UTICA — A Franciscan Day of Reflection on Saturday, Sept. 16, sponsored by St. Joseph Secular Franciscan Fraternity, will focus on three early Franciscan women and their relevance for the 21st century.
Open to the public, the seminar will run from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with registration at 9:30, at St. Joseph and St. Patrick Parish Center, 702 Columbia St., Utica. A $10 registration fee includes lunch.
To preregister or obtain more information, contact Katie Koscinski, OFS, at (315) 797-1985.
The presenter, Kevin C.A. Elphick, will speak on the topic, “St. Angela of Foligno, Lady Jacoba, and Mother Juana of the Cross: Franciscan Women for the 21st Century.”
A member of the Franciscan Brothers of the Resurrection, Elphick works fulltime for the Department of Veterans Affairs as a supervisor with the Veterans and Military Suicide Prevention Hotline. He holds a doctorate in ministry from Graduate Theological Foundation. He earned his master’s degree in Franciscan Studies from St. Bonaventure University, and a master’s in religious studies from Loyola University, Chicago.
Elphick is a member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. He taught at St. Bernard’s Institute as adjunct faculty. He is an inaugural board member with the St. Marianne Cope Shrine and Museum in Syracuse. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Franciscan Federation.
In May of this year he presented a paper on St. Francis of Assisi with the Franciscan Institute Panel at the International Congress on Medieval Studies at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, and in July he delivered a paper on the Third Order Franciscan, Mother Juana de la Cruz (1481–1534), at Leeds University, England. This paper will be incorporated into a forthcoming book from the University of Amsterdam Press.
