Introducing ENDOW Intensives

On a recent morning in one of our staff meetings, someone brought up again how the real mission of ENDOW is educating women, and we wondered how well we were hitting that goal. It is always of concern to us that we may be missing a significant portion of the female population – those women who are simply too busy and unable to commit to an eight week study. How can we reach them? Would they be interested if we could think of a way to fit ENDOW into their schedule? We tossed around ideas of how to make ENDOW accessible to these women and we landed upon the idea of ENDOW Intensives.
The idea was to offer a “turbo-charged” class – one that would condense an 8-week study into a 7-hour day. It would mean that we would have to distill each chapter down to its essence, highlighting key points, being selective about which passages to read aloud, and spending less time lingering on the discussion questions. But the trade-off seemed a good one. While not exactly a precise replica of an ENDOW class, the Intensive would introduce the concepts and the content of an ENDOW topic in a fast-paced and, we hoped, inspiring way. The benefits were obvious – women would be able to immerse themselves in a study and walk away filled up with new information and refreshed and energized about their Catholic faith.
We are happy to report that we debuted ENDOW Intensives earlier this month. Eileen Love taught Letter to Women to a group in the scenic mountain town of Edwards. At the same time these women were in class, ENDOW’s Brigid Sweeney taught Girl Genius to their daughters, the 8th graders at St. Claire of Assisi. The fire of ENDOW was lit and the message of New Feminism is spreading. The young girls had a great day and the women were excited by what they heard and many expressed a desire to continue studying. Then, these past two Saturdays, Intensives on Letter to Women and Edith Stein: Seeker of Truth were offered at the John Paul II Center.
From the feedback we are receiving, we are pronouncing ENDOW Intensives a success. The next one we are presenting is slated for late June in Houston. We’d love to see as many of our Texas sisters as possible! And we will be putting more on the calendar, so watch this space for information and tell your friends!