Speaking
Conferences and Workshops
Susan Windley-Daoust, Ph.D.
Her talks are designed to help…
- parishes regroup, refocus, and re-enculturate in a post-Christian world to become confident, missional parishes.
- dioceses and parishes embrace apostolic missional strategy across all ministries
- Catholics understand what is possible in this Eucharistic Revival, and what that means for your parish.
- Catholics recognize we are called to apostolic leadership in a secular age, and how to embrace that form of leadership
- parishes and schools recognize Christ the Healer’s evangelization of Gen Z, so they know how to express God’s message of love and hope to this generation.
- Catholic universities and schools recognize that the mission of God is not an enemy of strong education
Susan speaking at the Diocese of Buffalo Parish Renewal Conference, 2024
Talks
Knowing the Next Move: How to Create an Evangelizing Parish That Lasts
Evangelizing parishes are joyful, thriving parishes! Drawing on her award-winning book, The Four Ways Forward, Susan explains the four emergent evangelization models and how adopting three of them will transform your parish from maintenance mode into a community of joyful disciples who confidently share Christ with the lost.
You Are SENT: Apostolic Leadership for a Secular Age
What does strong leadership look like in today’s apostolic Church? Many of the leaders who shaped us were formed in a different cultural era. Now, as Catholics called to share the gospel in a secular world, we need a new kind of leadership—missionary leadership. This talk explores how truly apostolic leaders embrace being sent: they proclaim good news, cast vision, empower others to take holy risks, and create communities of welcome for the lost.
Christ the Healer: The Jesus that Gen Zers (and the Rest of Us) Need
How can the Church reach Gen Z?
Susan reveals that the answer lies in Jesus the Healer. Using studies, Scripture, and her own story, she shows how Christ’s healing love—physical, emotional, and spiritual—speaks directly to the wounds of a hurting generation and invites them into a living relationship with Him.
Rethinking Evangelization: The First Commission We Forgot
Introducing a new keynote! This talk explores the forgotten “first evangelical commission” for clergy and lay leaders.
For decades, we’ve invested immense energy in “the new evangelization”—developing programs, movements, and initiatives designed to reach the unchurched. Yet affiliation continues to fall, and the baptized often remain unconverted in heart.
Perhaps we’ve overlooked the key that Jesus offered from the very beginning…the first commission, the first time Jesus says “go and tell”:
“Go home to your own people and tell them what the Lord in his mercy has done for you.”
Here, in this overlooked passage, we rediscover the original DNA of evangelization: healing, story, and relationship born of mercy.
You might also like…
The Evangelizing Church Conference
The Evangelizing Church Conference offers practical, actionable wisdom for dioceses and archdioceses seeking an evangelizing parish. Featuring speakers Ryan O’Hara (Better Preach), Kristin Bird (Burning Hearts Disciples), and Susan Windley-Daoust (The Mark 5:19 Project), this conference provides renewal, discussion, and tools. It helps parish leaders and teams discern their next essential steps to sustain evangelization efforts after the Eucharist Revival and enter the Jubilee Year with clarity.
Workshops
We love workshops, because this is where we wrestle those ideas to the ground and GET IT DONE.
Create Your Own Evangelization Workshop
With Dr. Susan’s help, create a workshop custom-tailored to your particular situation. She can help on any aspect of mission in your parish, including: mission field analysis, discipleship level assessment, visioning and mission statement creation,
evangelization models education, mission shift discernment, and more.
Discovering Your Parish “Mission Field”
Who is God calling you to invite? This workshop is designed to help your leadership team understand your local community—your unique mission field. You’ll explore the theology of mission and learn practical ways to serve, welcome, and introduce God and your church to your neighbors.
Discerning The Lord’s Vision for Your Parish
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Discover God’s specific plan for your community with this full-day or three-evening workshop. Susan will guide your pastor and key team members in understanding the biblical basis of vision, separating it from mission, and prayerfully hearing what the Lord desires for your unique situation.
The Gospel of Welcome: Becoming a Parish of Radical Hospitality
Every parish wants to be known as welcoming. Yet many of us have experienced walking into a church and feeling invisible, unsure of where to sit, or whether anyone even noticed we came. Real Christian hospitality goes far beyond a friendly handshake at the door. It is a way of seeing every person with the eyes of Christ—especially the stranger, the seeker, and the one who hesitates at the threshold.
The question is: how? When we are accustomed to our space and its rythyms, we may be blind to the challenges outsiders feel even approaching the door.
This workshop defines and explores the Biblical roots of radical hospitality, leads people in an assessment of their space and hospitality support, and promotes the responsibility of all the baptized in adopting holy habits of hospitality.
Testimonials
Practical
Dr. Susan Windley-Daoust is an expert with a passion. Her approach to sharing the challenges of our church today, with direct and practical solutions to move forward make her one of the most practical speakers to get parishes focused on evangelization. Her willingness to guide meaningful and thought-provoking strategies for parishes provided a common point of initiating change. Dr. Susan uses her expertise and experience to share practical strategies and begin dialoguing on methodologies to help those in attendance realize change begins with each of them.
The reviews from those who attended the Renewal conference in Buffalo shared that Dr. Susan’s insights give them hope for the future.
Brilliant
Susan and I collaborated on an online conference, and she was brilliant. She marshalled a great lineup, and worked closely with me and the team to make it all happen. As a speaker, she is warm, attentive, and compelling, and a pleasure to work with. The attendees at the event left resounding reviews and comments that they enjoyed the event, got what they came for, and appreciated the value Susan put into her presentations.
Passionate
Susan is an outstanding speaker on parish life and evangelization topics. She is articulate, well-versed, and passionate. As someone who has witnessed her speaking as a presenter as well as an excellent podcast guest, I can highly recommend Susan as a speaker to any organization looking to bring in a dynamic, engaging presenter.
Contact to book!
Fill out this form to inquire about Susan speaking…or go to the Mark 5:19 Project Contact page for more ways to connect.