How do I integrate my faith into my work?

That question and a variety of others will be addressed at a first of its kind faith-based management seminar to be sponsored by the Diocese of Peoria on Saturday, Feb. 27, at the Spalding Pastoral Center in Peoria.

The theme of the daylong event, which will feature a 9:30 a.m. welcome from Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, and close with a 4 p.m. Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral, is “Being Different.”

“It’s all right to be different in business, to stand by what you believe,” said Jack Desatnick, who will be one of four Catholic business leaders to address the gathering, both individually and later during a panel discussion.

Desatnick, chief financial officer and chief operating officer for Enercon Engineering, is also a trustee at St. Edward’s Parish in Chillicothe. He told The Catholic Post that the idea of a day for Catholic business leaders and managers has been developing in his mind for almost a decade. In late 2009, his idea merged with a desire voiced by Bishop Jenky to further engage lay leaders in their Christian mission.

Helping to coordinate planning for the event is the diocesan Office of Evangelization.

IN A LETTER to priests throughout the diocese, Bishop Jenky encouraged them to invite Catholic professionals in their parishes to this “much needed conference.”

“The goal of these presentations,” he wrote, “will be to help leaders in the business world find encouragement to integrate their faith with their work and to see that it is good to ‘be different’ from the secular influences around them.

“As we have seen all too often in the headlines of recent months,” the bishop continued, “we need heroic witnesses of Christian honor, ethical integrity and Catholic substance to light the way in the midst of the often greed-centered and materialistic malaise of the contemporary professional situation.”

Joining Desatnick as featured presenters will be:

— Daniel P. Daly, president of the west region of Busey Bank, founding president and chief executive officer of First Capital Bank. His topic will be “Optimism, Faith, and Hope in Leadership.”

— Emiel J. Michelet, retired chief operating officer and chief financial officer of OSF Saint Francis, Inc., and chief financial officer of OSF Healthcare Foundation. Michelet will speak on “Do the Right Thing — Not the Movie,” and

— Delores “Dodie” Gomer, senior human resources manager for Product Development Center of Excellence and production COE at Caterpillar, Inc. She will discuss “Women’s View of Faith in Management.”

DESATNICK said that throughout his career — which has also included leading hundreds of employees at Midwest Kidney Centers Inc., and Jumer Hotels and Casinos — he has been confronted with ethical and moral challenges. He recalls the solitude felt especially early in his career when he stood by his beliefs against social or professional pressures.

“There wasn’t anybody to say it was all right,” he said. He hopes the diocese-wide faith-based management seminary Feb. 27 will provide support for those now facing similar pressures and choices. While the speakers are all Catholic, he said the day is open to persons of all faith backgrounds.

OTHER QUESTIONS to be addressed during the day include:
— What is the role of faith in the workplace?
— How can I view my work as a vocation?, and
— What role do ethics and morality play in my work life?

The cost to attend is $20 ($25 after Feb. 17 or at the door). Registration materials and more information are available online at www.faithbasedmanagement.org, or through the Office of Evangelization, (309) 671-1550. The seminar fee includes lunch.

Brad Colvis, director of the Office of Evangelization, said he hopes the day will lead to the cultivating of relationships between Catholic professionals throughout the diocese. If that concept takes root, he would like to see it repeated on the parish or regional levels.

In addition to the closing Mass, the day will also include recitation of the rosary led by Deacon Gregory Serangeli, also of St. Edward’s Parish in Chillicothe.