Walking Together Newsletter August 2023 – Diocese of Jefferson City

Walking Together Women's Ministry Newsletter

July 2023

Back to Main Women's Ministry Page

Get Involved

Faith Formation

Annual Diocesan Spring Pilgrimage

An opportunity for women of our diocese to gather together at one of our parishes or holy sites for a day of prayer, reflection and fellowship.

Fall Retreat

A day of faith formation and friendship featuring a national Catholic speaker, breakout sessions and of course opportunities for prayer and fellowship.

Book/Movie of the Month

A featured monthly book and movie recommendation perfect for use by small faith sharing groups, families or for personal spiritual growth.

Leadership Formation

Regional Coalition Formation

Development of regional women’s ministry coalitions created to help parishes work together to offer women in our diocese opportunities for growth in their faith life. These coalitions are comprised of women appointed by their pastors to work with other women in their deanery to create regional events, offer training and plug parishes in to the resources available for creating and supporting active women’s ministry groups in their parishes.

A monthly email newsletter designed to support women working in ministry in their parish. A resource for sharing ideas, highlighting programming and promoting upcoming events, along with spiritual and service opportunities.

Ministry Support

Speakers Bureau

A list of speakers that have previously spoken in our diocese and received positive reviews or come highly recommended. A great first stop when looking for your next parish speaker.

Ministry Ideas Portal

An avenue for parishes to share with each other ministry programs that have had a positive impact on their parish. Also a resource when you are looking to find inspiration to plan programming at your parish.

Women's Ministry Staff

Coordinator of
Women's Ministry
Barbara Prasad
573-635-9127, ext. 222

Administrative Assistant
Maddie Gramlich
573-635-9127, ext. 237

Alphonse J. Schwartze Catholic Center
2207 West Main St.
Jefferson City, MO 65109-0914

Walking Together August 2023

A monthly newsletter to inform, support and share with women

the many ways the Spirit is moving through us in our diocese.

A Message from Barb

I used to believe that prayer changes things, but now I know that prayer changes us and we change things. ~Mother Teresa

Prayer is still top on my mind after our diocesan women's event last month. It was so lovely to spend the day with so many women from all throughout our diocese, joining in prayer and adoration. It was also fun to see you connecting with old friends and making new ones. I am so excited to have the opportunity to work towards bringing us together more frequently in the future, both as a diocese, and in smaller group gatherings closer to home. We are already hard at work planning our upcoming fall events in October. You will find our initial flier below. It is not to early to get the date on your calendar and reserve your space. We hope word will spread and we will have even more women who are willing to join us!

For those who missed the event, I did want to leave you with a few prayer tips from our spring pilgrimage speaker Patty Schneier. These are a few of the things she has done to enrich her prayer life and they are great practices for all of us to try and incorporate into ours:

the daily rosary

daily scripture reading

pray with the saint of the day

eucharistic adoration hour

daily mass

I wish I had time to expand on her advice but I want to keep this at newsletter length not book length! Hopefully this is enough of a tease to encourage you to consider finding your own creative way to add one of these practices into your daily prayer life. Go to our prayer aides page to find additional resources. If you were at the event, this is your friendly reminder to stop and think about how you carried the message of the day home. What changes did it prompt in your life? Events are great motivators but their true success is when they leave lasting positive changes in our life!

Be sure to check out our book of the month and volunteer opportunities below and watch for more opportunities to gather in the near future! Stay in the know by following us on Facebook (Women's Ministry - Diocese of Jefferson City) and Instagram (@diojeffcitywomen). May the rest of your summer be filled with fruitful prayer and faith filled friendships

We Are Better Together,

Barb

Connect with Us

Our Mission

Supporting women in their journey to sainthood through providing opportunities for growth in prayer, fellowship, service, and faith formation/education.

Our Vision

A community of women that look to the Church as the center of their lives and who actively seek to share the joys of their faith with others by participation in the life and mission of their parish.

What's New in Women's Ministry

Opportunities to Gather

Watch for opportunities to join other women in our diocese

in fellowship, prayer, faith formation and service.

Join Us for Our Fall Events

October 6th and 7th

Cathedral of St Joseph, Jefferson City MO

Fall Ladies Night Out

Friday October 6th

doors open at 6:00/events starts at 6:30

Ladies invite your moms, daughters, granddaughters, sisters and friends and head out and enjoy some good food, good company and inspiration from Teresa Tomeo our featured speaker for the weekend. Teresa is an author, syndicated Catholic talk show host, and motivational speaker whose weekday morning radio program, Catholic Connection, is featured on EWTN and Covenant radio. Teresa will challenge us to listen for how God defines us rather than the media/our world. Don't miss out! Enjoy dinner and a cash bar. $25 fee for dinner. Scholarship tickets available.

Fall Women's Ministry Retreat

Saturday October 7th

doors open at 9:00/events starts at 10:00

Teresa will return Saturday for our all-day retreat. She will inspire us to Take Our Faith Beyond Sunday and embrace Our Royal Heritage: by Becoming Daughters of the King Via the Eucharist. Along with Teresa's motivational talks we will also provide time for prayer, faith sharing and learning about other opportunities to grow in our faith life. Morning hospitality and lunch will be provided. There is a $15 fee for lunch. Scholarship tickets are available.

You may register for one event or both

Would you like to invite other women to an upcoming event at your parish??

To invite women of our diocese to your parish events, please send details to bprasad@diojeffcity.org for inclusion in upcoming newsletters.

Book of the Month

This September as kids head back to school pursue a bit of the intellectual life yourself.

“The feminine genius,” a term coined by Pope St. John Paul II, has become something of a buzzword in the Catholic world. But has the fullness of femininity been exhausted?

This collection of seventeen essays, written by Catholic women of diverse backgrounds and vocations, is a call to pursue what is too often excluded from our picture of femininity: the intellectual life. Following Mary, the “Seat of Wisdom,” who “treasured” the words of the shepherds and “pondered them in her heart,” With All Her Mind shows how the feminine genius involves both affectivity and active intellectual engagement.

Full of practical advice and personal testimonies and featuring a foreword by celebrated scholar Tracey Rowland, this collection opens readers to the endlessly unique ways for a woman to follow the first and greatest commandment: to love the Lord with all her soul, with all her heart, and with all her mind.

Revisit the school time vigor of the intellectual life. Invite others to join you for a challenging look at what it means to be feminine today. Advertise to your parish, plan a date and order books. Of course any of these books can also be used for personal book study. For more click on our book of the month link.

Please send our office, bprasad@diojeffcity.org, suggestions for books or movies to include in upcoming newsletters. Any reviews on the book would also be greatly appreciated.

Click here for book of the month

New Opportunities to Serve

Get information in how you can join in the efforts to grow women's ministry throughout our diocese

Coalition Parish Representative or Volunteer

We are forming regional teams of 2 to 3 women from each parish to work together to help be the connection between parishes and the women’s ministry office at the diocese. The goal of these teams will be to help us grow and support the women in ministry throughout their region and also help us identify and meet the needs of the women in our communities. If you are interested in serving as a parish representative please email bprasad@diojeffcity.org. Regional informational meetings will be forming soon. All interested women will be invited to attend to discern if this is something they would like to pursue

Become a Book Club Leader

Do you love to read? Would you be interested in leading other book lovers in a book discussion group. Would you be open to inviting women from surrounding areas to join you? We are looking for women throughout the diocese who would consider being on our volunteer list to facilitate book clubs. If you are interested in this please reach out to Barb Prasad, Women's Ministry Coordinator, for details on this opportunity. bprasad@diojeffcity.org

Click here for a full list of service opportunities

Bright Ideas

Is your parish offering a ministry program or event you would like to share? We are working on building a portal of ideas for women working/volunteering in ministry to access. Please send us information on what is working in your parish. Email ministry ideas to bprasad@diojeffcity.org and help us build a portal that will inspire us all.

Prayer Resources

Visit our prayer aides page for featured prayers of the month and ideas to enrich your prayer life

Not signed up? Get the newsletter sent to your email!