What's Happening

September 13, 2017, Adrian, Michigan – The public is cordially invited to attend two special programs that Weber Center will host toward the end of September. 

Baldemar Velasquez, founder and President of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) will speak on his work organizing migrant farm workers as FLOC celebrates 50 years of social justice work. 

Mr. Velasquez’s presentation, “Celebrating 50 Years of Struggle: The Story of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee,” will be on Thursday, September 28, 2017, at Weber Center. The evening will begin at 6:00 p.m. with light refreshments, followed by the presentation from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. 

During the evening, Mr. Velasquez will share the amazing story of how migrant farm workers gained a voice and participation in collective bargaining. Growing up in a migrant farmworker family based in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, he experienced first-hand the life of migrant workers. He was the first college graduate in his family, earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1969 from Bluffton College (now University) in Bluffton, Ohio. 

Mr. Velasquez founded FLOC in 1967 in response to the injustices that migrant farm workers faced. FLOC was the first union to be involved in collective bargaining agreements with several parties and is still heavily involved in organizing labor negotiations to bring just living conditions to farm workers. This presentation is free, and no registration is required.

Theologian John F. Haught, a Distinguished Research Professor at Georgetown University, will discuss the ways in which humanity’s new understanding of the cosmos casts light on our new understanding of God, our religion, and our religious traditions.

Dr. Haught’s presentation, “Faith and Theology for an Unfinished Universe,” will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, September 30, 2017 at Weber Center. The $45 cost includes lunch.

Dr. Haught specializes in systematic theology, particularly on the issues of science, cosmology, evolution, ecology, and religion. He focuses on a vision of reality that provides room for both scientific inquiry and a biblical understanding of God.

Registration for “Faith and Theology for an Unfinished Universe” is required. To register, call Weber Center at 517-266-4000 or register online at www.webercenter.org/Registration.aspx. A $10 non-refundable deposit is required at the time of registration.

Weber Center hosts a variety of programs. See the list of upcoming programs. 

Weber Center is located on the grounds of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Motherhouse campus, East of Siena Heights University.

For more information, call Weber Center at 517-266-4000.

September 13, 2017, Washington, D.C. – In two e-newsletters sent to its members, the National Conference for Catechetical Leaders (NCCL) paid special tribute to the late Sister Susanne Hofweber, OP, who died on August 27. 

“As the first non-ordained and female Secretariat for the National Conference for Diocesan Directors (NCDD now NCCL), Susanne Hofweber's robust experience in catechesis influenced our membership organization significantly,” the e-newsletter editors noted. Sister Susanne served in that position for six years. 

An e-newsletter sent to NCCL members on September 1 announced Sister Susanne’s death, describing her life and hailing her as an inspirational leader. A follow-up e-newsletter, sent out on September 7, included much of an interview with Sister Susanne, in which she described her own life. Highlights included her work in helping to translate the documents of Vatican II into Spanish and teaching people in the Dominican Republic about those documents as they were released. Read segments of the September 7 e-newsletter here.

The NCCL interview is part of the organization’s Historical Heritage Project, in which it is publishing interviews of catechetical leaders who tell the story of catechesis. The Historical Heritage Project will be available to the public at the end of the year.

The NCCL is a member organization with a goal to help members to “achieve competence as leaders in the ministries of evangelization and catechesis within the teaching mission of the multi-cultural Catholic Church in the United States.” Margaret Matijasevic, Executive Director, provided access and links to the e-newsletters that paid tribute to Sister Susanne.

Sister Susanne Hofweber, OP, receives the NCDD (National Conference of
Diocesan Directors) Award during the April 1990 meeting in Atlanta, Georgia