Voice of the Faithful commemorates 20 years of keeping the faith, changing the Church

NEEDHAM, Mass. - Sept. 15, 2022 - PRLog -- Voice of the Faithful commemorates 20 years of keeping the faith, changing the church on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022, for an event aptly named "VOTF's 20^th Year Commemoration: 20 Years of Keeping the Faith, Changing the Church." VOTF's friends and supporters will gather to pray, learn, plan, and socialize as a community honoring its two-decade commitment.

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Thomas H. Groome, Ed.D., professor of theology and religious education at Boston College and an internationally known author and religious education expert, will offer attendees an interactive keynote address called Putting Jesus at the Heart of Keeping the Faith and Changing Church. "I would like to spark people's own thoughts about why Catholics often think of Church or Pope or Sacraments as the 'heart' of their faith and seldom Jesus," Groome said.

Special guest Phyllis Zagano, Ph.D., internationally recognized scholar on women deacons, will lead attendees in Grace before the luncheon and serve as acolyte for the closing Mass. Special guest Fr. Bill Clark, S.J., from the College of the Holy Cross, will celebrate Mass. Claire Byrne and Manny Lim will offer the opening song and prayer. Renowned pastoral musician and composer Normand Gouin will lead the Paulist Center Boston Community Choir during musical interludes and Mass.

VOTF also will feature a Commemoration Wall at the event to help mark its 20^th year. VOTF will provide attendees with paper, pen, and pin to use to jot down and fasten to the Wall a brief comment, remembrance, blessing, hope, or suggestion, acknowledging how the Spirit has changed VOTF members and supporters and the Church over the past 20 years. Selected participants will bring attendees' commemorations to the altar during the Offertory of the closing Mass.

Additionally at the 20^th Year Commemoration, VOTF leaders will bring attendees up to date on its programs, projects, and initiatives. Reports will include VOTF's submission to the General Secretariat for Bishops in Rome for the Synod on Synodality, as well as women's roles and emerging voices, financial transparency and accountability, child protection and safe environments, and lay involvement in Church governance through the Diocesan Finance Council. The latter two updates will cover VOTF's first such nationwide studies. VOTF now publishes three comprehensive reviews of all U.S. dioceses' websites. These reports give the faithful in each parish the information to judge diocesan activities within the purview of each report: See www.votf.org to read these reports.

VOTF's 20^th Year Commemoration: 20 Years of Keeping the Faith, Changing the Church takes place Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022, from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., at the Boston Marriott Newton Hotel, 2345 Commonwealth Ave., Newton, Mass. Click here for more information and an agenda for the day.