Reminder: Upcoming SCL Conference

With August upon us and September now looming closer, it seemed like an appropriate time to remind our readership about an upcoming liturgical conference hosted by the Society for Catholic Liturgy taking place September 20-23 at the Pontifical College, Josephinum, in Columbus, Ohio. (See the conference brochure).

Keynoting at the conference will be Dr. Alcuin Reid who will be addressing a theme on most everyone's mind, Benedict XVI and the Sacred Liturgy. Dr. Reid is an engaging, accessible speaker and his research can provide quite important insight into the liturgical considerations of the day. If he alone were speaking the conference would be more than worth the journey.

In addition though, there are many other speakers, including the NLM's own Matthew Alderman and Dr. Daniel van Slyke of the Research Institute for Catholic Liturgy.

There are two tracks, one presenting various papers on aspects of the liturgy and one more practically oriented as workshops for the parish. So there is no confusion, one may attend anything from any track.

More details can be read on the brochure itself.

For my own part, I still hope to attend the conference though we shall see what transpires. However, based upon people who have communicated to me that they are going, aside from the primary benefit of the conference itself, an additional benefit for those going will be the possibility of meeting some of those you run into on the NLM and the Catholic blogging world generally.

Conferences such as these provide solid opportunities to not only intellectually benefit from the research presented, thereby deepening one's knowledge of the liturgy, but also to build fraternal relationships, exchange ideas and experiences and gain access to resources we might not have otherwise.

One need not be an academic to attend such a conference or gain merit from it. There is benefit for all and you will find here what I have found at many other such conferences, a wide and varied audience united by their common love of the sacred liturgy.