Mary of Nazareth.  A virgin chosen to give birth to Jesus.

For Catholics, she is Our Blessed Mother, The Madonna, Our Lady of Grace ~~ with a significant holy place of honor in their hearts, prayers and icons.

For Protestants, she is the mother of a baby born humbly in a manger but destined and divined to become Christ the Savior.

For centuries, belief in Mary as the Mother of God has divided Catholics and Protestants.  Today, a growing reclamation of Mary and a revised and renewed appreciation of her unfaltering faith in God’s Word offer a bridge between the two denominations.

With the goal of a thought-provoking ecumenical discussion and a day designed for both Catholic and Protestant believers, Benedict Inn offers a spiritual journey to explore, re-examine, reconsider and reaffirm our common beliefs on the role of Mary within the Christian faith.

Inspired speakers will share their compelling personal perspectives, experiences and beliefs in one holy woman, inviting participants to realize what Mary can offer to our everyday lives and how she can unite us.

This special ecumenical exploration will include two speakers, a discussion period between speakers and participants, lunch, optional opportunities for private prayer, praying the rosary, walking our labyrinth and grounds, making the Stations of the Cross and engaging in small-group discussions, with a communal closing session of songs and psalms.

Our speakers

Offering a Catholic View ~ John Kopchik

John Kopchik is a partner at Common Sense Investments in          Portland, Oregon.  With a B.A. in Economics from Harvard and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, he has an impressive professional resume of arbitrage, special investing, acquisitions and divestitures at several leading firms; corporate officer positions at Northwest Airlines and General Mills and consultant experience specializing in strategic investments of Fortune 500 companies and their equivalents in Europe and Asia.

A parishioner of Our Lady of the Lake in Lake Oswego, OR, John has been actively involved in Just Faith, a social justice program sponsored by the National Council of Catholic Bishops; Legatus, an organization of Catholic business leaders promoting and supporting moral ethics in the workplace; and has served as a lector and in RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation) programs for adults joining the Catholic Church.

Offering a Protestant View ~ Rev. Sally Brower, Ph.D.

Rev. Sally M. Brower, Ph.D. is a Lutheran pastor under call as Assisting Pastor for Formation at Church of the Beloved, an emerging Episcopal congregation in Charlotte, NC.  Educated in Lutheran and Presbyterian seminaries, she spent most of her life in the Episcopal Church.

She served six years as Associate Pastor for Pastoral Care and Spiritual Formation at a Lutheran church, taught as Adjunct Professor for Pastoral Care at a Presbyterian seminary, had a counseling practice at an Episcopal church for eight years, and served as interim director of a Presbyterian counseling center.

She is trained as an artist, psychologist, and spiritual director.  As a parish pastor, retreat leader and author, she helps people awaken to the mystery of God, risk holy encounter, and cross the thresholds of their heart's deep hopes.  Sally is a member of Women Touched by Grace, a spiritual renewal program for clergywomen funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. and hosted at Benedict Inn.

OUR  AGENDA

• Welcoming Prayers & Comments ~ Clergy TBA
• Protestant Speaker: Rev. Sally M. Brower, Ph.D. ~ “My Holy Lady, My Hope, My Good Mother”
• Break ~ Coffee & Refreshments
• Catholic Speaker: John Kopchik, J.D. ~ “Mary in Unlikely Places"

• Lunch & Personal Spiritual Options
• Dialogue and Q&A ~ Speakers’ Reactions to Each Other; Participants’ Questions
• Communal Closing ~ Songs & Psalms

SPEAKER  INSIGHTS

“It is my personal experience that Mary’s reach and influence gets to some unlikely places among ordinary people to work extraordinary good – from the slums of Calcutta to Wall Street to Main Street. My stance on Mary is that she was the pivot on which our salvation turned, the Inflection Point of our humanity. I will try my best to convey how her holiness can serve as an example in the modern workplace.”     

John Kopchik, J.D. ~ Catholic

“Protestant scholarship, in addition to focusing on Mary’s motherhood, also views her as strong, courageous (vs. passive and submissive), a model of fully intentional surrender to God’s will ~ ~ The First Disciple. I will talk about the means by which I have gotten to know Mary, including powerful stories of answered prayer and ways that her presence has touched me deeply . . .the model she is for me as a clergywoman . . .my sense of calling/leading to share Mary with other Protestants.”     

Rev. Sally M. Brower, Ph.D. ~ Protestant

Related books, religious articles and unique gift items are available at Shop Inn-spired.

Fee:   $50 (lunch included)

Register today by calling (317) 788-7581.  Deadline: April 13, 2007