Ascension Roundtable (Your Catholic Ministry Podcast)

"Little by Little" Ministry

Today we are joined by Brother Isaiah, a Franciscan friar who lives in the Bronx. He shares how little by little, he came to love God, discover his calling towards religious life, and use his musical gifts to serve the...

Episode 85: Introducing Every Knee Shall Bow: Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast

Michael Gormley announces a new Ascension podcast that will help you share your Catholic faith with your family, friends, co-workers, and even total strangers.

Ministry Minutes: Embarrassment is Healthy - Yours Anyways

Allen has suffered through a lot of embarrassment in his life. So, he stopped trying to avoid it, and started trying to embrace it. Shortly after making this decision, he ended up saying his own name wrong during an audition...

Ministry Minutes: When You’re Planning are You Praying Too?

In the midst of a hectic fall schedule, busy Catholics need to do everything in their power to make time to be with God in prayer or adoration. Let go of your to-do list for at least thirty minutes a...

Episode 81: Ministry Minutes: What Kind of Leader Are You?

When Kanye West was interviewed in 2013 by the New York Times, he told the reporter, “I am so credible and so influential and so relevant that I will change things.” Allen says this is the worst mantra for anybody...

Ministry Minutes: Community

Ministry Minutes: Staff Changes

From his years of experience in youth ministry, Allen shares two things that kept him grounded when staff changes threatened to throw him off balance. It’s God ministry, we are merely stewards of it. When people leave, the ministry remains. There...

Ministry Minutes: A Witness to Beauty

Ministry Minutes: Burnout

Allen's Unexpected Mission Trip Experience

Ministry Minutes: Are You Caught in a Rut?

Ministry Minutes: Complaining Won't Help

Ministry Minutes: Keeping Up with the Parish Next Door

Ministry Minutes: Your Most Important Work Happens Outside the Office

Episode 71: Happy 4th of July & An Important Announcement!

Happy 4th of July & An Important Announcement! by Ascension

Happy 4th of July & An Important Announcement!

Happy 4th of July & An Important Announcement! by Ascension

Episode 70: A Winning Formula for Confirmation Prep

One parish in Louisiana transformed their confirmation prep ministry by making three simple, yet powerful changes. Their teens went from begrudgingly memorizing answers about Catholicism, being confirmed, and then disappearing from church, to becoming active participants in their parish -...

A Winning Formula for Confirmation Prep

One parish in Louisiana transformed their confirmation prep ministry by making three simple, yet powerful changes. Their teens went from begrudgingly memorizing answers about Catholicism, being confirmed, and then disappearing from church, to becoming active participants in their parish -...

Episode 69: Parishes, Please Invest in Better Music

Whether we like it or not, people leave parishes because of bad music. While music is not essential to the Mass, it has the potential to move people’s hearts and draw them closer to Christ. Today Steven Joubert (a...

Parishes, Please Invest in Better Music

Whether we like it or not, people leave parishes because of bad music. While music is not essential to the Mass, it has the potential to move people’s hearts and draw them closer to Christ. Today Steven Joubert (a...

Episode 68: 3 Prayers You Might Not Be Praying … and Why You Should Start Praying Them

If you’re not praying, you’re not going to get very far in understanding your faith or being able to help others grow in theirs. Historical theologian Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio explains three prayers of the Church to help you deepen your...

3 Prayers You Might Not Be Praying … and Why You Should Start Praying Them

If you’re not praying, you’re not going to get very far in understanding your faith or being able to help others grow in theirs. Historical theologian Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio explains three prayers of the Church to help you deepen your...

Episode 67: How One College Professor is Challenging Today's Hook-Up Culture

Dr. Kerry Cronin doesn’t just give her students essays; she gives them an assignment that requires them to ask someone out on a good, old-fashioned first date. It’s something she’s been doing for a while, and her experiment is featured...

How One College Professor is Challenging Today's Hook-Up Culture

Dr. Kerry Cronin doesn’t just give her students essays; she gives them an assignment that requires them to ask someone out on a good, old-fashioned first date. It’s something she’s been doing for a while, and her experiment is featured...

Episode 66: How to Talk About Fertility Within Your Ministry

When it comes to parish life, women’s fertility and health is a topic often relegated to a brief discussion during marriage prep, and then it’s either ignored or rarely touched upon again by anyone in the parish because of its...

How to Talk About Fertility Within Your Ministry

When it comes to parish life, women’s fertility and health is a topic often relegated to a brief discussion during marriage prep, and then it’s either ignored or rarely touched upon again by anyone in the parish because of its...

Episode 65: NFP Baby

How much do you know about Natural Family Planning? Today, nurse practitioner Alex DeRose gets real about NFP, a topic that can be uncomfortable to discuss and therefore avoided. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Not only does...

Episode 64: Understanding and Helping Victims of Child Abuse

Victims of sexual abuse often feel overwhelmed with intense feelings of worthlessness, despair, and loneliness. Many times it’s hard for them to even consider sharing what happened and how they feel. Today, Joann shares her childhood sexual abuse story, from...

Episode 64: Understanding and Helping Victims of Child Abuse

Victims of sexual abuse often feel overwhelmed with intense feelings of worthlessness, despair, and loneliness. Many times it’s hard for them to even consider sharing what happened and how they feel. Today, Joann shares her childhood sexual abuse story, from...

Episode 63: How to Pray with Anyone

Sometimes we get so caught up in the organizing and executing of ministry duties that we forget that one of the most powerful things we can do is stop to pray with and for the people we encounter in our...

Episode 62: 5 Ways Catholics Ruin Small Groups

In this episode, we identify five major things that cause small groups to fail, and then we suggest ways to avoid those pitfalls. From losing focus on the bigger purpose of the small group to facilitation faux pas, you’ve probably...

Episode 61: 7 Ways To Support Millennials Working In Ministry

What would you do if we told you that a simple smile, a family meal, or a weekly chat could make a dramatic difference in the life of a young minister (or any minister, for that matter)? It is all...

Episode 60: Survival Tips for the Young Minister

Today’s conversation isn’t just for the young minister; anyone can benefit from the experiences and insights shared by today’s guest. The reality is, our parishes are supposed to be intergenerational, supposed to act like a family and include people from...

Episode 59: A "Frank" Conversation with a Former Catholic

In ministry, we all know how hard it can be to get a practicing Catholic to commit to a weekly Bible study, youth group, or service project. So, how can we reach out to those who do not actively practice...

Episode 58: Blessed Triduum and Happy Easter

Blessed Triduum and Happy Easter by Ascension

Episode 57: Three Ways to Lead a Holistic Catholic Ministry and Life

Does feeling burned out in your personal life affect how you approach your ministry? In this episode, we discuss three important aspects of a holistic life and ministry. Discover what aspects of your life and ministry may need revitalization and...

Episode 56: Make Catholic Formation Holistic Again

Catholic formation isn’t just about teaching the brain; it has to do with the development of a whole person spiritually, physically, mentally, and socially. The Church has long recognized that this formation best happens in a Christian community. In this...

Episode 55: Answers to Your Questions About Ministering to People with Same-Sex Attraction

In last week’s episode with Fr. Philip Bochanski, we talked about the principles of ministering to those who experience same-sex attraction. In this episode, Father takes those principles and applies them to situations you might find yourself in. How do...

Episode 54: How Catholics Can Serve People Who Experience Same-Sex Attraction

Many people think there’s no place in the Catholic church for people who experience same-sex attraction. Others hope that the Church changes her teaching on this issue. Today’s interview with Fr. Philip Bochanski will introduce you to a ministry that...

Episode 53: What Catholics Need to Know About Sexual Addiction and Porn

Learn about new ways to understand addiction with therapist Mike Ciaccio. Discover his research on the prevalence of sex addiction in Christian communities. You will find out why he is hopeful that Christians can overcome whatever darkness we face in...

Episode 52: Catholics, Please Don’t Ignore Single Parents

Statistically, there are over eleven million single parent families in the USA. Single moms are the only head of household for about twenty-three percent of American children, and single dads make up another six to eight percent. Whether it is...

Episode 51: Reaching Out to Military Families

On average, military families move every three years. Which means every three years these families leave behind their homes, their communities, and their friends to once more build a new life in a new town. More than just being physically...

Episode 50: Bible Study Changes Everything (with Sonja Corbitt)

Catholic convert and Bible study guru Sonja Corbitt sits down with us to talk about how Bible study changes lives, builds community, and breaks down walls between us and our Protestant brothers and sisters. Whether you’re a bold Bible geek...

Episode 49: How to Make Jesus Your Priority (with Fr. Josh Johnson)

Juggling work, family, and friends can make life feel too busy to squeeze in anything but Sunday Mass and ministry obligations. But the key to increasing your faith and bearing fruit despite all the hustle and bustle involves one simple...

Episode 48: Evangelize Through Marriage Prep (with Scott Seibert)

While some engaged couples have a great Catholic marriage prep experience, there’s no denying that many couples resent it, feeling like it’s just a meaningless hoop to jump through. How do we change the status quo and make marriage prep...

Episode 47: Build a Community of Families at Your Parish

Leaving an old home and relocating to a new town is tough, but building a new community from scratch once you get there is even more daunting. Scott and KC Seibert, along with their four children, recently moved to Indiana...

Episode 46: Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from all of us here at Ascension! We will be back the second week of January with a whole new season of the Ascension Roundtable Podcast.

Episode 45: Youth Ministry in an Age of Desensitization (with Brian Butler)

In today’s episode, Brian Butler - a seasoned youth minister, speaker, and trainer - shares practical ways in which you can better minister to youth and young adults in a culture that has become desensitized to the reality of the...

Episode 44: How to Reach Out to Those Suffering from Divorce

In the first part of today’s show, we talk about how to start a ministry to the divorced at your parish, and then we discuss two helpful “do’s” and two “don’ts” that will help you to facilitate a divorce ministry...

Episode 43: Burning for Christ or Burning Out? (With Rose Sweet)

Rose Sweet has spent forty years in different areas of parish ministry and more importantly, she’s spent even more time as an avid follower of Jesus Christ. Drawing from her experience in ministry and especially from the way Jesus relates...