Speaker: Susan Windley-Daoust, Ph.D.

Creative, effective training for mission

I help…

• parishes regroup, refocus, and reinculturate in a post-Christian world to become confident, missional parishes.
• dioceses and parishes embrace apostolic missional strategy across all ministries
• Catholics understand what is possible in this Eucharistic Revival, and what that means for your parish.
• Catholics recognize we are called to apostolic leadership in a secular age, and how to embrace that form of leadership
• parishes and schools recognize Christ the Healer’s evangelization of Gen Z, so they know how to express God’s message of love and hope to this generation.
• Catholic universities and schools recognize that the mission of God is not an enemy of strong education

Online recorded talk sample here.

Get to know Susan.

Talks:

Knowing the Next Move: Engaging the Year of Mission (for priests, parish staffs, dioceses; keynote or workshop)

Parishes are dying. Parishes don’t know how to live the Great Commission in a secular culture. The number of practicing Catholics in the past 15 years has dropped by 25-30%, and in many places by half. And now–providentially?–there is a “year of mission” in the Eucharistic Revival.

But under such stress, how do we engage that year life of mission? How do we evangelize those who have left, those who are still coming, and the quickly growing number of people who have never heard of Christ? How do we change our parish values and practices to embrace evangelization within life-long discipleship, deliberately and immediately?

God has called us to this moment, and shown us the way. In her award winning book, The Four Ways Forward, Susan offers a “3 + 1” solution that follows God’s leading and Church teaching within the past 50 years. Adopt three of the four emergent models of evangelization in your parish, and you will inherently adopt a vision and practical mission that equips the baptized to share the story of God with peace and confidence. If you do this–and it is relatively simple, if not “easy”–you will crack both the maintenance subculture and the broader secular influence. More positively, you will foster a community of joyful disciples that recognizes that Jesus Christ is Lord, the one who sends us to his lost with astounding news–and the people will go and share it.

*The talk could come with Susan’s award winning book for each participant, The Four Ways Forward: Becoming an Apostolic Parish in a Post-Christian World, or books available at a discount.

You Are SENT: Apostolic Leadership for ___________ (for universities, presbyterates, parish directors, lay leaders, service and professional organizations)

Many of the leaders with whom we grew up–pastors, CEOs, orders’ leaders, principals, directors, and more–were leading us in a different culture. What does strong, effective leadership look like in Catholic parishes, organizations, and families when we are sent to share the gospel with secular people? First, they embrace their apostolic nature: they are SENT. They share good news, they cast vision, they empower the people in their trust to holy risk, and they foster a culture of hospitality for the lost.

This talk is shaped and angled toward the specific group: university professors, student convocation, diocesan ministry gatherings, Catholic Charities employees, men’s or women’s service organizations, Catholic professional groups.

How the Eucharistic Revival Can Save Your Spiritual Life, Your Parish, and Your World (for lay groups, women’s conferences, parish missions, priests; keynote, workshop, or mission talk)

Many in the Church still haven’t heard of the Eucharistic revival, and those who have aren’t sure what it means. This inspirational talk does a deep dive on what it means to undergo religious “revival” (or a “great move of God”) and what has happened with other revivals historically. The second part focuses on how to be open to God’s intentions for revival. Finally, Susan gives witness to the power of the Eucharistic Lord in her own life, the potential for the parish, and the potential for the world. The talk ends with a call to prayer (ideally with adoration of the Blessed sacrament and/or Mass, if arranged).

*This talk could come with supplied copies of Susan’s book, 101 Ways to Evangelize: Ideas for Helping Fearless, Fearful, and Flummoxed Catholics Share the Good News of Jesus Christ, or could be offered onsite to participants at a discount.

Cracking the Shell: How Your Story Breaks Open the Universe for the Power of God (for lay groups, women’s conferences, parish missions, schools)

We have a real problem: Catholics are scared to talk about God. We are hesitant to share that God is real, powerful, and will transform lives–maybe because we are not convinced ourselves. This is a problem because sharing God’s story, and especially how it intersects with your story, is the most powerful way to change others’ lives. Susan shares her own story of miraculous healing, going deeper in prayer, and her call to evangelization, to teach people how our Lord is powerfully active in scripture and in our everyday life. She then teaches people how to prayerfully excavate their own spiritual history and provides a system to make sharing simple, and everyone will practice it on the spot.

*This talk could come with supplied copies of Susan’s book, 101 Ways to Evangelize: Ideas for Helping Fearless, Fearful, and Flummoxed Catholics Share the Good News of Jesus Christ, or could be offered onsite to participants at a discount.

Christ the Healer: the Jesus that Gen Zers (and the Rest of Us) Need. (for priests and consecrated, lay conferences, Catholic K-12 school faculty, women’s conferences, parish missions; adaptable to high school students/college students; keynote)

Our young people (members of Gen Z and the younger “pandemic generation”) are the loneliest and most depressed generation on record. They also increasingly are identifying as the “nones”: 45% of those 18-25 are disaffiliated with any religion or Church. Using studies, scripture, and her own story, Susan focuses on introducing these generations to the Jesus they need: the Divine Physician, Jesus Christ the Healer. This is no trick: a cursory read of the gospels make clear that Jesus Christ evangelized first, and precisely, through healing others. Every request for healing, physical, mental, and spiritual, was met with an invitation to follow him–which most did, eagerly. Jesus Christ the Healer is the relational, hopeful, and meaningful way to the Father that breaks through the images that confuse a hurting generation, and saves and salves to our young people’s hearts.

To Be a Mission-forward University: the Challenge of an Apostolic Future. (faculty/administration, trustees, adaptable to college students; talk is adaptable to Catholic K12 school faculty on request)

Increasingly, American Catholics recognize our landscape has changed dramatically and we are in an apostolic age–aliens in a foreign land, but sent to offer hope, life, and good news. This is especially obvious on the college campus, when many of our students are formed by secular values and identify as “nones.” But given our American Catholic universities were established in a culture that assumed Christian belief, we need to grapple with the challenge of mission in this landscape. Dr. Windley-Daoust provides a path forward that avoids culture war traps and restrictive ideologies: using scripture, current trends in missiology, and cultural analysis, we can fulfill mission through focusing on how to be student centered by seeing the whole person. If we do so, we can create a space where students and faculty can search and find ways to honor truth in love.

Keynote endorsements:

–Dominic de Souza, Smart Catholics CEO, podcast host, and Catholic author

“Susan and I collaborated on an online conference, and she was brilliant. She marshalled a great lineup, and worked closely with me and the team to make it all happen. As a speaker, she is warm, attentive, and compelling, and a pleasure to work with. The attendees at the event left resounding reviews and comments that they enjoyed the event, got what they came for, and appreciated the value Susan put into her presentations.”

–Allison Gingras, Catholic author, New Media specialist, Women in the New Evangelization

“Susan is an outstanding speaker on parish life and evangelization topics. She is articulate, well-versed, and passionate. As someone who has witnessed her speaking as a presenter as well as an excellent podcast guest, I can highly recommend Susan as a speaker to any organization looking to bring in a dynamic, engaging presenter.“

Workshop endorsements:

–Andrew Reinhart, Coordinator of Parish Life for the Diocese of Toledo, OH

“In my role with the Toledo Diocese, I lead parish leaders through a study of Susan’s book The Four Ways Forward: Becoming an Apostolic Parish in a Post-Christian World. At the end of this study, Susan presented to the group and provided a Q&A. In the presentation, Susan shared the story behind the book and how her passion for evangelization grew out of her experience with students and how the Lord called her into her current mission. She provided the group with many great practical ideas. I recommend Susan for in person and virtual presentations about evangelization and parish renewal.“

–Dwain Robbins, Co-Coordinator of the Parish Renewal and Evangelization Committee, Diocese of Worcester MA

“The 21st century is a time of crisis for the Catholic Church.  Thoughtful Catholics see the compelling need to stem widespread defection from the Faith and addressing an increasingly hostile culture.  Most do not have a clear idea of what should be done on the local and world level. Dr. Susan Windley-Daoust, inspiring speaker and writer, does have that clarity. She gave a terrific online workshop for our diocese on “101 Ways to Evangelize!” Participants are still talking about it!

Parish consulting endorsements:

–Fr. John Evans, Pastor of Church of the Crucifixion and St. Peter’s Church, La Crescent and Hokah, MN

“Susan Windley-Daoust, Ph.D., facilitated our parish discipleship leadership team over a 12-month period with the goal of helping our parish to be more alive, welcoming, and active with evangelization of our parishioners through a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

The outcome went beyond what we had hoped for during this year of discernment and personal growth! …The frequent statement that I hear from our parishioners is “a person would hardly recognize our parish from where we were three years ago. So much more is happening! People are enthusiastic about their faith and parish.”

This has been made possible by how Susan Windley-Daoust: (1) assisted the pastor in recruiting eleven parishioners through the discernment process to form the discipleship leadership team that met twice per month, (2) led a weekend working retreat for us at the beginning of this process, (3) met monthly on-site with the team, (4) had a “check-in” conference call monthly with the pastor, (5) led additional one-day retreats half way through and at the end of the year, and (6) helped us to “get going” and (7) evaluate where we had been and are now.

I strongly recommend Susan Windley-Daoust to pastors, staffs, and parishes having a mission to revive and renew your church community.“

–Prof. Emily Dykman, Chair of Religious Studies at Viterbo University; LaCrosse, WI.

Context matters in this work, and Susan took time to listen carefully to the unique story deep within my parish community to help unearth a possible way forward that was both creative and sustainable. She assisted the group in learning the language of mission and evangelization and then translate it back to language that attended to our particular parish community.

Susan is encouraging and joy-filled. She brings with her a wealth of knowledge and experience that brings a vision of what the future can look like and be. She provided clear, accessible and useful materials for our retreat and working sessions. Throughout the process Susan was both enthusiastic and supportive while also challenging us to stretch our imaginations. The end result of our year was a team empowered to share their wisdom with others and imagine creative ways to engage as church.