ATLANTA—The Atlanta Catholic Charismatic Conference, to be held Oct. 23-24, will be a weekend of teaching, evangelization and spiritual renewal.

The event, sponsored by Atlanta Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services, will be at the Wyndham Hotel Atlanta Galleria, 6345 Powers Ferry Road, NW, Atlanta.

“Behold, the Old is Gone, the New is Here!” is the theme for the weekend.

Presentations will focus on the key pillars of the Archdiocese of Atlanta Pastoral Plan: to know your faith, to live your faith, to share your faith, and to live in a community of faith.

The conference opens at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 23. A Mass will be celebrated at 7:30 p.m., with Father Tim Hepburn, Father Jason Brooks, Father Jorge Carranza and Father Desmond Drummer concelebrating.

Father Drummer, parochial vicar at St. Peter Chanel Church in Roswell, will be the homilist. Ordained a priest in 2014, Father Drummer’s Christian discipleship was originally shaped by the vibrant witness of faith communities within the Pentecostal movement.

Confessions will be available after Mass. The evening will conclude with adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

An “Empowerment by The Spirit” service will take place from 3-4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24. The service will consist of communal and personal prayer for physical and inner healing, personal conversion, and a focus on fostering the spiritual gifts of the Holy Spirit in one’s life.

Bishop David P. Talley will celebrate the Vigil Mass at 4:40 p.m.

International Catholic evangelist Mark Nimo will be keynote speaker

The keynote speaker for the conference is internationally renowned Catholic lay evangelist, Mark Nimo, Ph.D., of Chicago, Illinois.

Nimo, a native of Ghana, West Africa, underwent a deep personal conversion to Jesus following high school. This transformation led Nimo into lay missions work, and he subsequently received ministry training at the International Catholic Program of Evangelization (I.C.P.E.) in Malta.

In 1991, Nimo became a missionary among people dying with HIV/AIDS in Uganda where he also served on a team that trained Catholic evangelizers.

Nimo returned in 1993 to Ghana to head the “Know and Tell the Gospel” School of Evangelization. He also served for nearly 10 years as servant-leader and representative of English- and Portuguese-speaking Africa on the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services (ICCRS) council at the Vatican. As a gifted and anointed lay evangelist, worship leader and youth minister, he has ministered the Gospel of Jesus in more than 37 countries on several continents.

Nimo holds a master’s degree in pastoral theology from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and serves as director of religious education at St. Columbanus Church. He also teaches at St. Dorothy School. In 2008, Nimo received a Bernardin Scholarship to undertake studies for the ecumenical doctor of ministry degree, with a concentration in intercultural studies. He completed his doctoral studies in 2012.

First youth track will feature Casey Sprehe

Another unique element to this year’s conference is focus and promotion of a youth track.

National speaker, youth minister and evangelist Casey Sprehe of New Orleans, Louisiana, will present this track. This part of the conference is open to all teens and young people in their 20s. Admission is free, but pre-registration is required for the youth track.

Sprehe attended Our Lady of Holy Cross College, receiving a bachelor’s degree in theology education in 2007 and a master of theology, evangelization and catechesis from the Augustine Institute in Colorado in 2009.

As a member of the National Service Committee of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, Sprehe enjoys speaking on matters of the Catholic faith having a heart for the New Evangelization. She is a sought-after youth minister and presenter, having coordinated youth retreats within the Archdiocese of New Orleans for the past 10 years.

Registration fees for the conference are $30 per individual, $50 per couple. Lunch is an additional $10 per person.