

7. Social Justice in Our Schools

Presenter: Toni Mesina

Integrating social justice into curriculums can be difficult for teachers or certain staff members in schools. This worship will be a conversation about challenges staff have within institutions to share ideas about how to be active effectors of change across curriculums and offices. Participants will have the opportunity to create action plans, both personal and professional, with the goal of making justice works accessible no matter what one teaches.

 

Toni Mesina is a Lay Marianist who worked with the Marianist LIFE Program for a number of years, including serving as the National Coordinator from 2011-2020. She previously taught at Marianist schools in Hawai'i and Texas and currently teaches at The Crefeld School in Philadelphia, PA, focusing on resistance and protest literature. Toni stays active as a school running mentor for Students Run Philly Style, hiking/backpacking, and training Muay Thai.

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8. So You Want To Go Solar?  Practical Advice For Homeowners And Businesses On Making Your Dream Come True - Presenter: Jeff Bohrer

This workshop will focus on how Mount Saint John and Jeff’s residence went solar, with commercial and residential advice on what to know in order to proceed with solar and what resources may be available to you for the process.  Specific topics will include:

• The importance of renewable energy and its place in the responses to climate destabilization.

• Case studies of residential and commercial solar installation processes

• Lessons learned

• How to convince decision-makers to go solar

• The general process for moving forward with solar

• Available financial resources​

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Jeff Bohrer, M.S., P.E., is a Professional Civil Engineer with a Master’s degree in dam engineering. He became passionate about energy efficiency and renewable energy after he moved on from civil engineering to teaching. He used his home as a laboratory, adding a ground source heat pump, PV solar, and self-installed solar thermal.  He has been enjoying an almost net zero home for over ten years. Jeff developed and taught a Renewable Energy Engineering course for high school students during his tenure as a high school physics teacher.

Jeff’s facilities background took off in earnest when he became the Director of Property Management and Real Estate for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He promoted and helped parishes implement energy efficiency strategies and renewable energy projects to the point where the Archdiocese was seen as a leader in promoting care for the earth practices.

Jeff is now the Director of Mount Saint John Facilities at the 160-acre, 8-building campus, where he maintains, plans, and implements for the future. He oversaw a $4M major renovation to the Bergamo retreat center, where he served as the project designer and general contractor, and a $1.7M solar array installation that makes the campus net zero on an annual basis.

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9. Responding to the Interconnected Cries of the Earth, Poor & Youth

Presenters: Integral Ecology Team of MSJC: Matt Naveau, Sarah Gray, Tiffany Hunsinger, Jennifer Melke-Marks

In the Laudato si Action Platform and the Global Compact on Education, Pope Francis presents us with goals and growth areas to achieve an Integral Ecology--that ensures caring for the earth, people, and economy for present and future generations.  How can we better collaborate and educate about the interconnections among these? The Marianist Social Justice Collaborative (MSJC) is a collaborative network for all branches of the Marianist Family and ministries and is currently composed of volunteer teams actively addressing seven justice areas.  At this workshop, members of several MSJC teams will share examples of how they have collaborated in education and prayer.  Brief presentations will be given on:  

• How women are disproportionately impacted by environmental degradation and climate change 

• The immigration challenges of environmental displacement and forced migration

• Marianist Founder Blessed Adele as an inspiring model for youth and young adult engagement and intergenerational collaboration. 

Participants will then be invited to share experiences, ideas, and challenges in implementing these and other human-environment justice concerns in their workplace, communities, and family lives. The workshop will include examples of praying with and reflecting on justice issues with Marian multicultural imagery. All will leave with ideas for how MSJC can companion Encounters work, ways to pray, act, and advocate for an interconnected integral ecology, and resources for the classroom, workplace, home, or community. 

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Matt Naveau is a Lay Marianist, University of Dayton alum, computer engineer, and blood cancer survivor.  Matt was part of the young adult initiative of Catholic Climate Covenant that produced the Wholemakers curriculum - a Journey in Ecological Conversion for young adults. -  https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/wholemakers  He is an active writer on the Integral Ecology team; co-wrote the Marianist Reflection Guides on the Seven Laudato si Goals https://marianistsjc.net/integral-ecology; and shared Lenten Reflections via MEEC. https://meec.center/faith-and-justice/laudato-si  Matt, his wife Meghann, and their two young children are members of a newly formed Marianist Lay Community called the Table Flippers composed of young families in Dayton. Matt and Meghann also co-facilitated the creation of Spiritus: A Marianist Lay Community (https://spiritus-mlc.org), a Lay Marianist community created by members of the former Queen of Apostles Community parish when it completed as a parish at the end of 2023. Matt is a big fan of Blessed Adele and has written about her intercession during his cancer journey.

 

Sarah Gray serves as the Executive Director of the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative (MSJC), where she has been on staff for more than five years. As a leader in the nonprofit sphere, she coordinates powerful programming, advances organizational goal initiatives, and supports the work of MSJC’s volunteer social justice teams. Most recently, Sarah coordinated MSJC’s Imago Dei Assembly, a 4-day in-person event that focused on Catholic LGBTQ+ Ministry and had over 140 participants. She is a proud graduate of the University of Dayton (’17) and received a B.S. in Adolescent to Young Adult (AYA) Education. In her day-to-day life, Sarah resides in Cincinnati with her husband, Matt, and their greyhound, Findlay. She is an avid reader and an enthusiast of her neighborhood, Over-the-Rhine.

 

Tiffany Hunsinger is a PhD student in Theology at the University of Dayton specializing in traditional Catholicism and politics in the United States. She is involved in community initiatives relating to the environment, immigration, and women’s justice and serves as the co-chair of MSJC’s immigration team. She teaches Intro to Religion and Faith and Justice courses at the University of Dayton and is currently teaching religion classes, including Peace and Justice, at Archbishop Carroll High School. Before that, she worked as a youth minister for a few years. She has an MA in Theology from the University of Dayton where she had a grad assistantship in campus ministry. She hopes to continue a career combining her love of education, research, and ministry.

 

Jennifer Melke-Marks is a lay Marianist and Catholic educator.  She has experience teaching high school theology and working in parish ministry both as a Coordinator of Youth Ministry and a Director of Religious Education. She has served on several social justice committees, including the Archdiocese of Cincinnati Catholic Social Action Commission and the Catholic Relief Services Committee.  She is currently a member of the Marianist Social Justice Collaborative/Marianist Environmental Education Center Integral Ecology Team as well as the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Earth Justice Circle.