Ascension Roundtable (Your Catholic Ministry Podcast)

By Ascension

Religion & Spirituality Christianity

What's Ascension Roundtable (Your Catholic Ministry Podcast) about?

Catholic ministry professionals share stories and brainstorm solutions to common ministry challenges.

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LAST EPISODE

Episode 85: Introducing Eve...

11.27.2018

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.

Ascension Roundtable (Your Catholic Ministry Podcast) episodes:

11.28.2017 Episode 42: Christopher West Talks Marriage Preparation We need to get marriage preparation right—the stakes are just too high not to. In this episode, Theology of the Body expert Christopher West explains some of the biggest challenges we face when it comes to preparing engaged couples for ...
11.21.2017 Episode 41: Preparing Someone to Hear the Gospel Message (with Thomas Smith) We often think that the first step of evangelization is to explicitly spell out the gospel message to another person. In this episode, evangelist and Bible scholar Thomas Smith challenges that notion, explaining how evangelization can start with one very ...
11.15.2017 Episode 40: Why I Converted from Mormonism to Catholicism (with Thomas Smith) In today’s episode, evangelist and Bible scholar Thomas Smith tells his story about converting from Mormonism to the Baptist faith and then eventually becoming Catholic. He explains what it is about Christianity that made him question his Mormon faith, and ...
11.09.2017 Episode 39: Whole Parish Renewal (with Tim Glemkowski) What happens when one young man decides to pursue the heights of holiness and sets out to bring entire parishes along with him on the journey? Find out in today’s episode with Tim Glemkowski, founder of “L’Alto Catholic Institute. Stay ...
11.02.2017 Episode 38: Fr. Mike On Building a Better Relationship with Your Pastor This week’s episode is short and sweet, but it hits on a topic many of you have written to us about—collaborating with your pastor in a healthy and constructive way. We might all want to be saints, but the reality ...
10.26.2017 Episode 37: 4 Things a Mom Wants You to Know (with Danielle Bean) Danielle Bean, mom of eight, served as a DRE in her parish, and because of the unique perspective she’s gained from wearing many hats, we asked her what four insights she’d like to share with you. You’ll finish this episode ...
10.20.2017 Episode 36: An Interview with ProjectYM Today we sit down with Tony Vasinda and Michael Marchand, co-founders of Project YM, to pick their brains about youth ministry. We discuss the value of a holistic approach to youth ministry that is fully integrated with the rest of ...
10.10.2017 Episode 35: 3 Tips for Parish Staff (An Interview with Sonja Corbitt) In this week’s episode, we sit down with Catholic convert and Bible study author Sonja Corbitt, who shares three tough lessons she’s learned when it comes to working within the Church. Plus, she gives a sneak peek into her upcoming ...
10.04.2017 Episode 34: How to Engage Parents During Sacramental Prep You know that parents are the primary educators of their children, and that’s why it can be so hard when it seems completely left to you, the catechist, to teach them the Faith. How can we, as parish communities, evangelize ...
09.26.2017 Episode 33: Spiritual Multiplication (an Interview with Dr. Carole Brown) In a perfect world, we’d bring thousands of souls closer to Christ in our lifetime. But in reality, we'd be lucky to help even ten people grow considerably in their faith. In today’s episode, Dr. Carole Brown explains how our ...
09.21.2017 Episode 32: Evangelizing Within Your Parish This week’s episode is part two of a conversation about dealing with divisions within a parish. If you want to hear the first part of the discussion, go back and listen to episode thirty-one. In today’s show, Tom and Allen ...
09.13.2017 Episode 31: Millennials, Clichés, and Catching Foxes Today we sit down with Luke Carey and Michael Gormley, hosts of the Catching Foxes podcast and enthusiastic lay evangelists. We talk with them about reaching millennials with the message of the Gospel, building communities of radical vulnerability, and the ...
09.06.2017 Episode 30: Dealing with Division in Your Parish As long as the Church is made up of human beings, certain levels of division will continue to exist. When we’re working at the parish level, how do we understand and work through those divisions with charity and prudence? In ...
08.31.2017 Episode 29: Entrepreneurial Ministry: An Interview with Matt Pinto Most people don’t associate ministry with entrepreneurialism, and in certain ways, that's for good reason. But in this episode, we sit down with Matthew Pinto, president and founder of Ascension Press, who shares with us seven entrepreneurial impulses that he ...
08.22.2017 Episode 28: Catechesis Needs Conversion (An Interview with Dr. Bob Rice) Catechesis, evangelization, theology…you've certainly heard these terms, but what’s the relationship between them? And when it comes to catechesis, how can we make sure we lead people to deeper intimacy with Christ instead of just filling their heads with information ...
08.17.2017 Episode 27: How the Columbine Shooting Changed Our Ministry (An Interview with Jim Beckman) Jim Beckman and Tom McCabe worked at the Catholic parish closest to Columbine High School at the time of the shooting, and they were some of the first people on the scene after gunshots were reported to them by a ...
08.08.2017 Episode 26: Mary Ann Wiesinger on Making Your Parish a Center of Hope and Evangelization Mary Ann Wiesinger is the Director of Evangelization and Parish Outreach for the Archdiocese of Miami, and she’s working with Archbishop Wenski to help Miami parishes become centers of hope and evangelization. Mary Ann breaks down what that means, explaining ...
08.01.2017 Episode 25: An Interview with Maria Mitchell: Beauty Catches the World's Attention Today we chat with Maria Mitchell, the producer behind the Ascension Presents videos. In the first part of the show, Maria shares the story of how being in Rome when JPII died helped her realize her vocation to produce powerful ...
07.25.2017 Episode 24: An Interview with Jeff Cavins: What Catholics Can Learn from Protestants (and Vice Versa) Jeff Cavins grew up Catholic, but he left the Church at age 18, eventually becoming a protestant pastor. Some years later, he returned to the Catholic faith, bringing with him a lot of practical insight from his time in the ...
07.18.2017 Episode 23: Let Them In! Hospitality as Key to the New Evangelization In the third episode of our miniseries on evangelization, Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio shares how Christian hospitality and the witness of Catholic community are among the most powerful, yet under-played, instruments of evangelization in the life of the Church. Tune in ...
07.11.2017 Episode 22: Want to Evangelize? Tell Your Story If we want to evangelize, we need to rediscover something that the Early Christians knew very well—that telling stories about how Christ has transformed our lives is what will catch people’s attention. So how do we build a Catholic culture ...
07.05.2017 Episode 21: Evangelization 101 with Dr. Italy: Putting It All in Context In this episode, Dr. Marcellino D’Ambrosio (aka Dr. Italy) puts the New Evangelization into the context of the ups and downs of our Catholic story. The early Christians grew from a group of 120 at Pentecost to 10% of the ...
06.29.2017 Episode 20: The Do's and Don'ts of Catholic Fundraising Today we interview Brice Sokolowski from Catholicfundraiser.net. He’s going to tell you why you should fundraise (hint—it’s not just about the money), and how you can avoid common Catholic fundraising pitfalls.
06.19.2017 Episode 19: Is Your Work Just a Job? An Interview with Jake Samour Jake Samour worked as rocket scientist. He lived in a big house and drove a nice car. So why did he give it all up to take a job in Catholic ministry? Twenty-five years later, he tells his story. Stay ...
06.13.2017 Episode 18: Tackling Tough Topics We’ve all heard the complaint, “I could be Catholic if it weren’t for (insert unpopular Church teaching). In this episode, Colin and Marisa break down where this resistance often comes from and discuss how to engage with those people in ...
06.06.2017 Episode 17: Ministry on a Shoestring Budget Let’s face it— most of us working in ministry don’t have a large operating budget, so we get creative when it comes to executing our missions. It’s not easy, but it can be done. Stay tuned to hear our hosts ...
05.31.2017 Episode 16: 4 Strategies to Maximize Your Team's Potential In our last episode, Colin and Allen tackled three issues often faced when building a ministry team. In this episode, they’re going to talk about how to develop, disciple, and sustain your team so that you can maximize their potential.
05.22.2017 Episode 15: Where's My Team? In this episode, Colin and Allen troubleshoot three issues often faced when building a ministry team: 1. “I can’t find anyone to help me” 2. The people who have stepped up aren’t the right people for the job”, and 3. ...
05.15.2017 Episode 14: Why Rebrand a Diocesan Office? An Interview with Anthem Philly What do Our Lady of Guadalupe, Apple, and Anthem Philly have in common? In this episode, we talk to Megan and Jacob, directors of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, and they tell us why they went through ...
05.10.2017 Episode 13: Is "Discipleship" Just a Buzzword? We’ve mentioned discipleship in past episodes, but we’ve never fully explained what we mean when we use the term, and we’ve also never made an argument as to why your adult ministry can only succeed when a discipleship model is ...
05.01.2017 Episode 12: De-Mystifying Mystagogy The Easter Vigil Mass is a powerful and exciting time in the life of the Church. But sometimes we can forget that RCIA doesn’t end when the Easter vigil closes—it continues with a special time called mystagogy, where the newly ...
04.24.2017 Episode 11: An Interview with Father Mike Schmitz In this episode, Fr. Mike Schmitz, Director of the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota Duluth and Director of Youth Ministry for the Diocese of Duluth, shares an inside view about his experiences in these ministries. He also tells ...
04.10.2017 Episode 10: Ministering to People Who Suffer: Part II of an Interview with Dr. Greg Bottaro How can you help people forgive? When do you refer someone to seek professional help to deal with certain psychological suffering? How can the Catholic community better serve those who are hurting? This episode is Part II of our interview ...
04.03.2017 Episode 9: Mindfulness in Ministry: An Interview with Dr. Greg Bottaro This episode is Part 1 of our interview with Catholic Psychologist Dr. Greg Bottaro. In this segment, Dr. Greg discusses how those in Catholic ministry can approach their work with full presence of mind and a healthy perspective. He also ...
03.24.2017 Episode 8: An Interview with Jason Evert There are a lot of you out there who haven’t had a chance to learn about Saint Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body, or you’ve heard about it, but you’re not sure how it can help you in ...
03.24.2017 Episode 7: More Than Grades: Evangelizing in the Classroom It’s one things to reach young people in the context of a youth group, where things are more casual and there’s no pressure on them “to perform.” But things are very different in the classroom, when grades and school drama ...
03.23.2017 Episode 6: Why Does God Allow Us To Be Tested? Have you ever felt like God is trusting you with more than what you can handle? Last episode, Tom and Allen talked about how the cost of being a disciple in ministry can feel overwhelming at times. In this episode, ...
03.23.2017 Episode 5: Balancing Your Inner Mary and Martha When you work in ministry, the job is never done. So how do you make yourself hit “pause” on your to-do list and take some time for prayer? Tom, Colin, and Allen share their personal struggles with this inner tension, ...
02.18.2017 Episode 4: Can Youth Group Small Groups Actually Work? If you’ve ever led a teen small group, you’ve probably experienced at least one of the following—blank stares, the teen who never stops talking, more than a few awkward moments, and hopefully a few groundbreaking ones. In this episode, Allen ...
02.10.2017 Episode 3: So Why This Podcast? The Ascension Roundtable hosts introduce themselves and explain why, if you're involved in Catholic ministry, this podcast will soon become one of your favorites.
01.13.2017 Episode 2: The Cost of Discipleship Most people don’t accept a job in ministry because they think it will make them famous or earn them millions—they do it because they want to serve God and others. But, that doesn’t make it easy. Tom and Allen confront ...
01.13.2017 Episode 1: Three Essential Elements of Catechesis: The What, the Who, and the How Tom and Allen discuss a three-pronged approach to teen catechesis and share ideas to troubleshoot a common tough scenario involving your volunteers. Disclaimer: At Ascension, we are fully committed to the fullness of truth found in the Catholic faith. We ...

Newer episodes

Ascension Roundtable (Your Catholic Ministry Podcast)

What's Ascension Roundtable (Your Catholic Ministry Podcast) about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Ascension Roundtable (Your Catholic Ministry Podcast) episodes:

Episode 42: Christopher West Talks Marriage Preparation

Episode 41: Preparing Someone to Hear the Gospel Message (with Thomas Smith)

Episode 40: Why I Converted from Mormonism to Catholicism (with Thomas Smith)

Episode 39: Whole Parish Renewal (with Tim Glemkowski)

Episode 38: Fr. Mike On Building a Better Relationship with Your Pastor

Episode 37: 4 Things a Mom Wants You to Know (with Danielle Bean)

Episode 36: An Interview with ProjectYM

Episode 35: 3 Tips for Parish Staff (An Interview with Sonja Corbitt)

Episode 34: How to Engage Parents During Sacramental Prep

Episode 33: Spiritual Multiplication (an Interview with Dr. Carole Brown)

Episode 32: Evangelizing Within Your Parish

Episode 31: Millennials, Clichés, and Catching Foxes

Episode 30: Dealing with Division in Your Parish

Episode 29: Entrepreneurial Ministry: An Interview with Matt Pinto

Episode 28: Catechesis Needs Conversion (An Interview with Dr. Bob Rice)

Episode 27: How the Columbine Shooting Changed Our Ministry (An Interview with Jim Beckman)

Episode 26: Mary Ann Wiesinger on Making Your Parish a Center of Hope and Evangelization

Episode 25: An Interview with Maria Mitchell: Beauty Catches the World's Attention

Episode 24: An Interview with Jeff Cavins: What Catholics Can Learn from Protestants (and Vice Versa)

Episode 23: Let Them In! Hospitality as Key to the New Evangelization

Episode 22: Want to Evangelize? Tell Your Story

Episode 21: Evangelization 101 with Dr. Italy: Putting It All in Context

Episode 20: The Do's and Don'ts of Catholic Fundraising

Episode 19: Is Your Work Just a Job? An Interview with Jake Samour

Episode 18: Tackling Tough Topics

Episode 17: Ministry on a Shoestring Budget

Episode 16: 4 Strategies to Maximize Your Team's Potential

Episode 15: Where's My Team?

Episode 14: Why Rebrand a Diocesan Office? An Interview with Anthem Philly

Episode 13: Is "Discipleship" Just a Buzzword?

Episode 12: De-Mystifying Mystagogy

Episode 11: An Interview with Father Mike Schmitz

Episode 10: Ministering to People Who Suffer: Part II of an Interview with Dr. Greg Bottaro

Episode 9: Mindfulness in Ministry: An Interview with Dr. Greg Bottaro

Episode 8: An Interview with Jason Evert

Episode 7: More Than Grades: Evangelizing in the Classroom

Episode 6: Why Does God Allow Us To Be Tested?

Episode 5: Balancing Your Inner Mary and Martha

Episode 4: Can Youth Group Small Groups Actually Work?

Episode 3: So Why This Podcast?

Episode 2: The Cost of Discipleship

Episode 1: Three Essential Elements of Catechesis: The What, the Who, and the How