In 2015, two families were brought together by the Holy Spirit or could it have been a screaming toddler? No matter how we got together, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship that has blossomed throughout the years and it’s a funny story about our “beginnings.” I will always be grateful to Angee’s son who decided to “sing” in the pew during Mass because I likely would have never met her. This also means, that if it wasn’t for her little boy, the Catholic Women’s Conference of Denver would have never come to fruition.
It was during the stewardship fair at Our Lady of Loreto when I, (Elizabeth) recognized a little boy in his father’s arms as the “screamer” in Mass. He was adorable and it made for an easy introduction. My husband and I were at the stewardship fair soliciting couples to join the marriage preparation ministry when the two walked by me. One conversation led to another and our two families have been friends ever since.
Angee and Elizabeth
We had been attending the parish for over 10 years at that point, but we didn’t have many friends there. The Igielinski Family had just moved to Denver so they too, were looking for connections so it seemed the Holy Spirit was at work putting the families together. It wasn’t long before Elizabeth learned that Angee was heading to Phoenix to speak at a Catholic Women’s Conference. While I was in my 40’s, I had never heard of such a thing …Catholic …Women’s …Conference. When I inquired about it with Angee, she shared this was an annual conference and I immediately felt sad that Denver didn’t have such a conference. I had heard that Denver has a large Catholic community so why didn’t such a conference exist?
I then asked Angee, “would you like to start one here in Denver?” Thus were the words that began the journey to bring a Catholic Women’s Conference to Denver. In 2016, Angee and Elizabeth met with then Monsignor Edward Buelt about their grassroots effort to bring Truth to Catholic women in the Archdiocese of Denver. With a blessing from Father and a bulletin announcement seeking more women to help, the Denver Catholic Women’s Conference began.
The inaugural conference was held at Our Lady of Loreto Catholic Parish in Foxfield, CO in 2017 and hosted over 170 women. Following this conference, the group changed the name to Catholic Women’s Conference of Denver and became a 501c3 non-profit. In 2018, the Catholic Women’s Conference of Denver received the endorsement of Archbishop Aquila.
The conference continues to grow adding mini-conferences as well as the annual conference held throughout each year. The conference location changes and has been held in the Archdiocese of Denver as well as the Diocese of Colorado Springs. The board remains relatively the same yet our committee members have grown exponentially.
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