Breakout sessions a hit at third men’s conference

St. Dominic Parish in Kingsport hosts the annual event that keeps ‘growing and improving’

By Dan McWilliams

Adding breakout sessions to the third annual East Tennessee Catholic Men’s Conference, held March 9 at St. Dominic Church in Kingsport, proved to be a popular decision.

Two breakout segments took place between the talks by the conference’s keynote speakers: Piotr Ulmer, who spoke in the morning on “Laymen in the World,” and Jim Connors, who spoke in the afternoon on “How to Study in Prayer.”

Father Michael Cummins, pastor of St. Dominic, said he thinks this year’s men’s conference “went very well.” Just under 100 men attended.

“This was the third year that it was held, and every year I think it grows and it improves,” Father Cummins said. “I know this year, one of the main changes was having breakout sessions, and from what I’ve heard, the men really appreciated that, because it allowed for a variety of topics and then also even more discussion time.”

The conference lasted some eight hours and began with breakfast and Mr. Ulmer’s talk. Father Cummins presented a brief talk on the sacrament of reconciliation, after which there was time for adoration, a rosary, and confession. Breakout sessions one and two followed, with a break between them, before lunch. Mr. Connors led off the afternoon part of the conference with his talk. Father Cummins celebrated Mass, and the taking of a group photo and a social concluded the day.

Mr. Ulmer is an immigrant from Poland who came to the United States in 1992. He has been involved in Cursillo and the Troops of St. George. He is a manual physical therapist and a functional wellness coach in private practice. He and wife Agnes worship at either Holy Ghost Church in Knoxville or St. Mary in Athens.

Mr. Connors was born in Florida and grew up in Bossier City, La. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy and was commissioned in June 1974. In the Navy, he qualified as a nuclear engineer and as a surface warfare officer. He also worked in the commercial nuclear industry before retiring. Mr. Connors, who also has attended a Cursillo weekend and sponsors several children in the Zion Home for Children orphanage in Kenya, and wife Lynne live in Spring City. They are parishioners of St. Bridget in Dayton.

The first breakout session’s talks were “Spiritual Combat and the Battle for Purity, part one,” by Paul Simoneau, director of the diocesan Office of Justice and Peace; “Modesty, Humility, and the Secular Concept of Power,” by Father Bart Okere, pastor of St. Henry Parish in Rogersville and St. James the Apostle in Sneedville; and “Discernment: Following God’s Will in Your Life,” by Father Andrew Crabtree, parochial vicar at St. Dominic.

In the second breakout session were part two of Mr. Simoneau’s talk; “The Treasure of Our Early Church Fathers,” presented by Deacon Frank Fischer of St. Dominic; “The Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist,” by Kevin Roth, a St. Dominic parishioner who with five other men started The Highest Call Men’s Conference in Franklin, Tenn.; and “Strategies for Bringing Family (and Friends) Back into the Church,” by Jonathan Cardinal, a regional director for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS).

Book suggestions by conference speakers included The Liber Christo Method: A Field Manual for Spiritual Combat, by Dan Schneider; Credo: Compendium of the Catholic Faith, by Bishop Athanasius Schneider; Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper, by Brant Pitre; The Wisdom of the Saints: 365 Days of Inspiration, introduced by Matthew Kelly; The Art of Living: The Cardinal Virtues and the Freedom to Love, by Dr. Edward Sri; and The Church’s Mission in a Polarized World, by Father Aaron Wessman, GHM.

A conference gift bag each man received contained a program for the day that included a detailed Catholic examination of conscience, a breakdown of the Ten Commandments and the ways each can be violated, a how-to guide to confession, and the joyful mysteries of the rosary. Each gift bag also contained two books, Theology of the Body for Beginners: Rediscovering the Meaning of Live, Love, Sex, and Gender by Christopher West, and Holiness Revolution, by Dan DeMatte.

Father Cummins spoke on confession early in the conference.

“It was really just talking about the beauty of the sacrament of confession and the healing grace that comes from that, which we all need, and encouraging the men who felt the need that the sacrament would be available during the time of adoration,” he said.

The St. Dominic pastor’s homily in the afternoon touched on fraternal correction, a subject that is addressed twice in the Catechism of the Catholic Church in nos. 1435 and 1829.

“That is what we’re called to do in the Christian life and in our walks of faith, to help one another, and when those moments do come, maybe in truth and charity correct one another,” Father Cummins said. “I remembered a quote from one of my spiritual directors in seminary, who would always say, ‘Speak the truth, but always speak it in charity.’”

Jimmy Dee of Holy Ghost in Knoxville, also director of evangelization and faith formation for the state Knights of Columbus, attended the conference.

“We were very excited to see this outreach to men of all ages to help them grow in their faith and in fellowship,” Mr. Dee said. “We wanted to be part of it and to hopefully carry this back to other parts of our diocese.”

The conference drew more than 50 percent of its attendance from the ranks of the Knights this year, event coordinator Kevin Musser said.

“There were a tremendous amount of Knights, but it was really, truly an event that included all facets and all people from all different ministries and various parishes around the Tri-Cities,” Mr. Dee said.

Mr. Dee could name his favorite part of the conference.

“I think the fellowship was truly one of the most wonderful parts of being together with our brothers for the day, but I think the speakers and the breakout sessions provided us with incredibly good information about how to live our faith and how to help others return to the faith,” he said.

Mr. Musser agreed with Father Cummins in saying that the conference went “very well.”

“We risked trying some new approaches by going to breakout sessions,” he said. “We had a number of excellent speakers, and we were hoping to take advantage of as many as we could, and it turned out over the top.”

Mr. Ulmer and Mr. Connors “were exactly what we had hoped for. We knew they were great opening and closing speakers,” Mr. Musser said.

Mr. Ulmer’s talk on “Laymen in the World” and Mr. Connor’s session on “How to Study in Prayer” both impressed Mr. Musser.

“Piotr is a very polished speaker and a man who can articulate that topic and did so extremely well,” he said. “Jim has a sort of mellowness about him that is sweet, and yet he knows his subject very well. When he talks about study, he had multiple examples.”

David LaJoye of St. Dominic attended the men’s conference for the first time this year.

“It was phenomenal. I loved it a lot,” he said. “I liked the community part of it, just the fact that you’re having so many men, because a lot of times when you go to Sunday Mass, you don’t see as many men. I liked that part of it. The book suggestions were good, too.”

Mark Pendley of St. Dominic was on the conference organizing committee with Mr. Musser, Jose Velasco, Sean Fernandez, and Paul Vachon.

“From the feedback I’ve been getting so far, everybody had a good time and really enjoyed it,” Mr. Pendley said.

He also cited the breakout sessions as his favorite part of the event, saying the addition of them this year arose out of requests from attendees at the 2023 conference.

“This was one of the things we did this year: listen to our feedback from the guys from last year,” he said. “They wanted a little bit of a variation. We had some great speakers last year as well, but this year we kind of fine-tuned it age-group-wise, whether it was young or middle-aged to more of the mature crowd. We wanted to make sure we had all the topics covered that we could within that group.”

Father Cummins and Father Okere heard confessions at the conference. Having Mass and confession “to me is like the pinnacle” of the conference, Mr. Pendley said.

“Last year I felt about it the same way as I do this year. To me, it just wraps it up and brings all of that back into the meetings and the breakouts. To me, it gives a little bit more meaning with the group. It seems to me like the guys enjoy that as well,” he said.

Cameron Coutts attended his first men’s conference this year. He is not Catholic but has attended Mass for two years at St. Dominic and is planning to join RCIA classes this fall. His wife of two years, Danica, is Catholic.

“I had a really good time” at the conference, he said. “It’s really nice to get a lot of one-on-one time with people in this community, and it all revolves around faith, so it’s a great thing. Everyone’s here for the same purpose. The breakout sessions were phenomenal. I liked them because they were in a small setting, so they were way more personal.”

Father Crabtree’s talk was his favorite part of the event, Mr. Coutts said.

“Father Andrew and discernment: not rushing into decisions right off the bat and using faith and the four steps to look at decisions and possible outcomes and really use faith in God to make those decisions,” he said.

Mr. Vachon, a parishioner of St. Dominic and member of the event organizing committee, said he was pleased with the turnout at this year’s conference.

“I was also pleased that we tried several new things this year, one being having a large variety of talks for men to choose from. I feel like that was a good thing and was well-received,” he said.

As to his favorite part of the conference, Mr. Vachon said he’ll “have to sit and ponder that one for a while.”

“I loved the adoration,” he added. “It’s hard to top adoration and confession.”

Mr. Musser said he and his team are already looking forward to the fourth men’s conference next year.

“We have several ideas in process, but we won’t let the cat out of the bag yet,” he said.