At a recent gathering of the board and staff for the Center for Ministry Development, leaders were sharing stories of their first contacts with CMD. My story begins in 1986 when I began work as a Consultant for Youth Ministry in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Sister Edith Prendergast, who was the Director of Youth Ministry at the time, had arrange...

Dear friends, I was in a conversation yesterday with a ministry leader who said that this moment is like waiting in the tomb. It's September, but it feels like Good Friday. The continuing reports of sexual abuse with children, youth, and adults, and the cover-up of abuse are alarming and disturbing. This crisis impacts our ministries with youth and...

"When we meet Christ and accept His Gospel, life changes and we are driven to communicate our experiences to others. …the Church needs genuine witnesses: men and women whose lives have been transformed by meeting with Jesus, men and women who are capable of communicating this experience to others." Saint John Paul II, World Youth Day (Toronto, 2002...