The conference looks good. They've got this goofy That Man Is You video up on the website but the speakers look solid. I mean, if videos like that or cookie cutter programs like TMIY really do motivate guys to be faithful men, good for them. It's just not something the guys I know would be motivated by.
This is our 2nd annual Catholic men's conference! Come enjoy dynamic speakers, Mass with Bishop Callahan, confession, and fellowship with other men looking to flame the fire of faith!
Speakers include
Tim Staples
Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers
Chris Padgett
Lunch is included. It will be very delicious like last year's thanks to Fr. Berns.
8am - Registration begins 9am - Conference begins 4pm - Closing Mass with Bishop Callahan
10:00am to 3:00pm - Confession
8:30am to 3:30pm - Adoration
Organizers reported they made to about 400 guys attending. Not bad for a first event. Most were not from La Crosse but elsewhere in the diocese. I don't get replies for information so that's as much as I know from that side.
It went pretty well. Tom Peterson was better than advertised. Threw in a couple of ads they are planning on showing during the college football championship game I think(the one with Lou Holtz). Fr. Larry was Fr. Larry. Not my cup of tea beer, but guys appeared engaged. Mass was at the Viterbo chapel, definitely looks better than it did before the recent renovations. So of course there are no kneelers, 'cause who does that really. At the consecration all 399 guys, old, young, get down on their knees spontaneously without instruction. Great work men! Bp. Callahan talked devotion to St. Joseph and St. Michael I believe. I missed Doug Berry until towards the end but still well attended. Fr. Targonski, the Franciscan former Army chaplain now Viterbo chaplain was actually pretty good. He had some good insights into PTSD of which he suffered from and the stigmata. He was the only Catholic chaplain during the siege of Fallujah, and shared some of the darkness of war. Unfortunately by the end it went long and scattered all over the place.
Decent attendance and well run. Hoping it continues to grow.
I have an excessive amount of photos on Flickr, but left a bunch in case the organizers want to use to help promote for next year or if speakers want to use any.
The embed changed and might not be working, if not you can view here.
I reached out to the organizer to get some of the background but I never got a response. The Catholic Times published an article in the recent issue which gave some of those details. Wisely, the diocese chose a fall date for the men's conference, with Green Bay, Madison, and Milwaukee already having spring events in close proximity. Some of you may remember that the Diocese of La Crosse used to have a rather successful men's conference; I believe Karl Keating of Catholic Answers spoke one year. The organizer who worked for the diocese unexpectedly passed away and it was never picked up again until now. I'm hoping to attend.
Inspired by their own experiences at men’s conferences, two men of the diocese, Troy Kroening of St. John the Baptist Parish, Marshfield, and Galen Pittman of Blessed Sacrament Parish, La Crosse, spearheaded the effort to organize Men of the Cross with Matthew Canter, assistant director of the Office of Marriage and Family Life of the Diocese of La Crosse.
The idea for a men’s conference first began to percolate, Kroening said, when he realized that Catholic men’s groups in the diocese were on the rise.
“We had been working for a while to set the foundation for a men’s conference,” he said. “I felt like we had a sufficient foundation of men’s groups throughout the diocese. The plan was to have them feed the men’s conference and the men’s conference feed the men’s groups. Waiting any longer just seemed like stalling to me.”
Pittman was also inspired by other men’s groups he has attended over the years, especially the annual Men of Christ Conference sponsored by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
“I was blessed that I could attend a few of those Milwaukee conferences, and came away with great inspirational feelings about manhood and keeping God in our life,” he said. “About three years ago, Jeff Heinzen, president of McDonnel Area Catholic Schools, assembled a group of men in the Diocese of La Crosse whom he believed would be interested in men’s conferences and men’s organizations. Six of those men have continued with this inspirational concept of a men’s conference in the Diocese of La Crosse. Bishop Callahan chose La Crosse as the location for the inaugural men’s conference.”
Speakers: Fr. Larry Richards - Relevant Radio Doug Barry - EWTN / Battle Ready Tom Peterson - Catholics Come Home Network Fr. Conrad Targonski - Viterbo University Bishop William Callahan - Diocese of La Crosse
Join us at our inaugural Catholic Men's Conference: "The Call to Fatherhood" next month. For more information about our featured speakers, please visit the link below.
Posted by Men of the Cross on Tuesday, September 15, 2015
In related news, Bishop Callahan did speak for the local Catholic men's group in La Crosse in August. Some photos here.
I love Deacon Burke-Sivers but unfortunately can't make it this weekend. Tim Staples also, excellent. 
