Whew… what a day. And for many, this was Day 1 of 3! What’s this exhausting three day event of which I speak? The annual Los Angeles Religious Education Congress of course! For those who know the event, especially my fellow introverts out there, you probably know the mix of excitement and fatigue at the end of one of these people packed days.
For those who’ve not made the pilgrimage, Religious Education Congress (#REC2013 for you Twitter types) is an annual gathering of Catholic educators, musicians, artists, publishers, and clergy. If there ever was a CatholicCon, this is it. Numbers of attendees, workers, and volunteers often reach 40,000, and at times it seems as if a third are nuns, priests, and brothers—quite a sight!
But why is IN Network here among the throng? In short, it’s all about new beginnings.
We’ve been developing an episode on Sister Judy Molosky, CSJ as she works to bring the St. Joseph Worker (SJW) Program to Los Angeles, the first city west of Wichita, KS and the fourth nationwide. SJWs, as the volunteers are called, are women ages 21-30 with a desire and commitment to enacting social change. They commit to a one year program of service while living “simply in an intentional community.” We wanted to bring the IN Network community her perspective on what the journey’s been like so far (it’s basically like starting a non-profit). From individual recruitment to marketing and PR, we’ll be bringing you a glimpse into her adventure and new beginning.
Speaking of new beginnings, we have one of our own—the IN Network App! Yes, you too can keep up on the doings of the IN Network and “get INN” (or at least you iPhone/Pad/Pod users can—sorry Android folks!). And for those of us who aren’t drinking the iOS Kool-Aid, there’s always the new getINN.tv website—featuring our videos, blogs (like this one), and original webseries from Loyola Productions—to get excited about. It’s all part of our hope to get people like you INNformed and INNspired!
Now what if everyone at Religious Ed Congress downloaded the app…