Workshops for lay ministers, volunteers make a comeback at All Saints Parish
By Bee Goodman
Before the Sept. 18 launch day arrived on the diocesan calendar, the people who will actually carry Bishop Mark Beckman’s pastoral plan “Bearing the Light” into parish life got a working preview of it.
Ministries Day, held for catechists, directors of religious education, youth ministers, and other parish volunteers, landed this year on Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, at All Saints Parish in Knoxville.
Bishop Mark Beckman celebrates Mass at All Saints Church in Knoxville for Ministries Day on Aug. 15. Assisting the bishop are Deacons Jim Bello and Rafael Pubillones. (Photo Bee Goodman)
More than 250 people registered for the day, filling sessions offered in both English and Spanish.
The lineup was built for the practical, everyday work of lay ministry that takes place in every parish in the diocese.
Christine Blair led “Teaching Liturgical Living in the Home,” walking catechists and parents through bringing the rhythm of the liturgical calendar into family life, while Sarah Warner Sperl’s “The Candidacy Path,” alongside an overview of the OCIA manual and the diocese’s portal for directors of religious education and catechists, gave OCIA leaders tools for walking new Catholics through initiation.
Julie Radachy presented “Diocese of Knoxville Special Friends: Special Needs Ministry,” highlighting the diocese’s efforts to welcome and form Catholics with special needs in parish life, and Greg Ward’s “Financial Freedom and Purpose” brought a stewardship lens to the day, connecting personal finances to a life lived with purpose.
Other sessions turned outward, including “Catholic Social Teaching and the Migration Issue,” a topic Bishop Beckman has spoken about directly as one of the pressing needs of the moment, led by husband and wife Charlie and Geri Mulligan. Also included was a session on media in ministry, led by Emily Booker of the diocese’s Office of Communications, on the growing role of social media and how best to use online platforms for ministry. Several additional breakout sessions rounded out the day, covering everything from sacramental preparation to volunteer formation.
“In my session, attendees received clarification about who candidacy is for, how it differs from the catechumenate, how it fits within the Church’s initiation process, and what that means practically for parish ministry,” said Mrs. Warner Sperl, assistant director of the diocese’s Office of Christian Formation.
“Bringing these conversations to the diocesan level helps create greater consistency while giving parish leaders the tools and resources they need to accompany each person appropriately. Our role as a diocese is ultimately one of servant leadership: equipping our parishes so that, together, we can bear the light of Christ more effectively,” she added.
Luis Ramos, who serves as a pastoral associate at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Alcoa, leads a discussion during Ministries Day. (Photo Bee Goodman)
The “Candidacy Path” workshop, as well as other sessions, “are important to discuss at Ministries Day because they (attendees) benefit from a shared diocesan understanding, not just a parish-by-parish approach,” Mrs. Warner Sperl said.
“As the Diocese of Knoxville prepares to bear the light of Christ more intentionally through prayer, vocations, formation, education, charity, youth engagement, evangelization, and care of creation, Ministries Day gives our ministry leaders an opportunity to learn together and strengthen how they serve their communities,” she noted.
In a way, Ministries Day mirrored the day when Jesus took loaves of barley and fish to feed thousands, but this time their hunger brought them to serve, not to be served.
The desire to be formed for that work is itself a sign of the growth Bishop Beckman describes throughout the new pastoral plan: a diocese that has grown from roughly 70,000 Catholics to about 83,000, even as Catholics remain a little over 3 percent of the region’s population.
Record numbers of adults have entered the Church through OCIA in recent years, and Bishop Beckman has said the growth isn’t only newcomers relocating to East Tennessee for its mountains and its slower pace of life; it also includes people encountering the faith for the first time.
For Rachel McCarthy, administrative assistant in the diocese’s Office of Christian Formation, who helped organize this year’s Ministries Day and led one of its sessions, the turnout was a milestone in itself.
“We were excited to see such a great turnout for the return of Ministries Day,” Mrs. McCarthy said. “It has been nearly a decade since this event was last held in the diocese, and we are grateful for the opportunity to bring it back in a big way.”
Mrs. McCarthy shared that next year’s event is expected to attract even more attendees. Details about the 2027 Ministries Day will be announced in coming months.
As the Diocese of Knoxville moves forward with “Bearing the Light,” Ministries Day stands as an early marker of what that vision looks like in practice: parish leaders gathering not for their own sake, but to be equipped to serve their communities better.
With attendance already surpassing expectations after nearly a decade away, diocesan officials say the event isn’t a one-time revival but a renewal of an annual tradition—one they hope will keep growing alongside the diocese itself.