DECATUR — About 940 people from throughout the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois attended the 19th Diocesan Adult Enrichment Conference (DAEC) held Nov. 16-17 at the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel. The theme for this year's biennial conference, which is coordinated by the Office for Catechesis and made possible in part by the Annual Catholic Services Appeal, was "Growing Communities of Faith."

Some 42 organizations, ministries, religious and school supply stores, and other businesses manned booths in the exhibit area, drawing good crowds during the breaks between sessions.

The two days included several liturgical services and dozens of breakout sessions that taught teachers, catechists and others how to effectively evangelize in their parishes, schools and beyond. Bishop Thomas John Paprocki led Morning Prayer on both days and celebrated Mass on Sunday evening.

Sherry Weddell, author of Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus and co-founder and co-director of the Catherine of Sienna Institute, gave the keynote address on both Sunday and Monday. Julie Carrick gave the evening concert "Living our Catholic Creed" and Kathy Mears closed the conference with her closing address entitled "Sowing the Seeds of Faith Well." Several diocesan musicians provided musical accompaniment and led the liturgical responses and the songs.

Jonathan Sullivan, director of Catechetical Services said, "The Diocesan Adult Enrichment Conference is always a fun event to host and this year was no exception. It's a pleasure seeing so many people from across our diocese come together to learn more about our Catholic faith and discuss ways to spread it in our parishes, schools and communities.

"I'm very grateful for the hard work and extra hours put in by the staff of the Office for Catechesis," he said. "Their dedication is what makes this event possible."

On Sunday morning, Weddell gave her first keynote address, entitled "God Has No Grandchildren: The New Evangelization of Postmodern Americans" during which she talked about how to introduce post-modern people to Jesus and the Catholic Church.

"The culture has changed, the world around us has changed," said Weddell. "It's not enough to be raised a Catholic. It's not enough to be culturally Catholic... . The thing every one of us has to say for ourselves when Jesus says 'come follow me' is 'yes.' That's what I mean when I say God has no grandchildren."”

Weddell noted that in 2010, over nine million Americans moved into and out of Christianity. "We live in a very, very different era," Weddell continued. "Today, choosing their faith is normative for young adults. You don't just inherit it. No matter what I was raised in is no longer definitive."

Weddell urged participants to be open to witnessing and evanulization. "We do not often give normal Catholics the opportunity to say a personal, specific 'yes.' They're not ready yet to 'drop their nets'".

On Monday morning, Weddell addressed "Forming Intentional Disciples: Crossing the Thresholds into Faith," speaking about how to foster an awakening of personal faith in Christ and intentional discipleship.

"Today I want to teach how to recognize where people really are with their relationship with God," Weddell said, adding that she recognized and appreciated that there in the room listening to her that day were people who (when combined) "had thousands of years of teaching and pastoral experience."

"Remember, if we can understand where people are we can meet them there. A lot of us presume people have faith unless they actively stand up and deny their faith,' she said. She said that there are five thresholds of conversion: Initial trust, spiritual curiosity, spiritual openness, spiritual seeking and finally, intentional discipleship. She said that only 5 percent of believers fit into the intentional discipleship category. What makes matters more complicated is that culturally, "We usually don't speak of a relationship with God."

"The majority of Catholics, practicing or non-practicing, are in one the earlier, essentially passive stages of development," she said. "Also, we know that a lot of people have had their trust damaged."

Waddell noted that Pope Francis is helping build trust in the church. She cited a statistic that 26 percent of lapsed/non-practicing American Catholics polled were considering or open to re-visiting or strengthening their relationship with the church because of Francis. "Think about it," she said. "Millions of bridges of trust are being built by one man."

All of us are in "spiritual motion" she said, adding, "It is very important that Jesus be the living and visible center to spiritual seekers of the church."

Of keynote speaker, Weddell, Sullivan surmised, "She challenged us to recognize the important personal 'yes' that we give to Jesus Christ as his disciples. Too often as Catholics we don't talk about this aspect of our faith journey, which may give the impression that a personal relationship with Jesus isn't possible. We have to reclaim this aspect of our faith if we are to grow the next generation of disciples."

Scott Mulford contributed to this article.