Workshops
Signature Vocation Workshops
Vocation Ministry, through its signature workshops in English and Spanish, has trained thousands representing over 4,000 parishes and hundreds of Catholic schools in 50 dioceses on how to create a culture of vocations so that men and women can more easily answer God’s call. We invite you to partner with us in our mission to positively impact the vocation landscape for generations to come by hosting a workshop in your diocese.
Why should you hold a workshop for your parish, diocese, or school?
Types of Workshops
Diocesan Partners
Vocation Ministry has worked with these and other dioceses to help build a culture of vocations. Let us help you as well!
Whether in-person or virtual, our signature workshops are fast-paced and interactive, covering a variety of vocation-related topics tailored to the audience.
What we cover:
- What is a Vocation Ministry?
- Why do we need one at every parish and educational setting?
- What kind of activities should a ministry/educator do?
- How to emphasize the areas of Prayer, Awareness & Education, Youth, and Affirmation
- Inviting young people to discern
Catechetical Leaders
Catechists
Catholic School Principals
Catholic School Teachers
College Campus Ministers
Deacons
Homeschools/Co-Ops
Parishioners
Priests
Youth and Young Adult Ministers
All workshops are also offered in Spanish!
Book A Workshop
Please contact Rhonda at [email protected] or [email protected] in Spanish for schedule information. In your message, please include your organization (and city), requested date(s), what language is preferred for the event (English, Spanish, or both), and the best contact to get back in touch.
Meet Rhonda
Rhonda Gruenewald is known as the “Vocation Lady”. She is a native Texan and a convert to Catholicism. Rhonda started volunteering in the field of vocations at Saint Cecilia Catholic Church in Houston, Texas. This new-found passion became a Vocation Ministry of 20 members promoting, affirming, and bringing awareness to vocations in every way possible. Then, she formed the nonprofit Vocation Ministry to increase vocation promotion internationally.
Rhonda has written books and launched VocationMinistry.com to give tools to all who want to build up His Kingdom on earth. She is speaking to priests, laity, and educators who want to create a culture of vocations.
Meet Leticia
Leticia Ramirez is a wife, mother, grandmother, and educator born into an immigrant Catholic family. That family was the seedbed for the growth of her faith and passion for sharing with families about the importance of supporting and promoting vocations in their parishes. In her early marriage, and for the last 42 years, she and her husband have worked in youth ministry, as catechists, and later, on staff for youth retreats. Throughout those years, Leticia and her husband have encouraged youth to discern their vocation and to be open to listening to God’s call for their lives.
She is also the sister of Bishop Cantú from Dioceses San Jose, California, and mother of three children, a daughter who is married with children and Frs. Nicolas and Jacob Ramirez of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. She has been a part of the Vocation Task Force in a large parish in Houston for years and has given workshops for IBM before teaching and becoming an administrator of an elementary school and then adjunct professor at the University of Houston.
Leticia helped to bring the message of Hundredfold: A Guide to Parish Vocation Ministry to a Spanish-speaking audience by consulting with us for our book Sembrando Semillas. Then, she started presenting in Spanish to parishioners and priests at our workshops in 2017. After The Harvest: A Guide to Vocation Ministry in Education was published 2021, her vast experience in education led her to giving workshops for catechists, teachers, principals, and catechetical leaders.
Meet Bob
Bob McMorrow and his wife Karen have been married for 27 years. They have seven children, two sons-in-law, and three grandchildren. After two years of marriage and seeking a new adventure, they left Illinois for Anchorage, Alaska, for Bob to work in youth ministry and ultimately to develop an office of evangelization and catechesis in his parish. Bob has taught Church History and bioethics in the local Catholic High School. He has led youth conferences, mission trips, and many pilgrimages, including 11 World Youth Days.
Bob developed a vocation team for the Archdiocese of Anchorage, and seeing the importance of young people encountering religious men and women, he has invited many religious to join in various retreats, parish missions, and summer camps. Bob has always found great joy in helping young people discern God’s will in life.
Spanish Parishioner Workshop
Only 5% of priests identify as Hispanic. Those few priests are NOT nearly enough to minister to the Hispanic Catholics, who make up 39% of US Catholics. Laypeople in these communities are crucial to promoting priesthood, religious life, and sacramental marriage to their parishioners. Our workshop aims to assist Spanish-speaking laity to have vibrant parish vocation ministries.
This workshop, specifically for laity, covers:
- What is a Vocation Ministry?
- Why does every parish need a ministry?
- What are the goals of the ministry?
- What does a healthy ministry look like?
- What kind of activities should a ministry do?
- What “phases” will a ministry go through?
- What kind of impact can one parish vocation ministry have?
- How to emphasize the areas of Prayer, Awareness & Education, Youth, and Affirmation
- Setting goals for your ministry
- Vocation days to promote at a parish
- Diocesan and parish partners
- Examples and positive impact of vocation-producing parishes and dioceses
- Commissioning of Vocation Promoters, and more
This workshop can be offered virtually and can be adapted to your needs/timeframe.
Catechetical Leader
Create a Catechetical Program that Produces Vocations!
Did you know that year after year, studies find that close to 75% of the newly ordained first considered being a priest before 18 years of age? This statistic emphasizes the absolute necessity to encourage vocations early in life. To inspire more youth to hear God’s call, Vocation Ministry created a fresh and innovative approach to present the joy of holy vocations to our youth in their everyday environment during their catechism classes.
The new education-based workshops are informational and fast-paced based on the proven success of Vocation Ministry’s parish-based workshops. It’s designed to encourage, inspire, and equip Catechetical Leaders to create a vocation-producing catechetical program that can inspire children to think about what God is calling them to do in this life. This workshop can be held in person or virtually, typically 1-3 hours in length.
Our workshops include:
- Introduction to vocations and Vocation Ministry
- Why do we need to promote vocations in every classroom?
- Introduction to resources: The Harvest and Vocationministry.com
- Practical program-wide activities for Prayer, Awareness and Education, and Affirmation
- Days in the Church for vocation promotion
- What is discernment?
- Inviting youth to discern
- Examples of the positive impact vocation-producing catechetical programs can have
- Saints to inspire!
95% of catechetical leaders report that they are highly likely to start promoting vocations after this workshop
Download Workshop Flyer:
Feedback from a Catechetical Leader:
“This is the clear roadmap for encouraging vocations in my faith formation program.”
Catechists
Did you know that year after year, studies find that close to 75% of the newly ordained first considered being a priest before 18 years of age? This statistic emphasizes the absolute necessity to encourage vocations early in life. To inspire more youth to hear God’s call, Vocation Ministry created a fresh and innovative approach to present the joy of holy vocations to our youth in their everyday environment during their catechism classes.
The new education-based workshops are informational and fast-paced based on the proven success of Vocation Ministry’s parish-based workshops. It’s designed to encourage, inspire, and equip Catechists to create a vocation-producing classroom that can inspire children to think about what God is calling them to do in this life. This workshop can be held in person or virtually, typically 2+ hours in length, and can include a brainstorming breakout session by grade level.
Our workshops include:
- Introduction to vocations and Vocation Ministry
- Why do we need to promote vocations in every classroom?
- Introduction to resources: The Harvest and Vocationministry.com
- Practical activities for Prayer, Awareness and Education, and Affirmation
- Days in the Church for vocation promotion
- What is discernment?
- Inviting youth to discern
- Examples of vocation-producing classrooms
- Saints to inspire!
90% of catechists are highly likely to start promoting vocations after this workshop
Download Workshop Flyer:
Feedback from a Catechist
“The whole general idea to promote vocations in this way during Religious Education was refreshing. All of it was very beneficial!”
Catholic School Principals
Did you know that year after year, studies find that close to 75% of the newly ordained first considered being a priest before18 years of age? This statistic emphasizes the absolute necessity to encourage vocations early in life. To inspire more youth to hear God’s call, Vocation Ministry created a fresh and innovative approach to present the joy of holy vocations to our youth in their everyday environment.
Based on the proven success of Vocation Ministry’s parish-based workshops, the new education-based workshops were specifically designed to encourage, inspire, and equip Catholic educators to create a vocation-friendly environment in their schools.
This workshop can be held in person or virtually, typically 1-3 hours in length.
Our workshops include:
- Introduction to Vocation Ministry
- Why do we need a vocation ministry/committee in every Catholic school?
- Introduction to resources: The Harvest and Vocationministry.com
- Practical school-wide activities for Prayer, Awareness and Education, and Affirmation
- Starting small
- Days in the Church for vocation promotion
- What is discernment?
- Inviting youth to discern
- Examples and positive impact of vocation-producing schools
- Saints to inspire!
96% of principals report that they are highly likely to start promoting vocations after this workshop
Download Workshop Flyer:
Feedback from Principals:
“You have presented the most comprehensive overview of how to get all our children on board to truly seeing vocations…K-12… that I have ever seen.” – Principal, Diocese of Toledo
Catholic School Teachers
Did you know that year after year, studies find that close to 75% of the newly ordained first considered being a priest before 18 years of age? This statistic emphasizes the absolute necessity to encourage vocations early in life. To inspire more youth to hear God’s call, Vocation Ministry created a fresh and innovative approach to present the joy of holy vocations to our youth in their everyday environment.
The new education-based workshops are informational and fast-paced based on the proven success of Vocation Ministry’s parish-based workshops. They are designed to encourage, inspire, and equip Catholic educators to create a vocation-friendly environment in their classrooms. One Toledo teacher said, “I loved the practical ideas that you gave us. It wasn’t just theory or a lecture, and the ideas are reasonable and doable.”
Typically, a teacher workshop will occur after a principal workshop and can be set up as a one to three-hour session. The one-hour workshop includes Q & A. A two-hour+ workshop can include a brainstorming breakout session by grade level. Optional follow-up workshops are available.
Our workshops include:
- Introduction to Vocation Ministry
- Why do we need to promote vocations in every classroom?
- Introduction to resources: The Harvest and Vocationministry.com
- Practical classroom activities for Prayer, Awareness and Education, and Affirmation
- Starting small
- Days in the Church for vocation promotion
- What is discernment?
- Inviting youth to discern
- Examples and positive impact of vocation-producing classrooms
- Saints to inspire!
95% of teachers report that they are highly likely to start promoting vocations after this workshop
Download Workshop Flyer:
Teacher Feedback:
“This presentation opened my eyes to the fact that teachers play an important role in helping children discern their vocational calling. I really like the practical ideas for the classroom. They are simple and easy to incorporate, yet profoundly meaningful.” –Deb, Diocese of Syracuse
“The most beneficial aspect of the presentation was seeing how easy it can be to incorporate vocations & discernment into my classroom.” -Amelia, Diocese of Brownsville
College Campus Ministers
Did you know that year after year, studies find that close to 25% of the newly ordained first considered being a priest during their college years? Many more enter seminary or the convent during or directly after college. This statistic emphasizes the absolute necessity to encourage vocations at this time in life.
To inspire more youth to discern God’s call, Vocation Ministry created a fresh and innovative approach to present the joy of holy vocations to college students. Based on the proven success of Vocation Ministry’s parish-based workshops, the new education-based workshops were specifically designed to encourage, inspire, and equip Catholic campus ministers to create a vocation-friendly environment. One campus minister said, “This is the clear roadmap for encouraging vocations!”
Join us for a workshop designed just for YOU! The workshop includes:
- Introduction to Vocation Ministry
- Why promote vocations during college?
- Introduction to resources: The Harvest and Vocationministry.com
- Practical activities for Prayer, Awareness and Education, and Affirmation
- Days in the Church for vocation promotion
- What is discernment?
- Inviting youth to discern
- Examples of vocation-producing campuses
- Saints to inspire!
This workshop can be offered virtually and can be adapted to your needs/timeframe.
Vocation Ministry provides workshops to inspire deacons to become vocation promoters in their own parishes. Our speaker spends 3-7 sessions during a convocation presenting on the topic of creating fertile soil for vocations.
Vocation Ministry focuses on a variety of tools to inspire clergy to start a lay-led vocation ministry at their parish, including the books Hundredfold: A Guide to Parish Vocation Ministry and its Spanish-language counterpart Sembrando Semillas, along with the website vocationministry.com. A survey in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston found that 80 percent of seminarians came from the 20 percent of parishes that actively promote vocations. This information should bolt everyone into action.
According to our surveys, 90% of deacons are highly likely to promote vocations after our workshop.
Our workshops include:
- What a deacon can do in his ministry to promote vocations.
- How clergy can best guide a parish vocation ministry/committee
- Elements of a vocation-producing parish
- How to invite young people to discern their vocation
Download Workshop Flyer:
Homeschools/Co-Ops
Did you know that year after year, studies find that close to 75% of the newly ordained first considered being a priest between birth and 18 years of age? This statistic emphasizes the absolute necessity to encourage vocations early in life. To inspire more youth to hear God’s call, Vocation Ministry created a fresh and innovative approach to present the joy of holy vocations to our youth in their everyday environment: home.
Based on the proven success of Vocation Ministry’s parish-based workshops, the new education-based workshops were specifically designed to encourage, inspire, and equip Catholic home school educators to create a vocation-friendly environment in their home classrooms. One teacher said, “This is the clear roadmap for encouraging vocations in my classroom.”
Join us for a workshop designed just for YOU! It includes:
- Introduction to Vocation Ministry
- Why promote vocations in a homeschool environment?
- Introduction to resources: The Harvest and Vocationministry.com
- Practical classroom activities for Prayer, Awareness and Education, and Affirmation
- Starting small
- Days in the Church for vocation promotion
- What is discernment?
- Inviting youth to discern
- Saints to inspire!
This workshop can be offered virtually and can be adapted to your needs/timeframe.
Hundredfold Workshop for Parishioners
“80% of seminarians in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston came from the 20 percent of parishes that actively promote vocations.”
Pope Francis said, “Vocations promotion is the responsibility of every Catholic.” Vocation Ministry’s goal is to have every parish in a diocese praying for and promoting vocations. To accomplish this, we offer a fast-paced and informative parishioner workshop to inspire the laity to create and sustain a parish vocation ministry that promotes the priesthood, consecrated life, and sacramental marriages.
The laity will be fully equipped as we provide guidance on taking small steps to make a BIG impact as a vocation-friendly environment, which is created prayerfully over time. We also introduce the best strategies for using our resources, including the books Hundredfold: A Guide to Parish Vocation Ministry and its Spanish-language counterpart Sembrando Semillas, along with this website.
Typically, a parishioner workshop will occur 4-8 weeks after a priest convocation/gathering on a Saturday from 9 am – 3 pm. Adoration or Mass is offered at the workshop.
Our workshops include:
- Introduction to Vocation Ministry
- Statistics that support the need to promote vocations
- Explanation as to why the parish is the best place for this lay-led ministry/committee
- Goals of the ministry
- Proven effective activities in the categories of Prayer, Awareness & Education, Youth, and Affirmation
- Vocation days to promote
- Diocesan and parish partners
- Inviting people to discern
- Examples and positive impact of vocation-producing parishes and dioceses
- Commissioning of Vocation Promoters and more
88% of parishioners are highly likely to start a vocation ministry after this workshop
Parishioner Feedback
“The Complete Package- It was ‘Vocation Ministry in a Box’ I felt someone who is inexperienced but moved by the Holy Spirit could pick this up and run with it!” –Anonymous
“Knowing nothing about this ministry, I feel that we received such valuable information from such a dynamic speaker, who is so very passionate about vocations!” –Barbara Randolf, Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas
“The Hundredfold seminar has been an answer to our prayer and our group has been so blessed and honored to be in attendance. With your encouragement and easy guide on each phase has led our Vocation Committee to take our first ‘baby’ step in initiating our first project.” -Heather (Agnes) Kim
Vocation Director Feedback
“Hosting the “Hundredfold Workshop” has made a definite impact on our vocation promotion efforts. Within just four months of the Workshop, some parishes are already doing things they did not do before.” –Fr. Joseph Sia, Diocese of Davenport, Vocation Director
“Rhonda offered effective workshops to our priests and deacons which inspired them to invite over 220 laypeople from parishes and schools across the diocese. As Vocations Director, I am very aware that the work of promoting vocations is too big a job for any one person or group of people. I now have a whole army of people across the diocese who are sustaining our work in prayer, actively finding ways to promote a culture of vocations in their local communities.” –Fr. Matt Mason, Diocese of Manchester, Vocation Director
Priests
Vocation Ministry provides workshops in person or virtually to inspire priests to become vocation promoters in their own parishes. Our speaker spends 3-7 sessions during a convocation or 5 hours during a separate priest gathering presenting. We also offer this workshop in Spanish.
Vocation Ministry focuses on a variety of tools to inspire the priest to start a lay-led vocation ministry at their parish, including the books Hundredfold: A Guide to Parish Vocation Ministry and its Spanish-language counterpart Sembrando Semillas, along with the website vocationministry.com. A survey in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston found that 80 percent of seminarians came from the 20 percent of parishes that actively promote vocations. This information should bolt our priests into action.
During the priest gathering, we provide guidance on who they should invite to lead this ministry. The priests will then ask 2-5 parishioners to a subsequent parishioner workshop to learn the nuts and bolts of parish vocation ministry.
Our workshops include:
- What a vocation ministry is
- Why the parish is the best place for this lay-led ministry/committee
- What a priest can do in his ministry to promote vocations
- Activity ideas in the categories of Prayer, Awareness & Education, Youth, and Affirmation
- How clergy can best guide a ministry
- Small group discussion about promoting vocations
- Elements of a vocation-producing parish
- How to invite young people to discern their vocation
- Examples and positive impact of vocation-producing parishes and dioceses
90% of priests report that they are highly likely to start promoting vocations after this workshop
Vocation Ministry seeks to have every priest speaking about vocations regularly, showing the authentic joy of his vocation, inviting the youth of his parish to discern, and supporting the laity in their efforts to promote vocations.
Download Workshop Flyer:
Clergy Feedback
“The best convocation we have had!” –A Priest from the Diocese of Amarillo, TX
“The workshop provided practical steps to address a pressing need in our diocese. The wide gamut of possibilities allows large and small parishes to DO something.” –Very Reverend Jay Peterson, Vicar General, Diocese of Great Falls-Billings, Montana
“It was beneficial for our priests to be both challenged to promote parish vocation ministry and equipped with materials and ideas that they can pass on to their people.” –Monsignor Paul Hudock, Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, WV
Youth & Young Adult Ministers
Did you know that year after year, studies find that close to 75% of the newly ordained first considered being a priest between birth and 18 years of age? This statistic emphasizes the absolute necessity to encourage vocations early in life. To inspire more youth to hear God’s call and to normalize discernment, Vocation Ministry created a fresh and innovative approach to present the joy of holy vocations to our youth in their everyday environment.
Based on the proven success of Vocation Ministry’s parish-based workshops, Vocation Ministry’s new education-based workshops were specifically designed to encourage, inspire, and equip youth ministers to create a vocation-friendly environment. One teacher said, “This is the clear roadmap for encouraging vocations in my classroom.”
Join us for a workshop designed just for YOU! It covers:
- Introduction to Vocation Ministry
- Practical activities for Prayer, Awareness and Education, and Affirmation
- Starting small
- Days in the Church for vocation promotion
- Why youth ministry is key to discernment?
- Inviting youth to discern
- Saints to inspire!
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