Women of Grace® Event Details
Get Spirit Savvy!! Young Women of Grace Retreat Day, Malvern Retreat House
The Young Women of Grace® Retreat inspires teen girls ages 13+ to "Get Spirit Savvy" and understand the gift of their feminine genius and how to use it to thrive in today's culture! Through fun, interactive, hands-on activities, inspiring Catholic speakers, and great music, girls will leave the retreat ignited by the Holy Spirit and ready to "step out into the deep" wherever God calls them to follow!!
It is recommended, but not required, that the girls have completed the "Young Women of Grace: Embrace Your Femininity" study program.
(All speakers are safe-environment certified.)
"Get Spirit Savvy!"
Speakers Include:
Sue Brinkmann, OCDS
Mary Dillenback
Katelyn D'Adamo
Johnnette Benkovic
Father Philip Scott, FJ
Get Spirit Savvy Retreat for Girls
(Tentative Schedule)
9:00 AM Meet and Greet
10:00 AM Overview of Day
Sue Brinkmann
10:30 AM Making a Personal Connection With Jesus Mary Dillenback
11:00 AM Armor of God and How to Use It
Johnnette Benkovic
12:00 PM Lunch Break
1:00 PM Outdoor Rosary Walk (weather permitting)
2:00 PM Mary, our Model and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
Mary Dillenback and Sue Brinkmann
3:00 PM Craft Time! Make Gifts of the Spirit Bracelets
3:30 PM Respect Yourself!
Katelyn D’Adamo of Generation Life
4:15 PM Play STAY-TALK-WALK game
5:00 PM Vigil Mass
Celebrated by Father Philip Scott
6:00 PM Dinner
7:00 PM Getting in Touch with the Indwelling God Sue Brinkmann
8:00 PM Conclusion
Event Date/Time(s)
Event Information
Contact Information
www.malvernretreat.com
Helpful Tools
Event Speakers
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Johnnette Benkovic Williams
Johnnette Benkovic Williams is Founder and President of Women of Grace®, a Catholic apostolate for women featuring a number of outreaches including conferences, media, study groups and more.
After years of being a non-practicing Catholic, Johnnette experienced a deep conversion back to her Catholic faith in 1981. Her conversion sparked a new vocation: sharing the Gospel message through the utilization of media. She has been an inspiring and consistent presence on EWTN Catholic radio and EWTN Catholic television for over 30 years. -
Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Susan Brinkmann, O.C.D.S., is an author and award-winning journalist is a member of the Third Order of Discalced Carmelites. She serves as Director of New Age Research for Women of Grace® and is a frequent guest on EWTN’s Women of Grace® television show. She is the founder of Live Catholic, an educational nonprofit devoted to teaching authentic Catholic prayer in the Carmelite tradition to the faithful. Susan formerly worked as a Correspondent for the Catholic Standard & Times, the newspaper for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
For the last 10 years she has been the lead researcher for Women of Grace’s New Age Q&A Blog which is the largest blog of its kind in the world. The library of information now exceeds 1600 entries on everything from acupuncture and angels to wicca and yoga.
She has also authored seventeen books, including The Learn to Discern Compendium: Is It Christian or New Age which has an imprimatur from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Avila Institute published her book, A Catholic Guide to Mindfulness which educates the Catholic faithful about the Buddhist practice of mindfulness and how it differs from authentic Catholic spirituality, teaching and thought. Along with Johnnette Williams, she co-authored the Young Women of Grace Study Program which teaches girls ages 13+ what it means to be authentically feminine. Susan’s Like a Catholic series which introduces Carmelite spirituality to the faithful. This series includes Pray Like a Catholic, Live Like a Catholic, Mindful Like a Catholic, and Fight Like a Catholic, all of which have imprimaturs from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. Her daily devotional, entitled Day by Day in the Little Way: 365 Reflections on the Teachings of St. Therese of Lisieux introduces devotees to the Little Way of Spiritual Childhood.
In the fall of 2024, Viident Publications launched Susan’s new series of Catholic women’s novels entitled The Chronicles of Ariella, a gripping saga of murder, romance and redemption that spans six novels and 2000 years of Church history.
Her national journalism awards include the Bernadine-O’Connor Award for Pro-Life Journalism, the Eileen Egan Journalism Award from Catholic Relief Services, and numerous awards from the Catholic Press Association and the Philadelphia Press Association.
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Katelyn D'Adamo
Katelyn D'Adamo is from Philadelphia and graduated from Temple University with her bachelor's degree in Psychology. During her time as a teacher, she felt called to join the pro-life movement full time. Since then, Katelyn has worked with Gen Life speaking to thousands of students on the virtue of chastity and the pro-life message and she has a heart for speaking to young women on their identity in Christ. In her spare time, Katelyn enjoys going out dancing and playing with her two young nieces.
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Mary Dillenback
Mary Dillenback is co-developer of the Young Women of Grace Facilitator/Teacher Guide. She taught at the elementary school level for 26 years. During that time she developed curriculum, was a Lead Teacher for the National New Standard Project portfolio system and designed and conducted training for teachers. Her classroom teaching experience included Gifted and Talented, regular and inclusionary classroom settings. Mary serves as a facilitator for the Women of Grace Foundational Study and Regional Coordinator for New York State. She is a member of the Women of Grace Leadership Team and has helped train facilitators in several states. Mary co-chairs the Facilitator Growth and Development Task Force and serves as Regional Coordinator Liaison. She is a Third Order Carmelite, and lives on the St. Lawrence River in Fishers Landing, New York. She is married, has two sons and five grandsons. -
Fr. Philip Scott, FJ
Fr. Philip Scott is the Founder of Family of Jesus, a family of priests, brothers and sisters dedicated to Christ and His Church, bound by private vows of obedience, chastity, poverty and martyrdom, praying to be healed and formed into a family by the Divine Family (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in order to live out in a prophetic manner our baptismal calling to follow Jesus Christ and to be his instruments of healing for families, including not only the individual domestic family, but also the broader family of the Church and of society.
They were founded by Father Philip Scott in 1998 under the auspices of Bishop Robert Lynch of the Diocese of St. Petersburg. They have been missionaries in Peru, since January 10, 2003.
