From Thursday, June 28th to Sunday, July 1st, Shalom Media will host its first annual Shalom Media Summit (SMS) at the Bishop Lane Retreat Center in Rockford, Illinois. Shalom Media has been influential in Christian television and print for the past 27 years, and is now stepping into a new venture with the SMS, bringing together youth, young professionals, media evangelists, and teenagers from around the world. Through talks, sharing, breakout sessions, panel sharing, workshops, prayer, and music, participants will be encouraged to dream big for Christ. At the Shalom Media Summit, individuals will be inspired to serve with #JesusFocus.
Featured speakers for SMS will be Father Louis Merosne, Director of the St. Pope John Paul II Center for the New Evangelization in California; Chika Anyanwu, a Catholic speaker who has worked extensively with youth through her tenure with NET Ministries and LifeTeen; Joe Philip, a theology teacher and retreat coordinator for Powers Catholic High School in Michigan, as well as Contributing Editor of Shalom Tidings Catholic magazine; Jenson Joseph, a former member of the Chicago Catholic Charismatic Renewal Center for the Chicago Youth Service Team, who serves as Director of Community Relations for Shalom Media; and Alex Gotay, a national teen and young adult speaker, retreat leader, evangelizer, and missionary who has more than sixteen years of youth ministry experience, currently serving as the official Catechist for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas.
The music ministers for the conference will be Adam and Lori Ubowski of the band OUT OF DARKNESS. The Ubowski’s have served as parish Directors of Music Ministry in the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida for many years. Shalom Media Executive Director, Santo Thomas, says, “Media has become an ever pervasive force in society, culture, business, and amongst individuals. Information is disseminated at an alarming rate; 24/7 news channels are the standard; social media can build or destroy lives in a few words or with one video; and cultural norms have been thrown aside to make room for “the new normal.” Everyone is affected by the influence of media and no group more so than today’s youth. Social media “influencers” are on the rise, branding themselves, setting trends and changing the mindset of youth who are led to think education is not needed, beauty is power, luxury is a right, and humanity has no value. This is no time to retreat; rather, Shalom Media encourages young people today to harness media for the Lord.”
The Shalom Media Summit is an answer to the prayers of parents who have witnessed their children become engulfed by secular media. SMS has been prayerfully designed to guide participants to explore media in the light of Christ and His Church in order to find their place within. Media has the power to change hearts and minds when used for good and with good intentions, and SMS can teach young people how to do it.
The Shalom Media Summit is a four-day residential media conference beginning on June 28th and concluding on July 1st. Registration is now open for 16-29 year olds. For more information and to register, visit www.ShalomMedia.org/SMS2018.