St. John Apostle and Evangelist Church in Mililani is bringing in three national speakers with expertise in youth ministry, Scripture and evangelization, for its 2013 Summer Faith Formation Program presentations in June, July and August.
The program, called “Growing in Faith Together,” is free and open to all.
Here is the lineup:
June
Educator, author and youth minister Roy Petitfils will speak at 7 p.m., June 24, on the topic “What Young People Want You to Know but Don’t Tell You … and WHY!” and at 7 p.m., June 25, “Are We Still Fishers of Men or Have We Become Keepers of the Aquarium?”
Petitfils, who lives in Youngsville, La., writes and speaks on issues related to young Catholics.
He is the author of “The Campus Ministry Handbook” (St. Mary’s Press, 2007) and “God Wears Running Shoes: Spiritual Reflections for Those Who Work with Today’s Youth (2005).
Petitfils has served as a school teacher, counselor and campus minister and has given presentations at national and regional Catholic youth conferences, including the National Conference on Catholic Youth Ministry and the National Catholic Youth Conference this year.
He took graduate courses in theology, ministry and spirituality in Rome, has a master’s degree in community and school counseling from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, and a Louisiana state license in professional counseling.
July
Scripture scholar Jesuit Father Felix Just will speak at 7 p.m., July 8, 9 and 10, on “Jesus in the Gospel of John.”
Father Just is a theology and Scripture professor and writer. He has been the director of Biblical Education at the Loyola Institute for Spirituality in Orange, Calif., since 2007.
He has taught theology at Santa Clara University, Loyola Marymount University and the University of San Francisco, among other places. He has a doctorate in New Testament studies from Yale University.
Father Just has written many articles and essays on topic such as the Lectionary, and has presented a wide variety of academic conference papers, day-long workshops and public lectures on a host of biblical characters and subjects.
August
Paulist Father Frank DeSiano will speak at 7 p.m., Aug. 5, 6 and 7. His subject is “Reactivating Our Catholic Faith.”
Father DeSiano is a prolific writer on evangelization and related topics. He has been president of the Paulist National Catholic Evangelization Association in Washington, D.C., since 2009.
He has also worked as a parish priest and in administrative positions for the Paulist Fathers.
Among his many books are “Presenting the Catholic Faith” (Paulist Press, 1986), “Discovering My Experience with God” (Paulist Press, 1992), “Reactivating Our Catholic Faith” (Paulist Press, 2009), and “Mission America: Challenges and Opportunities for Catholics Today” (Paulist Press, 2011).
The presentations by Father Felix and Father DeSiano are being funded by the Hawaii Catholic Community Foundation and the diocesan With Grateful Hearts capital campaign.
For more information, call 623-3332, ext. 111, or email info@stjohnmililani.org.