12 - 19 September 2010

The ICCRS Leadership Training Course is for people of all ages, from charismatic organisations worldwide who want to spend some time of their lives being formed in leadership within the CCR.

The programme will include daily Mass, Eucharist Adoration and a time of Charismatic Praise and Worship. The teachings will cover two basic areas: the foundations and vision of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (Ecclesiology, Baptism in the Holy Spirit, the Histoy of the CCR, a Theology of Mission); and practical help and ideas for ministry (elements of a prayer meeting, basic techniques for evangelisation, the life of leaders). There will also be time for reflection, sharing and ministry.

Click here to download a poster of the Course.

The Franciscan University of Steubenville is located near Pittsburgh, PA. There are many places for prayer and reflection on campus, including the Portciuncula Chapel and the Tomb to the Unborn. Pittsburgh is home of St. Anthony's Chapel which houses the world's largest collection of relics and life-size Stations of the Cross.

The Vatican granted a plenary indulgence to any conference attendee who prays in the Portiuncula Chapel on campus and meets the normal requirements for such an indulgence granted by the Church.

The course begins at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 12. Registration will be held from 12 Noon to 8:00 p.m. and a travelers’ Mass will be available at 4:00 p.m. in Christ the King Chapel. The course concludes at 12 Noon on Sunday, September 19.

Click here to download a brochure of the Course.

Speakers

• Michelle Moran (England), ICCRs President
• Jim Murphy (USA), Director of the ICCRS Formation Project
• Bob Canton (USA), ICCRS Councillor
• Peter Thompson (Canada), Former ICCRS Councillor
• Mark Nimo (USA), Former ICCRS Councillor
• Dr Alan Schreck (USA), Professor of Theology

Venue & Accomodation

Franciscan University of Steubenville
Ohio, USA

Franciscan University of Steubenville
Christian Outreach Department
1235 University Blvd.
Steubenville, OH 43952

Language

The course will be held primarily in English.

Cost

The course fee is $650 per person and covers accommodation, meals, and registration.

Optional transportation is available from/to the airport for an additional $60.

Contact

Please, contact Franciscan University’s customer service staff by phone at 740-283-6314 for more information.

Event Report

Fruit of the Renewal: Franciscan University of Steubenville

When we speak of the fruit of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, we often talk about the changes in the life of an individual. It is also true that even organizations can be transformed by the grace of the Holy Spirit acting through the Charismatic Renewal.

When Fr. Michael Scanlan, TOR, became President of Franciscan University of Steubenville in 1974, he faced some serious challenges. The University had lost much of its Catholic identity. The theology program had been folded into the Philosophy Department, and only offered two classes. Enrollment over the next few years dwindled to 873 students.

Fr. Mike, who had experienced the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in 1968, turned to the Lord in prayer. Fr. Mike brought a new vision to the campus, one of a vibrant faith life, living under the Lordship of Jesus, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Over the next years, he initiated households of faith for the students to join. The Theology Department was revamped. Fr. Mike urged all those serving at the University to open their hearts even fuller to the grace of God.
The changes were not without their challenges, but Fr. Scanlan turned to the Lord for wisdom, courage, and strength.

The results are amazing:

Today, the Franciscan University of Steubenville is respected around the world for its orthodoxy and committed faith. Prayer meetings, households of faith, praise evenings and Life in the Spirit Seminars flourish on campus.

One of the most amazing outreaches of the University is its summer conference program. Starting with a single conference for Priests and Deacons in 1975, the University over the last 35 years has drawn more than 725,000 people to its conferences, many of those being youth. A recent survey conducted by the US bishops showed that 8% of the priests ordained in the United States in 2010 had attended a Franciscan Youth Conference sometime prior to their ordination. A second survey showed that 6% of religious sisters who made a final profession attended a Franciscan Youth Conference.

The University took another bold step in September of 2010 when it hosted the ICCRS Leadership Training Course, a week-long program of formation for leadership. Nearly 130 people came from Peru, Ghana, Zambia, the Philippines, Australia… and even an American serving in Iraq! Also, five Canadian provinces and 20 states within the US were represented.

In addition to providing its own teaching team, ICCRS was able to collaborate with some top-notch teaching staff of the University. The event included teaching, ministry, fellowship, time for reflection and personal growth.

One of the highlights was a pilgrimage to the former Ark and the Dove Retreat House in Pittsburgh, the location of the “Duquesne Weekend” in 1967, often considered the beginning of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. To hear charismatic praise filling this historical retreat center was a moment none of the participants will forget.

Each evening throughout the week, Fr. Mike, now the University’s chancellor, was at the course, sharing his reflections, or simply joining in the prayer. “I am so glad you brought this program here”, Fr. Mike said. “It’s just such a natural fit!”

Mr. Mark Nehrbas, the University’s Executive Director for Christian Outreach, and a key organizer of the event noted that “overall, the week was a tremendous success and I only heard very positive comments from the attendees. The speakers were among the very best. The programming was pertinent, helpful to the attendees, and had the balance of teaching and ministry”.

Indeed, the ICCRS Leadership Training Course hosted at the Franciscan University of Steubenville seemed like a natural culmination of many years of fruitful growth.

ICCRS has brought the Leadership Training Course to Korea, Botswana, Argentina. Nigeria, and the United States. LTCs are scheduled for Australia and Togo as well. ICCRS appreciates the fraternal collaboration of so many beloved brothers and sisters around the world; friends like Fr. Michael Scanlon, a true pioneer in Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

The fruit of the Charismatic Renewal just keeps getting better!

Taken from the ICCRS Newsletter, March-April 2011

Catholic Charismatics Led by the Spirit

The one-week traveling course is designed to form leaders of the Catholic charismatic renewal in sound theology and best practices of ministry.
Posted: Friday, September 24, 2010

STEUBENVILLE, OH—"Our God is not a God of half measures. Our God is not a minimalistic God. Our God is not a God who says, 'Well, that's enough.' He's a lavish God, he's an abundant God," said Michelle Moran, president of the Vatican-based International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services (ICCRS).

ICCRS held its first Leadership Training Course in North America at Franciscan University of Steubenville, September 12-19. Conference attendees traveled from as far away as Peru, Ghana, Zambia, the Philippines, and Australia to attend the course, immersing themselves in praise and worship and the teachings and history of the Church. They also had a unique opportunity to engage the history of the Catholic charismatic renewal by visiting the Ark and Dove Retreat Center at Duquesne University, the birthplace of the movement.

"ICCRS is the product of a gradual evolution through the development of the charismatic renewal," said Moran. "Pope Paul VI appointed Cardinal [Leon-Joseph] Suenens to be the ambassador to the renewal and the person who would have responsibility for the charismatic renewal when things were emerging."

Eventually this led to an office in the Vatican. "That was a very significant time for the renewal because obviously you don't get invited to a place in the Vatican if you are not accepted," said Moran. "Then ICCRS worked at getting official approval from the Holy See and is now an institute of pontifical right."

The ICCRS represents the Catholic charismatic renewal in all its manifestations—including prayer meetings, covenant communities, and service committees—to the Vatican, and serves as the Vatican's representative to the international renewal.

The one-week traveling course is designed to form leaders of the Catholic charismatic renewal in sound theology and best practices of ministry.

Participants heard lectures on an array of topics including the life of a leader, Catholic ecclesiology, baptism in the Holy Spirit, and elements of a prayer meeting from members of the ICCRS and Franciscan University theology professor Dr. Alan Schreck, author of Your Life in the Holy Spirit.

The courses are designed to answer a papal exhortation.

"Pope John Paul II, addressing the new movements at Pentecost in 1998, called all leaders of every movement to 'bring your members to a new ecclesial maturity,'" said ICCRS Leadership Conference organizer Jim Murphy. The goal of the courses is to bring "solid, orthodox charismatic teaching to the men and women of the renewal."

Emphasizing the importance of properly formed leaders in the Church, both lay and clerical, he said, "If a wolf kills a sheep, he gets the sheep. If the wolf kills a shepherd, he gets all the sheep."

Murphy said that, out of all the current efforts by the ICCRS, Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Pontifical Council on the Laity, was most excited about the anticipated fruits of the traveling Leadership Training Courses (LTCs).

The conference came to North America at the request of Bob Canton, the ICCRS representative to the English-speaking renewal in North and Central America and the Caribbean countries.

"We at ICCRS are your servants," Canton told participants. "Our purpose is to serve the Catholic charismatic renewal worldwide."

Franciscan University Chancellor Father Michael Scanlan, TOR, a pioneering leader in the Catholic charismatic renewal, served as the chaplain for the conference-goers. They attended daily Mass with the University community, had daily eucharistic adoration, and enjoyed frequent opportunities for praise and worship. On Saturday evening, September 18, the conference moved to the Urban Mission in downtown Steubenville for "Share the Good News! Evangelization & Healing Service," an ecumenical outreach to the local community.

Participants were very enthusiastic about the conference, sometimes making great sacrifices to attend.

Al and Sally Smith, of Sacred Heart Parish in Oxford, Alabama, were one such couple. "In less than two weeks now, I have to go back to Iraq for nine months," said Al, a contractor who frequently serves extended tours in Iraq.

When asked what prompted him and his wife to spend some of their time together at the ICCRS conference, Sally immediately responded, "Love of our Lord, and the Vatican. This is a Vatican conference, the first time in North America, and we wanted to be a part of it….We waited 22 weeks instead of 14 weeks to see each other so we could come to this. It's a 'be there!' moment, you gotta 'be there!'

"You feel God at this university very powerfully at all times," Sally added. "It's been fun to eat with the college kids. They talk about Jesus, they wear the Jesus clothes and jewelry, and you normally don't see that on a college campus."

"And the love that you feel in the room, you can feel the Spirit alive among everybody in the room," said Al.

Throughout the week, the Holy Spirit was credited with the gathering and success of the conference.

"You've been brought together by the Holy Spirit," said Steubenville Bishop R. Daniel Conlon in his address to the conference. "But there's not just a need to draw people in, but also to send people out."

He challenged participants to take the fire of the Spirit with them to the wider Church and to the world. "So many members of the Church are dormant or asleep.

"Everyone in the Church is blessed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Many just don't know it or don't let them work. I like to think that as a member of the college of bishops, with the permission of the head, the pope, I can send you forth."

The next Steubenville Catholic Charismatic Conference will occur June 10-12, 2011. For more information, contact the Franciscan University Christian Outreach Office at (740) 283-6314 or 1-800-437-8368, or visit www.franciscanconferences.com.

Taken from: http://franciscan.edu/about/Default.aspx?id=5329.

ICCRS Leadership Training Course in North America

Sep 24, 2010

Hello To All Our Website Friends:
I just came back from a very Spirit-filled and powerful Leadership Training Course(LTC) conducted by the Vatican-based International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services(ICCRS). It was held in the beautiful Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. Some participants came from Australia, Canada, Peru, Uganda, Philippines, United Kingdom, Ghana, and Zambia.

It was the first time that the LTC was held in North America. Most of the participants have sensed that it was their destiny to be attending this Course. The Lord truly invited us to come and to learn how to become better leaders in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. Once again, we heard the Lord reminding us to continue our works of evangelization and to follow the leadings and promptings of the Holy Spirit, who is the Evangelizer par excellence.

The Lord has again spoken to us to serve His flock with love, humility, and patience, and to truly become servants who are after His own heart, like King David. We also had a pilgrimage to the former Ark And the Dove Retreat Center at Duquesne University, the birthplace of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal. To be in that holy place, was really a “moving” experience. We had a praise and worship session inside the Center and I had the opportunity to lay hands on the attendees inside the Chapel as they came in. Everyone felt the mighty presence of the Lord and the anointing of His Holy Spirit inside the Retreat Center.

Back in the campus of the Franciscan University, we attended a prayer meeting one evening inside the Christ the King Chapel which was mostly attended by students of the University numbering over 300. I had tears in my eyes when I witnessed those students raising their hands and singing praise songs to the Lord with gusto. It was a joy hearing them praying and singing in “tongues” and using the gifts of the Holy Spirit such as prophecy and word of knowledge. It was humbing to watch them minister to each other in the name of Jesus. The atmosphere inside the campus is very refreshing and gratifying indeed. There is a sense of holiness and prayerfulness, and wholeness inside the campus. What a blessing for us to set foot in that campus.

The LTC is really worth having it, and I feel humbled to be part of the Team led by Michelle Moran, ICCRS President, Jim Murphy, LTC Program Leader, Mark Nimo, former ICCRS Council member, Dr. Alan Schreck, Professor of Theology at the Franciscan University, Mark Nehrbas, Conference Director, and his assistant, Jennifer Brown, Fr. Michael Scanlan, the University Chancellor and spiritual adviser of the Event. The students who shuttled us around the campus were very respectful and very pleasant to us. No wonder many participants came up to me afterwards, telling me that the weeklong Training Course is not only a learning experience but also a “life-changing” event. Praise the Lord, Alleluia! (Somewhere in this website is an article about the LTC. Please access it for more information). May God bless you all!

By Robert Canton, taken from: http://robertcantonministries.org/blog/?p=18