LARCUM Lutheran — Anglican — Roman Catholic — United Methodist Conference of West Virginia |
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A native of Boston, Bishop Brennan is the son of the late
Edward Charles Brennan and Regina Claire Lonsway. He
attended public schools in Massachusetts and Maryland
before entering St. Anthony High School in Washington,
D.C. Bishop Brennan graduated from Brown University in
1969 with a degree in history, and then entered Christ the
King Seminary in Alleghany, New York, for a year of
philosophy before attending the Pontifical North American
College in Rome for his theological studies.
A parish priest for nearly his entire career, Bishop
Brennan was assigned to Our Lady of Mercy Parish in
Potomac, MD, from 1976-81; St. Pius X Parish in Bowie, MD,
from 1981-85; St. Bartholomew Parish in Bethesda, MD, from
1986-88; St. Thomas Apostle Parish in Washington, D.C.,
from 1998-2003; St. Martin of Tours Parish in
Gaithersburg, MD from 2003-16. Bishop Brennan attended
Spanish Language courses and Hispanic cultural studies in
the Dominican Republic and in Colombia from 1985-86. From
1988 to 1998, Bishop Brennan was the Director of Priestly
Vocations in the Archdiocese of Washington. He was
appointed Auxiliary Bishop for the Archdiocese of
Baltimore on Dec. 5, 2016, and ordained on Jan. 19, 2017.
On July 23, 2019, Bishop Brennan was appointed ninth
bishop of Wheeling-Charleston by Pope Francis and was
installed on August 22, 2019. During his episcopacy,
Bishop Brennan has taken a number of steps to increase
accountability and transparency in the Church in West
Virginia. He has expanded the Diocese’s Safe Environment
Program to include strengthened background checks and
fingerprinting. Additionally, Bishop Brennan has committed
to ongoing financial transparency through the yearly
public distribution of the audited financial statements of
the Diocese. Most importantly, Bishop Brennan has remained
steadfast in continuing the Diocese’s commitment to the
service of those in need through the work of Catholic
Charities West Virginia.
Click here to learn more
about Bishop Brennan on the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston
website.
Fr. Sebastian, CST, is co-presenting with Bishop Brennan.
He holds Doctorate in Theology (Christology) from the
Catholic University of Leuven, in Belgium.
He entered religious life in the Little Flower
Congregation (CST), Kerala, India in 1979, making
perpetual profession in 1988. He was ordained to the
priesthood in 1991. He has served as Rector, Novice-Master
and Vicar-Provincial of the St. Thomas Province of the
Little Flower Congregation in India. He currently serves
as the Pastor of Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church,
Romney, and Assumption Roman Catholic Church, Keyser, WV.
Certificates of continuing education will be handed out
during the Next Steps session. LARCUM provides 13 C.E.U.
When you register, you have the choice between paying
online and paying by check or cash.
We use PayPal for online payments. You do not need to
have or create a PayPal account.
The online registration form does not include a payment
interface. You will receive an invoice by email. This may
take a few days. Keep your eyes peeled for an email with a
subject line that includes "West Virginia-Western Maryland
Synod of the ELCA www.paypal.com" and a sender email of
"service@paypal.com." If you do not see this, check your
spam folder. If there is still not one after a few days,
contact our registrar at bishop@wv-wmd.org or call
304-363-4030.
PayPal accepts several major credit cards. Follow the
instructions in the invoice. You should receive an email
with confirmation of your payment immediately after you
have completed it.
You do not need to pay online (though it is easier for
us). Payment may be made by check (or cash). You will
still get an emailed invoice as described above. You may
use this for your records (especially if you must submit
for payment or reimbursement by your congregation or
agency). We do ask that you contact us if wanting to make
payment by check so that we can provide you further
details. Contact information is on the emailed invoice.
Payments must be made in advance unless other arrangements
are made with our registrar.
You can follow the latest developments on Facebook
through our Nicaea at 1700
event. You are also encouraged to spread the word about
this event through social media. Share the event! Invite
to the event!
LARCUM WV is a four-partner conference held annually
(except when there is a pandemic) in WV. The partners are
LARCUM WV began as ARC (Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue)
more than forty years ago. After several years, the
Lutherans were invited to join, and the dialogue was
renamed LARC. LARC WV. meeting for three decades, was the
longest running LARC in the USA. Roughly ten years ago,
the United Methodist were invited to join, and we changed
our name to LARCUM.
LARCUM planning is a joint activity of the four
traditions. The topic for each LARCUM Conference is
selected by the participants of the preceding LARCUM
Conference.
Most of the time—well, almost always—each tradition
brings its own presenter, and each presenter is then given
two-three hours in formal session. Outside of formal
sessions, there are meals, social hours, and free time,
providing plenty of opportunity for informal conversation
among participants. One can also use free time for private
prayer, refreshment, study, etc.). There is also
worship, with each tradition taking its turn leading
services, allowing participants to enjoy what each
tradition has to offer.
One does not need to be a member of the participating
judicatories to attend. If you are interested in the topic
or want to enjoy conversation with folk from different
traditions, you are most welcome. LARCUM is open to laity
and clergy. LARCUM is also open to folks from beyond the
borders of WV.
Yes, we do have a social media presence. Check out "WV LARCUM" Facebook page—follow
and/or like us while you are there. Lutherans can even
join Team Wittenberg,
a subgoup attached to the page—if you are jealous,
convince your tradition's planner to set up a
tradition-specific group. We also create Facebook events
for specific conferences, e.g., "LARCUM 2025:
Nicaea at 1700." Since we have a social media
presence, don't be shy about sharing.
Check our our LARCUM Archives to learn about
past LARCUM topics and presenters.
If you have any questions or would like to speak to
someone about LARCUM, call West Virginia-Western Maryland
HQ at 304-363-4030 or email Bishop@WV-WMD.org.