2020 Archbishop’s Dinner goes virtual with spotlight on the laity

The fine wine and dining experience that draws hundreds of people to the annual Archbishop’s Dinner will be replaced with a free, virtual event this year.

While the $150-a-seat fundraiser has sold out in previous years, this year’s online event Oct. 29,  including Archbishop J. Michael Miller’s “state of the archdiocese address,” will be shorter, punchier, and accessible for free to anyone with an internet connection.

The timing is perfect, organizers say. As the ninth annual fundraiser becomes available to anyone, proceeds this year are slated for lay formation, a cause that will benefit just about anyone. 

“The reality is 99.9 per cent of the Church is lay people,” said Brett Powell, archbishop’s delegate for development and ministries.

“So do we want to further burden the 0.1 per cent (clergy and religious) who are already so engaged, working so hard? Or do we want to have a different plan, which is to train and form the vast majority of the Church to respond to the call of their baptism?”

All funds raised this year will be funneled into formation for parish leaders (heads of RCIA, PREP, evangelization ministries, and social outreach); training in evangelization; post-secondary level courses similar to the Permanent Diaconate formation program; and parish renewal and leadership.

Powell said the aim will be to offer lay formation that’s not just catechetical, but also psychological, emotional, spiritual – all aspects that lead to well-formed, empowered lay people.

“It definitely is not taking the lay vocation and trying to clericalize it,” said Powell. “It’s how we allow people to thrive in their relationship with God, to thrive in their evangelical witness, to thrive in their ability to interact with the social fabric and in society, to thrive in accompanying others.”

Sister Angela Marie Castellani, FSE, said since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the local church has learned many lessons about how to adapt and expand its reach.

“There’s always a bit of a fear of changing things, but in the pandemic, we changed it. We had no other option,” said the archdiocese’s coordinator of ministries and outreach.

“At the time where the church was most isolated and when the doors of the church were closed, we probably reached the most people.”

For example, a Lenten retreat that expected about 100 participants saw nearly 1,000 people tune in from home when the pandemic forced it to go virtual. Meanwhile, the number of people participating in the Catholic Faith in Plain English course offered by Father Vincent Hawkswell and Maureen Creelman went up from 200 in-person registrants to nearly 500 when it moved online.

For Sister Castellani, this shows the immense value in enabling people who care about their faith to learn more about Scripture, doctrine, prayer, evangelism, and any other area they want to grow in through lay formation.

“My hope is that everybody who attends [the Archbishop’s Dinner], and hears the archbishop, and hears the desire of the archdiocese, will find themselves in a place where they can say: ‘This is for me too. The Church wants me to grow in my love of God, my knowledge of God, my desire to serve, and my desire to be a better man or woman for my family, for the people around me, for my faith community, and for God.”

The free, virtual event is held online Oct. 29 and supported by sponsors. Viewers will be asked to make a donation. Past Archbishop’s Dinners have funded various initiatives including outreach to the homeless, education for priests, and a health Care ethics fund.

More information and registration is at www.rcav.org/dinner2020.