ATLANTA—Ashley Schultz, a parishioner of Holy Trinity Church and nurse at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, will be the guest speaker at the Magnificat gathering for women to be held on Saturday morning, March 7.

All women are invited to attend the event at Holy Cross Church in Atlanta from 9:30 a.m. to noon.

Married and the mother of five children, Ashley and her husband, Chris, and all their family entered the Catholic Church in 2016 from the Baptist church. They are members of Holy Trinity, Peachtree City.

Ashley Schultz

Ashley was born and raised in Newnan and graduated from LaGrange College with a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing in 2006. She has been a registered nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta for 14 years.

While working there she met and married her husband of 11 years.

At the Magnificat meal, Ashley will share her faith journey with those who attend. She recounts that she has been blessed to be rooted in the Christian faith her whole life. Her testimony of what Christ has done in her life includes journeys similar to those shared by many women of marriage, motherhood and anxieties. She will also share journeys of triumph over spiritual bondage of depression, self-harm and suicide.

As a follower of Jesus, she embraces the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit given for the good of the church and to serve the body of Christ, particularly prayer for healing and prayer for deliverance and the joy of coming into the presence of God through praise and worship.

Her talk will take place within the Magnificat gathering, which begins with a meal in the spirit of the friendship shown between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth in the Gospel of Luke.

The meal is a catered hot breakfast. Each table has a hostess and seating is open. Women are welcome to come on their own or with friends. Following breakfast there is a time of praise and worship led by a music ministry and the speaker’s sharing of her story of God’s mercy and grace in the events of her life.

Afterward, there is an opportunity for prayer and the sacrament of reconciliation.

Magnificat is a ministry to women within the Catholic Church that began in the United States and has spread throughout the world. Chapters are under the guidance of the local bishops.

The Atlanta chapter, the Joyful Visitation chapter, has been active since 1992. Magnificat meals are hosted four times a year by the Atlanta chapter.

The heart of the Magnificat ministry is to hear the faith story of an ordinary person and to be encouraged and surprised by the actions of God in daily lives around us.

Its purpose is to help women open more and more to the Holy Spirit through a deeper commitment of their lives to Jesus as Lord and to impart the Holy Spirit to one another by their love, service and sharing the good news of salvation.

Reservations for the meal are $20 and are made in advance. No tickets are returned. Check-in is at the door for those with reservations only.

To register by mail, please send your name, address, parish if applicable, contact information, and a check made payable to Magnificat Joyful Visitation to Debbie DuPont, 315 Rose Court, SW, Lilburn, GA 30047. Registration closes on Feb. 29 and mailed reservations must be received by that date.

To view the invitation online or to register for the Magnificat online, please visit tinyurl.com/srpfe9o. To receive an invitation by email, please send a request to joyfulvisitation@gmail.com.

The doors open early. Guests are encouraged to arrive by 9 a.m. Holy Cross Church is located at 3773 Chamblee Tucker Road, Atlanta, less than a mile from the Chamblee Tucker Road exit on Interstate 285.

Priests and religious are invited to attend free of charge, but reservations are still requested to plan for the meal. Since the morning is designed to speak to the hearts of women free of distractions, it is respectfully requested that young children not attend.

For information, contact Debbie DuPont at 770-696-6216.