We are excited to offer the following Breakout Sessions available to participants in the Parish Ministry & Leadership Conference on August 29, 2026. Participants can choose which workshop they would like to attend for each afternoon session when they register.
Below you can find more details on the breakout sessions. To register to attend the conference please visit our main conference page.
Click on any of the following to jump to a particular section
Keynotes | Period 1 Sessions | Period 2 Sessions
Keynote
Fr. Larry Hostetter is a priest of the Diocese of Owensboro. After teaching at Owensboro Catholic High School, he earned his license and doctorate in Moral Theology from the Alphonsian Academy in Rome. Since 2025 he has served as Pastor of St. Pius X parish in Owensboro, Kentucky. Previously he served at Brescia University for 26 years, initially as a professor of Theology and then President.
Period 1 Sessions 1:15pm
Reclaiming the Heart of Christianity through Divine Flow and the Contemplative Tradition
Many Christians long for a deeper experience of God but often feel stuck in their heads—busy, overwhelmed, and hungry for a faith that’s not only learned, but lived. In this practical and experiential breakout session, Brian Plachta invites participants to rediscover the contemplative heart of Christianity through Divine Flow and the Four Pillars of Wholeness: Quiet Time, Spiritual Reading, Community, and Spiritual Gifts. Participants will leave with simple, accessible practices to help themselves and those they serve move beyond merely learning about God toward experiencing God more personally and directly.
Brian Plachta, JD, MPC, is an author, speaker, spiritual director, pastoral counselor, and former attorney who helps people move beyond simply thinking about God into experiencing a deeper relationship with God in everyday life. After years of practicing law, Brian heard a deeper calling: to help others discover the peace and presence of God he himself had long sought. For more than thirty years, he has guided individuals and groups into a quieter, deeper, more grounded spiritual life through his books, daily reflections, retreats, workshops, spiritual direction, and practical teaching. Drawing on Scripture, the Christian contemplative tradition, and practical wisdom for everyday life, Brian offers a path of street-level spirituality that helps people hear God’s voice, find inner peace, and live with greater clarity, love, and purpose. Brian is the author of Divine Flow: Reclaiming the Lost Art of Contemplation for Everyday Life and Finding Flow: Spiritual Practices to Reclaim Inner Peace, Balance, and Wholeness. His work is known for making deep Christian wisdom accessible, practical, and down-to-earth. At home in Michigan, Brian shares life with his wife, Denise. Together they have four adult children and a lively band of grandchildren who remind him daily that life’s holiest moments often come wrapped in ice cream smiles, sidewalk chalk, and bedtime prayers.
Kerygmatic Catechesis
Rose Wheeler, Director of Faith Formation at Holy Name of Jesus Parish since 2008, began ministry in 1980 teaching 3rd Grade Religious Education. This first teaching experience exposed my passion to share faith and life experiences, which sparked my desire to create understandable and authentic “teaching moments”. As Director the greatest challenges or rewards of ministry happen while walking a journey of faith with persons of any age toward sacramental moments. While having received Certificates of Recognition in several areas, my greatest joy is when an RCIA adult or 1st Sacraments child/youth ask me to join their family in a picture. Why? In my eyes this request invites me as part of their family and that is a priceless moment.
Reclaiming Your Pastoral Role: Tips for Being a More Effective Leader
Designed for Pastors and Administrators, Dr. Kime will share some ideas on ways to be a more effective leader. Pastors and Administrators find themselves burdened with management and administrative tasks which often take them away from the pastoral ministry which they were called to do. Learn how to balance these tasks, identify and rely on members of the parish to assist in these areas so that you can reclaim the joy in ministering to the People of God
Dr. Bernadette McMasters Kime brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in the Roman Catholic Church. She holds a PhD in Instructional Management and Leadership from Robert Morris University, where her dissertation highlighted the need for leadership and management training for Catholic priests. Dr. Kime serves as Director of Worship and Sacraments for the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and is an adjunct instructor at Saint Meinrad Seminary Permanent Diaconate Program, Josephinum Diaconate Institute, and Ohio Dominican University. She facilitates courses through the University of Dayton’s Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation. Kime is also the founder of Gifted in the Spirit: Catholic Leadership Development Institute designed for Catholic Church leaders. It is a unique approach to leadership development and coaching that incorporates successful leadership practices used in the secular business world and connects them with Catholic spirituality.
Spiritual Formation for the Unique Needs of our Seniors
Details coming soon
Period 2 Sessions 2:30pm
Listening, Discerning, Leading: Creating a More Effective Parish Council
Using principles from the Synod on Synodality, as well as effective leadership techniques from secular organizations, Dr. Kime will share tools with members of pastoral councils on processes such as ecclesial discernment and consensus-building and learning how to listen more intently to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in advancing the mission of the Church.
Dr. Bernadette McMasters Kime brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in the Roman Catholic Church. She holds a PhD in Instructional Management and Leadership from Robert Morris University, where her dissertation highlighted the need for leadership and management training for Catholic priests. Dr. Kime serves as Director of Worship and Sacraments for the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston and is an adjunct instructor at Saint Meinrad Seminary Permanent Diaconate Program, Josephinum Diaconate Institute, and Ohio Dominican University. She facilitates courses through the University of Dayton’s Virtual Learning Community for Faith Formation. Kime is also the founder of Gifted in the Spirit: Catholic Leadership Development Institute designed for Catholic Church leaders. It is a unique approach to leadership development and coaching that incorporates successful leadership practices used in the secular business world and connects them with Catholic spirituality.
Your Catholic Social Teaching Toolkit: Resources to Form, Inform, and Inspire
How do the sacraments and Catholic Social Teaching shape how we live out God’s love for the world? What does the rich treasury of our Church offer us to – in the words of Pope Leo XIV – “[embody] God’s love in the concrete events of life“? In this session, Heidi Villaluz will return to the foundational principles of our faith as we discern how we are called to love one another, including and especially those most vulnerable among us. You’ll receive resources and best practices for your ministry to support others in living out their Catholic faith, while tending to the poorest of our neighbors and deepening our relationships with God, with the earth, and with one another.
Heidi Villaluz is the Director of Communications for JustFaith Ministries, a national nonprofit that inspires and empowers individuals and parishes to address the root causes of injustice while serving with love. In her over twenty-five years of ministry, she has worked in parish pastoral leadership and school administration, and has extensive experience in young adult engagement, technology, pastoral planning and Catholic Social Teaching. Heidi lives in Los Angeles, where she has served in Archdiocesan leadership on initiatives including the Global Solidarity Action Team, the Task Force to Address Racism, and the Steering Committee for the recent Synod process. Her national leadership has included the young adult working group for the Laudato Si’ and the US Catholic Church Conference and organizing legislative action for the state of California as a Coalition Leader for Catholic Relief Services. Heidi serves as a consultant to parishes, faith-based and non-profit organizations, and several Archdiocesan offices. Heidi received her bachelor’s degree from UCLA, her Master’s from Loyola Marymount University, and has been commissioned as a Master Catechist.
What does a Missionary Disciple look like?
Dcn. Jay VanHoosier serves as Director of Faith Formation with the Diocese of Owensboro.
Called and Gifted: Discovering How God Has Equipped You to Serve
Each of us has been given unique spiritual gifts—not simply for ourselves, but for the building up of the Body of Christ. In this interactive workshop, Brian Plachta will help participants explore what spiritual gifts are, why they matter, and how God may already be working through your natural abilities, life experiences, desires, and holy nudges. Participants will be invited to complete a short spiritual gifts reflection during the session to begin discerning where they may be best equipped to serve in parish life, ministry, family, work, and the wider community.
Optional Preparation: Participants who would like to go deeper before the workshop may click the following link to the Spiritual Gifts Inventory to download and complete in advance. Please bring your results with you to the session.
Brian Plachta, JD, MPC, is an author, speaker, spiritual director, pastoral counselor, and former attorney who helps people move beyond simply thinking about God into experiencing a deeper relationship with God in everyday life. After years of practicing law, Brian heard a deeper calling: to help others discover the peace and presence of God he himself had long sought. For more than thirty years, he has guided individuals and groups into a quieter, deeper, more grounded spiritual life through his books, daily reflections, retreats, workshops, spiritual direction, and practical teaching. Drawing on Scripture, the Christian contemplative tradition, and practical wisdom for everyday life, Brian offers a path of street-level spirituality that helps people hear God’s voice, find inner peace, and live with greater clarity, love, and purpose. Brian is the author of Divine Flow: Reclaiming the Lost Art of Contemplation for Everyday Life and Finding Flow: Spiritual Practices to Reclaim Inner Peace, Balance, and Wholeness. His work is known for making deep Christian wisdom accessible, practical, and down-to-earth. At home in Michigan, Brian shares life with his wife, Denise. Together they have four adult children and a lively band of grandchildren who remind him daily that life’s holiest moments often come wrapped in ice cream smiles, sidewalk chalk, and bedtime prayers.