Florida Catholic | Making A Joyful Noise At Charismatic Conference

Making a joyful noise at charismatic conference

Women of Worship gathers believers in the spirit for three–day conference.

ANNIE DIBERNARDO | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 06.18.08

DANIA BEACH | No directions were necessary to locate the Grand Ballroom at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Airport Hotel as the reverberating beat of drums and songs of praise penetrated throughout the hotel lobby June 5. Close to 500 people from all corners of the map gathered together for the extended praise and worship segment of the evening led by the Covenant band, which kicked off the three-day Women of Worship – WOW – Charismatic Conference for men and women.

The “one-stop” conference featured a menu of speakers, workshops, prayer teams, healing teams and prophetic ministry as well as adoration, eucharistic celebration and a “Life in the Spirit” seminar.

Conference coordinator Lauretta Froelich welcomed participants to what she called “the second annual conference.” But, she interjected, the gathering was actually the third conference – if you include a rendezvous in Uganda, which was requested by women who attended the first conference held in Chicago. Froelich called the deviation a “WOW moment” – “when Jesus takes you somewhere you never thought you would go.”

Maria Vadilla is active in charismatic renewal in the Archdiocese of Miami and is founder of the “Jesus is Lord” chapter of Magnificat in Miami. It was Vadilla who first thought to start the WOW conference while on her way back home from a speaking engagement.

According to Angela Ripley of the Living Praise and Worship team from Steubenville, Ohio, “It is the music that draws people into praise and worship.”

“I am personally very affected by music,” she said. “I am a music teacher, but it is a whole different atmosphere when you get into a workshop and praise set. It draws people in; it brings them through the music and lyrics to a deeper place and a presence with the Lord.”

“Worship music in general is a mode that brings us closer to Christ, and it’s a natural thing,” said Lisa Ledyard, who is also a member of the Living Praise and Worship Team. “Music goes back to the beginning of time. … It’s a natural mode that anyone and everyone can respond to, no matter what age and where you are spiritually, no matter where you are in life. It brings you closer to the Lord. We use praise and these worship sessions to bring us to a deeper communication with the Lord. It’s an integral part of what we are doing here.”

These other parts of the conference, which was sponsored by Women of Worship and the Catholic Charismatic Services, were presented in response to what Pope John Paul II expressed in paragraph 33 of “Novo Millennio Ineunte” in 2001: “The great mystical tradition of the church … shows how prayer can progress, as a genuine dialogue of love, to the point of rendering the person wholly possessed by the divine Beloved vibrating at the Spirit’s touch, resting filially within the Father’s heart.”

“The conference is a vehicle for people to go deeper into worship and experience the glory of God’s presence,” said conference speaker Valli Leone, a commissioned lay minister for the Archdiocese of Miami, who serves on the board for Charismatic Renewal in the archdiocese and on the service team of the Jesus is Lord chapter of Magnificat.

“The Charismatic Renewal not another movement or ministry; rather it is the pure passionate power of the Holy Spirit to wake up the sleeping giant which is our Catholic Church,” she said.

In her talk, “The Joy of the Lord Is Our Strength,” Leone emphasized the need for a deep personal relationship with Jesus, one strong enough to transfer to others. “We need more internal than external. It is not enough to be baptized; we have to live baptized.”

“The glory of God is man fully alive, but if you walk into our church do you see Catholics alive?” Leone questioned. “The joy of the Lord is our strength. … If we don’t have the pure joy of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are weak, wounded and helpless people. Even the saints realize it. We are supposed to be like singers for the Lord – every servant of the Lord should be a singer of the Lord, where other people see it and want the same thing.”

A joyful Leone prayed in the words of St. Teresa of Avila, “Oh Lord, from silly devotions and sour-faced saints, please deliver us.”

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Making a joyful noise at charismatic conference

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