It is no secret that the Church has been hemorrhaging members in recent years. Troubled by polarization, skepticism, narcissism, our culture aches for the peace and joy of life in Jesus Christ. But how can they hear the truth of the Gospel anew? To take on this challenge, Word on Fire Institute and UST-Houston created a new accredited Master’s of Arts program offering academically rigorous engagement with the thinkers, ideas, and practical methods necessary to proclaim the Gospel to a secularized and tech-saturated world.

This episode of “Follow to Lead” features a conversation with Dr. Tom Harmon, Professor and Scanlan Foundation Chair of Theology as well as the Associate Director of Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas. He is the director of this new academic initiative.

Today we will be talking with Pat Reidy, Vice-President of Mission and Faith at JSerra High School in Orange County, CA about discipleship in the lives of our Catholic School Students. In Luke 6:40, Jesus talks about discipleship, saying, “A disciple who is fully taught will be like his teacher.” So, forming disciples is about communicating likeness - being like Jesus, which can happen to students in class, community life, small groups and through extra-curricular activities. Pat will also share their experiences with RCIA in a school setting.

Today we will be talking with Michael Schell, Headmaster at Sparhawk Academy, an independent day school for boys grades 3-8 in Millis, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston, and Sarah Hogan, Director of College Counseling and Alumni Engagement at Providence Academy, in Plymouth, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.

Michael and Sarah are looking to bring strength and community for those who work in the area of school counseling by hosting a special fellowship this summer at Sparhawk Academy. The fellowship is provided in cooperation with DIA Schools Collaborative, recognizing the need to accompany students toward the future with a strong faith focus. We will explore the world of the school counselor and the opportunities available for the summer fellowship.

Catholic Schools are always looking for ways to make a difference through prayer, fasting and almsgiving? Cross Catholic Outreach, a Vatican-endorsed Catholic global relief and development ministry, is inviting U.S. Catholics to join a large-scale “clean water challenge” to bring safe, abundant drinking water to distant corners of the world — including villages in Zambia facing the country’s worst cholera outbreak in decades. Today, we will be talking with CCO President Michele Sagarino about this this effort, carried out with Catholic ministry partners in nine developing countries in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa.

There has been a lot of criticism of the Catholic Church in the United States, but few critics of the Church have taken the time to really talk with her people. The book “True Confessions: Voices of Faith from a Life in the Church” by Francis X. Maier, fills that vacuum, as he talked with 103 bishops, priests, deacons and lay people from every walk of life.

In this episode of "Follow to Lead," we’ll be talking about this book with Mr. Maier and what we can learn about the church as well as today’s Catholic educational experience.

As a Senior Fellow in the Catholic Studies Program at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, DC, Mr. Maier’s work focuses on the intersection of Christian faith, culture, and public life, with special attention to lay formation and action.

This week’s Follow to Lead puts the spotlight on teaching science in Catholic Schools. The program features a returning guest, Dr. Brett Salkeld, author, speaker, and  Archdiocesan Theologian for the Archdiocese of Regina in Saskatchewan, Canada. In August, we talked with Brett about his new book: “Educating for Eternity: A Teacher’s Companion for Making Every Class Catholic.” For this program, we are drilling down into his chapter on science in the classroom.

Ave Maria University has begun an interesting group called, “Mary’s Marines,” where students make a daily commitment to spend time with Jesus as part of its own Eucharistic Revival. In addition to their time in adoration, each student will read through the Bible in a year and have a religious sister paired with them to pray for them. Join Ave Maria President Mark Middendorf as we learn more about this amazing ministry.

This week on Follow to Lead, we will be talking with our two guests about a new video called “Souls in the Game,” produced by St. John’s Seminary and the Archdiocese of Boston.  This new 30-minute documentary that tells the story of seminary formation and the building of community that goes beyond theology and philosophy classes to the basketball court.