2017 Partner Conference 
Unexcused Absence:
Why Millennials Are Disconnected from the Church and What We Can Do About It

We invite you to our thirteenth annual Catholics on Call Partner Conference. Each year the conference brings together campus ministers, vocation directors, and other young adult ministers from around the country to engage in conversation and discussion about how to support Catholic young adults as they strive to discover God’s call in their lives and explore the possibility of a life of service in the Church.

This year’s conference will address the present disconnect the Church is experiencing with our younger generations. From the very beginning the Millennial Generation was “different.” Popular Millennial Generation monikers include contradictions such as “Generation Me” and “Generation We,” “The Snowflake Generation,” and “The Next Great Generation.” Educators, marketers, and employers have struggled to understand them and of course, their absence from the Church is unprecedented.

So, who are the Millennials? The conference will help us understand their distinctive characteristics and articulate the evangelistic and pastoral challenges to reaching, retaining, and transforming today’s postmodern and digital generations. The sessions will describe the new epistemological realities of our changing world, the “whys” and “hows” of effectively addressing our present context, and offer a hopeful and practical vision for change that addresses the spiritual hungers of our younger generations.

Keynote Speaker

Frank Mercadante
Founder and Executive Director,
Cultivation Ministries

Frank Mercadante received a B.A. in Christian Education from Wheaton College and an M.P.S. from Loyola University, Chicago. Since 1991, Frank has trained thousands of youth ministry leaders in over 100 dioceses, internationally. He has written numerous youth ministry resources, including several manuscripts. Frank is the 2008 recipient of the National Youth Ministry Award in Training from the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry. Frank is married to Diane, and has six young adult children and three grandchildren.

Click here to view the Partner Conference Schedule

Registration deadline is
Friday, September 10, 2017!

Registrations for overnight accommodations must be received ASAP
(first come, first serve at Catholic Theological Union's Residence Hall;
others will be directed to find other Hyde Park overnight facilities, if needed).

Register Now!