Dear Members, Partners, and Friends of the Conference,
For the past several months the 2023 Congress Planning Committee has been working hard on next year’s event. We’re excited to greet folks in-person and cultivate connection and community!
We’re delighted to share that the biennial national gathering will now be organized and promoted under the banner “Thrive,” focusing on the approaches, best practices and resources that empower women and men religious and those who serve them in formation.
While the broad theme of Thrive will be used for Congress generally, each gathering will have a particular theme. In 2023, for example, it will be “together in formation” and highlight the ways that we, as people committed to the synodal path, best accompany those called to this way of life. A few guiding questions:
- What does it look like for those in religious life and formation ministry, specifically, to thrive?
- What kinds of gifts do we need for authentic synodality?
- What is the role of formation in exercising synodal leadership?
Please save November 9-12, 2023 for the next RFC Congress. A year from now we'll gather at the Marriott Chicago O’Hare. Those in formation ministry, congregational leadership, and partners and collaborators are encouraged to attend.
Congress offers presentations that engage, educate, and strengthen those in the ministry of formation as well as elected leaders and members. Topics touch on both initial and lifelong (ongoing) formation and the contexts and settings where formation takes place.
Registration will open in April with a discount registration deadline of Sunday, October 15. A fee schedule for the 2023 Congress will be made available by the end of the month to allow participants to plan and budget for the gathering. We’ll let you know when that information has posted to our website.
We invite you to mark your calendar for the 2023 Congress and plan to join us.
Together (in formation!), we'll embark on a journey of connection and networking, dialogue and learning, prayer and Eucharist. This time will inspire and inform the future.
See you in Chicago next November!
-2023 Congress Planning Committee
Adriana Calzada, CCVI
Nancy Gerth, SCN
Mary Ann Nelson, OP
Elyse Marie Ramirez, OP
Corrina Thomas, FSPA
Ellen Dauwer, SC (staff)
Ryan Hoffmann (staff)
Brian Michalski (staff)
Sofia Mikolyash (staff)