Rev. John C. Cusick, ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1970, is the Director of Young Adult Ministry for the Archdiocese. He is responsible for the Church's outreach to women and men in their twenties and thirties, married and single. The Young Adult Ministry Office and his residence are at Old St. Patrick’s Church in downtown Chicago.

On July 1, 1985 Cardinal Joseph Bernardin appointed him the full-time Director of Young Adult Ministry. The Young Adult Ministry Office works with local parishes in their efforts at outreaching and inviting young adults to participate more fully in parish life. The Office also helps young adults and parish staffs develop young adult groups for the purpose of gathering with their peers for social, spiritual and service opportunities. Cusick is the founder of the highly-acclaimed and now nationally-popular Theology on Tap speaker series for Catholic young adults.

Cusick is one of the fifty priests whose reflections appear in the book The Last Priests in America, Conversations with Remarkable Men. Also, he is a part of an audiotape series titled Preaching the Word of the Lord, a Homiletics Workshop published by St. Anthony Messenger Press. He hosts a radio program, and his work and ideas about young adult ministry have been published in dozens of books and publications.

Cusick's experience and hard work in engaging young adults in the life and mission of the church can teach us much about uniting and engaging multiple generations in a parish setting.

Dr. Richard R. Gaillardetz, currently holds the Margaret and Thomas Murray and James J. Bacik Endowed Chair in Catholic Studies at the University of Toledo in Ohio. In August of 2011 he will assume a new position as the Joseph Professor of Catholic Systematic Theology in the Theology Department of Boston College. Prior to coming to Toledo, Dr. Gaillardetz taught at the University of St. Thomas Graduate School of Theology in Houston from 1991 to 2001. He received a B.A. in Humanities from the University of Texas, an M.A. in Biblical Theology from St. Mary's University in San Antonio, and both an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame in Systematic Theology. He has published numerous articles and authored seven books while co-editing an eighth.

Dr. Gaillardetz was a Catholic delegate on the U.S. Catholic—Methodist Dialogue, 2000-2005. He served on the Board of Directors of the Catholic Theological Society of America from 2006 to 2008. He has received numerous awards from the Catholic Press Association for articles he has written and is a past recipient of the Sophia Award (2000), offered annually by the faculty of the Washington Theological Union in Washington D.C. in recognition of a theologian’s contributions to the life of the church. Dr. Gaillardetz is a popular speaker at theological and pastoral conferences. He is married to Diana Gaillardetz and they are the parents of four boys: David, Andrew, Brian and Gregory.

Dr. Gaillardetz's Saturday Keynote:
Living Out Our Baptismal Priesthood: How Ordinary Christians Can Participate in the Mission of the Church
This presentation will explore the theological riches of the Council's teaching that all Christians share in a priestly call by virtue of their baptism. Special attention will be given to how the priesthood of the baptized and the ministerial priesthood mutually support one another.