Events

Call To Action (CTA) speaker series sponsoring Roger Haight
Roger Haight will be speaking at 4 locations in Wisconsin during the month of March. He will be speaking on the topics "If God is everywhere, why do we need church?", "The Uniqueness of Jesus", "If God is everywhere, what is the place of the Church" and "Why the Cross?".   Come listen to him!  More information

Beacon of Hope Gathering
Beacon of Hope members were invited to gather together to celebrate liturgy Sunday May 17th 10 A.M. Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Hortonville Beacon Of Hope Gathering 2009

Listening Session 2009
 Area Catholics are invited to a Listening Session on Thursday, March 26th, at 6:15 PM at The Bordini Center, located at Fox Valley Technical College. A professional facilitator will help all participants to share their ideas about the Catholic Church and hear what other Catholics are thinking. 

Beacon of Hope-Light of Christ, the sponsor of this session, has selected questions such as "Where do we see our Church today" and "Where do we see her in the future?" and "Do we need to recommend new goals and priorities for our Church?".  Listening Session 2009

Dr. Francine Cardman - November 6, 2008
Noted church historian, Dr. Francine Cardman, PhD, will be speaking at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center November 6th at 7:30 pm. Her presentation, titled “Embodying Christ: History, Hope, and Change in the Church”, is designed to provoke thoughts on how the forms of leadership in the early Christian church could be useful today.

Dr. Cardman asserts “in order to embody Christ and re-member the church, we need to look for change and hope not only in the present but also in the past.” Cardman’s message suggests that by examining the ways that the church incorporated the worship of Jesus Christ in the past, we can find ways to reinvigorate the church of today. “Beginning from our present experience of church, we will look at some historical models of community, leadership, and participation that can nourish our hope of becoming more fully the body of Christ in and for the world.”

Dr. Francine Cardman is a professor of Historical Theology and Church History at Boston College in Massachusetts. Dr. Francine Cardman 2008

Father Charlie Curran - April 24, 2008
Fr. Charles Curran is a Roman Catholic priest of the Diocese of Rochester, New York and is Elizabeth Scurlock University Professor of Human Values at Southern Methodist University. His latest publications include The Moral Theology of Pope John Paul ll, Catholic Social Teaching, 1891- Present, and Loyal Dissent, his most recent book. While studying at the Gregorian, a Latin-immersed school of theology in Rome, Fr. Charlie was touched by a new approach to moral theology, one that “emphasized its relationship to the whole Christian life and not just to the sacraments of penance.” Up to that point in his studies, Catholic moral theology used the Ten Commandments as a framework and was organized to train confessors for the sacrament of penance. This would then let them know what was sinful and be able to evaluate the gravity of sins. This was legalistic and a very clean approach to sin; however, it troubled many theologians for not taking into consideration the fullness of a Christian life. Thus began the long journey for the most well-known, and the most controversial, Catholic moral theologian in the United States. Come join us at the PAC on April 24th, 7:30 PM to hear from this deeply committed Christian who remains dedicated to the reform of the Catholic Church. Come listen to his story as he defends and models for us loyal dissent within the Catholic church. Father Charlie Curran 2008

Israel Trip - March 2, 2008
Coming from Manitowoc, Fond du Lac, the Fox Cities and Green Bay areas, 35 travelers plan to spend 11 days in Israel, using an an “Old-to-New” Testament itinerary developed by Jim Kampa and the late Fr. John Zickert. Travelers will experience the Israel of Old Testament leaders Abraham through David. They will also stay in the Old City of Jerusalem, with visits to many holy sites including the Via Del Rosa and Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Travel to Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Hebron are also scheduled. Trip organizers Jim Kampa, Greg Stock, and Tom Wiltzius have also been getting requests to plan a future trip to Israel. While nothing definite is currently planned, organizers are open to input once this fully-subscribed trip is concluded. Israel Trip 2008

Lena Woltering

Sister Kate Kuenster

Listening Session - February 23, 2008
BOH presents a listening/learning session Feb. 23 from 8:30am-3:00pm at Liberty Hall Kimberly. As a part of our commitment to effect positive change in the Catholic Church and our mission to provide ongoing spiritual growth for our fellow Catholics, Beacon of Hope is working with Lakeshore Pax Christi to bring you a day of exploration. The format brings an opportunity for learning, sharing, and touching the future of our church. Lena Woltering, a cradle Catholic from southern Illinois and active for the past 20 years in Church reform, and Sister Kate Kuenstler, a canon lawyer from Rhode Island who has been a diocesan tribunal lawyer, educator and writer of the catechetical program, “Seasons of Faith” will be our speakers. As concerned laity, Lena’s wisdom and experience will take us down a path to find our voices in the Church. Her reform has lead many areas to plan deliberate lay synods, helping the hierarchy of the Church more clearly hear the voice of the baptized. Sr. Kate will share her knowledge and expertise on canon Law and the rights/responsibilities of the faithful. Small group breakout sessions will follow each session with time to reflect and share. Written statements will be made available anonymously to the church leaders of the Green Bay Diocese and will be online at our web page, www.bohlightofchrist.org Lunch is included. The cost of the event is $20. To register go to the website www.bohlightofchrist.org or for more information contact Karen Vater by email karen@vater.us or phone 920-726-4716. Listening Session 2008

Father John Zickert
November 2007 saw both a phenomenal 40th Anniversary recognition Mass and dinner event for Father John Zickert, one of the founding members of Beacon of Hope-Light of Christ, and, sadly , the humbling wake and funeral mass for this beloved leader. Father John was a dedicated teacher and progressive social activist in northeastern Wisconsin, contributing significantly to the founding of several organizations for the poor and disenfranchised. Father John Zickert 2007

Sister Helen Prejean
A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Sister Helen Prejean authored the book, Dead Man Walking, after working many years in prison ministry. The #1 bestseller was then turned into an Oscar-winning movie. Sister Helen joined the Beacon of Hope lecture series in October, 2007 to address the moral issue of the death penalty, work for which she has won numerous honors and awards. Sister Helen Prejean 2007

Father Donald Cozzens
Father Cozzens, a pastoral theologian and psychologist, is a resident scholar at the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research at St. John's University and a visiting professor of religious studies at John Carroll University. He is the author of The Spirituality of the Priesthood, Sacred Silence: Denial and the Crisis in the Church, and Freeing Celibacy. Father Cozzens joined our lecture series in the spring of 2007, speaking on the empowerment of the laity. Father Donald Cozzens 2007

Listening Session
Noted meeting facilitator Carol Tyler led a focus group of Fox Valley area Catholics in April, 2007, establishing a pilot study of the views of Catholic laity in the Green Bay Catholic Diocese. The results of the survey were aggregated and presented to Bishop David Zubick in written form in May, and a meeting was held with Bishop Zubick and his staff in August to discuss the future implications of the study. Bishop Zubick charged Deacon Tim Reilly to follow through on the process after a new bishop is named to the Green Bay Diocese (Bishop Zubick was transferred to Pittsburgh PA). Listening Session 2007

Father Richard McBrien
Beacon of Hope's first speaker in our Catholic educational series was the eminent scholar, Father Richard McBrien. He holds a Doctorate in Theology from Pontifical Gregorian University [Rome], where he studied during the Second Vatican Council. He is a professor of Theology at Pope John XXIII National Seminary and Boston College and has taught theology at Notre Dame University since 1980. In April 2006, Father McBrien spoke to a crowd of 900+ on the history of change and the needed structural changes in the Catholic Church today. Father Richard McBrien 2006

Israel Trip 2006
Twelve members of Beacon of Hope traveled to the Holy Land, Egypt, and Jordan to gain personal insights and to experience the Holy Spirit in ways unimaginable. Upon their return, the group committed to organizing a larger pilgimage, develop a special itinerary, and return to the Holy Land in 2008. There were many moving highlights to the 2006 trip, including a miraculous Mass on the Sea of Gallilee. Israel Trip 2006