Guest Speakers, March 28, 2009

Matthew Kelly
Matthew Kelly currently has four books listed on the Top Ten Catholic Books List! Born in Sydney, Australia, Matthew began his work as a speaker and author in 1993 at the age of 19. With his keen sense of humor and heart warming charm, Kelly seems to effortlessly elevate and energize people to pursue the highest values of the human spirit. From an age preoccupied with doing and having, Matthew’s message rings out with a truth that is unmistakably challenging and attractive – “Who you become is infinitely more important than what you do or what you have.” His example is authentic and inspiring. His passion for life is refreshing and challenging.

Brenda Sharman  In 1990, Brenda was crowned Miss Georgia, USA and went on to finish among the top six in the 1990 Miss USA Pageant. She has been working as one of the Southeast’s busiest professional models and commercial actresses for the last 19 yrs. After growing up in an agnostic family, Brenda’s search for God began in 1995 during her pregnancy with her first son. Delving deep into the roots of both Catholicism and Christianity, Brenda could see clearly that the Catholic Church was the true church founded by God. At Easter Vigil, Brenda’s life was forever changed, deeply impacting her professional modeling career.  “My new measuring stick became, ‘Never do anything at work that I wouldn’t want shown to my entire Parish on a Sunday morning!’” She serves as National Director of Pure Fashion, the country’s fastest growing character formation program for teen girls. She speaks about looking beautiful in God’s eyes andwhere to find God’s beauty tips in scripture. Brenda truly believes that through Pure Fashion, we really can change our
culture…one outfit at a time!

  “Tajci” (Tatiana Cameron)  Born in Croatia, Tajci (Ty-chee) grew up in communist Yugoslavia.  Raised in a musical family, at the age of 19, she became a superstar in Central Europe. Her life became a blur of concerts, video shoots, personal appearances and commercial tie-ins – an unending crush of photographers, adoring fans, and bodyguards. Ironically the “dream come true” also brought feelings of isolation, loneliness and emptiness. By 1991, war had come to Croatia and Tajci joined thousands of young people flocking to the churches, now that the atheist regime had fallen. Then “Shocking her country and peers, Tatiana left it all – stardom, glamour, fame, friends and family to come to the United States, alone and unknown, at age 21.” In her newfound anonymity, Tajci found answers in prayer.  In her faith and in the freedom it brought her, she found the inspiration to compose music and sing about her new experiences.  And she’s comfortable once again being known as Tajci.

Bernadette McCarver Snyder
“God made me do it,” she says. “I had planned to write the great American novel but when I sat down at the typewriter, God laughed and sent me in a new direction.”  Since then Bernadette has had 32 humor/inspiration books published. She also wrote the humorous “Mother’s Meditation” column for Our Sunday Visitor for 15 years. She is known for books full of snickers and surprises for children, including her popular “Fun Facts” Series and her wit, wisdom and reverence shine through in her books for adults such as the long-time bestseller, Graham Crackers, Galoshes and God; Everywoman’s Book of Cope and Hope. She says her idea of spirituality is a
little laugh and a little prayer – and she is praying you will enjoy.