After lunch, cabinet secretary of Faith Formation and Evangelization Janet Benestad gave an update on the efforts in Massachusetts to oppose the November ballot initiative supporting physician assisted suicide.

"The point is, once you endorse suicide it is almost impossible to contain," Benestad said.

After the talk, participants broke into three groups for breakout sessions on topics regarding pastoral leadership for laity.

"For the breakout sessions we tried to get even more specialized," Lingertat said.

MAM professor Celia Sirois spoke about the influence and leadership of St. Paul in her talk "Biblical Insights for Pastoral Leadership."

She said she centered her talk on what she called "the master story"; the story of the life, death and resurrection of Christ as related by Paul.

"I think that has to be the cornerstone of any pastoral ministry that we can imagine," Sirois said.

Father Terence P. Curley took on the subject of the New Evangelization in times of grief and crisis in his talk "Bereavement and New Evangelization."

"Father Terence had a wonderful suggestion of how evangelization is done at moments of grief and loss. He wanted to accent that. I hear that a lot. For instance, hospital healthcare ministers tell us that that is where you meet the most un-churched or non-practicing Catholics," Lingertat said of Father Curley's presentation.

Angela and David Franks joined Aldona Lingertat to address evangelization in their talk "Lay Leadership for Evangelization."

"To be a leader in evangelization, in the lay state, requires that one allow himself to be transformed by the heart of Jesus Christ, taken in to that heart -- which loves us to the end on the cross and does not hold himself harmless above our suffering -- so that in his love we can become true leaders by being the servants of all," David Franks said.

Lingertat said keeping the conference focused on important issues facing the Church currently fit in with the need to provide a diversity of topics at the conference.

"We are just thrilled to be able to offer this, since the seminary and the Theological Institute for the New Evangelization are created to educate. This is our chance to reach out and offer these opportunities for education and discussion to the larger archdiocese," Lingertat said.

The Secretariats of Parish Life and Leadership and Faith Formation and Evangelization co-sponsored the conference and Lingertat thanked Our Sunday Visitor Institute for funding the event.