The executive director of the National Religious Vocation Conference will speak in Hawaii next month on campus at Chaminade University of Honolulu.

Brother Paul Bednarczyk of the Congregation of Holy Cross will give a presentation at 4 p.m., Feb. 21, in Mystical Rose Oratory. His topic is “Building a Culture of Vocation.”

The talk is part of the Mackey Marianist Lecture Series and is co-hosted by Saint Louis School, the Marianist Center of Hawaii and Chaminade.

The lecture will explore how a culture of vocation can be strengthened and supported and how people can freely respond to God’s call to love and service within the church. It is free and no reservations are needed. Seating is first-come, first-serve.

Brother Bednarczyk will also present the workshop, “Contemporary Vocation Ministry: Challenging, but not Impossible,” on Saturday, Feb. 20, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., also in the Mystical Rose Oratory.

The Saturday workshop will identify the best practices of vocation ministry according to a national study and will suggest ways to implement them in a religious institute. Topics will include the use of media and technology; attracting and retaining candidates; and suggestions for an effective vocation program.

A native of Connecticut, Brother Bednarczyk has been a teacher, campus minister and administrator and also the vocation director for his congregation. He has written a number of articles on religious life and is regularly invited to speak on the topic of vocation ministry.

He has been executive director of the National Religious Vocation Conference since July 2002.

The Vocation Conference has more than 1,300 members, mostly vocation ministers for religious congregations. It is committed to vocation awareness, invitation and discernment to consecrated life as brothers, sisters, and priests.

For more information about the lecture or workshop, call Brother Dennis Schmitz at (808) 735-4801.