Marg Shea-Lawrence has been appointed Director of the English Sector Office for Catechesis (formerly NORE). Marg has been a great supporter of CARFLEO and has attended several of our conferences. We congratulate Marg on her appointment and know that she will do a splendid job!

Here is the text of today’s press release from the CCCB:

(CCCB – Ottawa)… The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) today announced the appointment of Mrs. Margaret Shea-Lawrence as Director of the English Sector Office for Catechesis (formerly the English Sector’s National Office of Religious Education). This appointment brings to completion several years of study and reflection by the Conference on its needs in the areas of evangelization and catechesis. The appointment will take effect September 1, 2014.

At the time of her appointment, Mrs. Shea-Lawrence was the Superintendent of Education for the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario, a position she held since June 2008. Before then, she had served with the same school board in various capacities, including Superintendent of Human Resources and Religious Education; Principal of Religious Education; an elementary school principal; and as a religious education consultant. Before then, she had taught at Notre Dame Catholic High School, Carleton Place, Ontario, and at St. Mary Catholic High School, Brockville, Ontario.

Mrs. Shea-Lawrence holds a Master of Religious Education from Saint Paul University, Ottawa; an Ontario Teacher’s Certificate, a diploma in education from McGill University, and a BA from the University of Ottawa. She has served as the Chair of the Catholic Leadership and Faith Development Committee of the Ontario Catholic Supervisory Officers’ Association and as a member of its Board of Directors, as well as on committees of the Institute for Catholic Education, the Canadian Catholic School Trustees’ Association, the Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association, and the Eastern Ontario Catholic Curriculum Cooperative. In addition, she has served on committees for the Archdiocese of Ottawa, the Archdiocese of Kingston, and the Diocese of Alexandria-Cornwall. Mrs. Shea-Lawrence has been a member of curriculum writing teams with the Institute for Catholic Education, and has served as one of its theological reviewers.

As a superintendent of education, she was involved in the development of an Aboriginal Self-Identification Policy as well as Religious Accommodation Guidelines. Her previous portfolio responsibilities included religious and family life education; continuing education; ongoing adult faith formation; community use of schools; and parent involvement.

Mrs. Shea-Lawrence will assist the CCCB and the Episcopal Commission for Catechesis in implementing its new focus on evangelization, adult faith education, parish and home catechesis, and the formation of catechists. Both the Commission and the new Director will give special emphasis to networking and to coordinating on-line resources, in addition to developing related supplemental resources that the Bishops and dioceses of Canada may require.