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December 13, 2016 | The Valley Catholic
Faithful Connect in Christ at Faith Formation Conference
By Liz Sullivan
The faithful connected in San Jose
for two days December 2-3 for the annual Faith Formation Conference (FFC).
This year the conference had a bit of a
different look as it was held at the San
Jose Convention Center and it was in
conjunction with the National Conference for Catholic Youth Ministers
(NCCYM), which began a day earlier.
It was the first year NCCYM held its
bi-annual convention in combination
with another conference.
This year’s theme for FFC 2016 was
Connect in Christ and was sponsored
by the Diocese of San Jose and the
Diocese of Monterey. More than 2,000
people attended the Faith Formation
Conference.
“Christ has given us this moment to
reconnect with fire and with faith,” said
Bishop Frank Caggiano of the Diocese
of Bridgeport, Connecticut, during the
Keynote address on December 2. “This
[conference] is our chance to renew our
‘connection in Christ.’ How do we renew our communities of faith? We have
to be intentional and be hospitable. The
Church is not ending. Its best days are
ahead of it.”
For the Keynote Speaker for the
final day of the joint conference, internationally acclaimed speaker, author
and youth minister Chris Stefanick
addressed the assembled and spoke
about “Is It Really All Relative?”
“Understanding the Gospel is a love
story,” said Stefanick. “We’re in the
middle of a love story. The amazing
thing is that all of this love is given
to us for free. When we lose sight of
the Gospel we have nothing. A world
without God is dark and there is no
purpose. We’re all just out there looking for love.”
Leaders of the Faith Formation Conference announced that it will pause
its activity and not hold a conference
in 2017 as the Diocese of San Jose undergoes a restructuring of the pastoral
ministries department. The purpose
of the restructuring is to align the
Diocese’s efforts with the three main
pillars where Christ is made known:
Word, Worship and Witness.
“Our hope, as we pause to take
stock of the conference in light of new
realities, is to continue to add value to
our constituencies through ongoing
training and formation,” said FFC Co-
Director Steve Do in a statement.
The joint conference was capped on
December 3 with a Mass concelebrated
by Diocese of San Jose Bishop Patrick
J. McGrath and Diocese of Monterey
Bishop Richard J. Garcia.
“These days have been a blessing,”
said Bishop Garcia, a former priest of
San Jose. “They have been remarkable
days. It has been a wonderful gift to
connect ourselves to our wonderful
God. We are called to be connected to
love God and to love one another.”
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