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 different ages and stages in life. Many times, as a parishioner or minister we can get caught up in one way of thinking about ministry and forget that every generation feels connected to the community in different ways. And it’s no secret...

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 their faith, or someone who has left the Catholic Faith all together? A few weeks ago Marisa spoke with a man named Frank, a former Catholic. He candidly shared with us his personal experience with Catholicism and the reasons he left the Faith. Between his thoughts, Allen and Marisa provide...

Blessed Triduum and Happy Easter by Ascension

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 then take a few simple yet practical steps to strengthen them. Any Catholic, whether a DRE, parent, or student can benefit from these helpful steps.

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, you’ll learn why knowing Church teachings isn’t enough—you have to allow your whole self to be transformed by Christ, including your prayer life, your personality, how you interact with others, and even the food you put in your body....

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 you respond when someone shares their story with you? What kind of language should you use? How do you help someone recapture chaste friendship with someone else of the same sex?

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 is fully Catholic, fully pastoral, and spreading quickly in parishes across the world. This ministry, called Courage, seeks to understand its members’ experiences of same-sex attraction, anchor them in Christian community, and help them...

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 this realm. His methods have successfully helped people experience Christ’s healing in this area of their lives. Empower yourself with the latest research in Catholic sexual addictions.

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 a teenage mom who decided to not have an abortion, or a middle-aged mom who has finally left an abusive relationship, or the man whose wife has left him and the kids for someone else, the stories are unique, but the needs are real. Single parents have...

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 exhausting, it is also emotionally and spiritually difficult. In this episode, we chat with Air Force major Gerard Carisio and his wife Kara about how they live their marriage and family vocation through the realities of their military life. In the first...

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 or you feel like you don’t even know how to start reading the Bible, Sonja gives tips for building a culture of Bible study at your parish.

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 (but difficult) change of heart. Here’s the thing: we should only have one priority, and that is Christ. Instead of trying to squeeze time with Christ into our busy lives, we should schedule the rest of our life around time spent with him. In today’s episode,...

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 an opportunity to evangelize, connect with, and genuinely support engaged and newly married couples? Scott Seibert from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis shares his diocese’s journey to adjust its model of marriage preparation so it can more effectively...

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 and found themselves in this very situation. Today they share with us their journey of building a small, imperfect, and beautiful community of young families in their new parish. Whether you are someone who wants to make your fellow parishioners feel welcomed, a single...

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.

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 person. We discuss how to look at someone and see their good instead of devaluing them and seeing them as simply a sexual being. At the end of this episode, you will be able to explain what it means to be a man and a woman, each once created in God’s image and...

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 group. In the second part of the show, Rose gives advice to youth ministers and catechists about how to best minister to children and families affected by divorce. Stay tuned!

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 to people in the gospel, Rose shares with us “Four Rules of Relationship” that we can follow to help us avoid ministry burn-out. And even though we’re focusing especially on the relationships you build while doing ministry, I think you’ll finish today’s...

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 a joy-filled marriage. He then gives three pieces of advice to help you do a better job walking with couples during their time of marriage prep.

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 simple question. Stay tuned to hear what that question is, and you will find that speaking to someone about the Faith is easier than you think.

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 he also tells us four things he wishes we’d learn from the Mormon community. He finishes the show by walking us through two simple-to-implement prayer practices that can change your life.

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 tuned to hear how Tim has helped several parishes be transformed into dynamic communities of missionary disciples.

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 is that none of us are yet. That means relationships with our pastors can sometimes feel rocky. As lay people, we wanted to get a priestly perspective on the topic and find out how we can do a better job communicating to, collaborating with, and serving our priests.

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 feeling encouraged, and you’ll have a few practical tips to bring with you to work today.

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 parish life, creative ways to support parents, and tough conversations that are sometimes worth having.