Women of Grace^® Event Details

Benedicta Enrichment Seminar: Consecrating Conflict: Finding Hope in the Struggle

July 24-25, 2025

Benedicta Enrichment Seminar:

Consecrating Conflict: Finding Hope in the Struggle

Led by, Donald Wallenfang, PhD, OCDS

Malvern Retreat House, Malvern, PA

Whether at home, at church, or at the workplace, conflict is inevitable. Yet how we deal with conflict determines its outcome. This 5-part interactive seminar will unveil 12 habits for Christian servant leaders as presented in Dr. Ann Garrido’s 2016 book Redeeming Conflict. Topics for discussion include navigating conflict triangles, welcoming emotion, problem solving, speaking one’s voice, undoing the knot of intentionality, and listening toward understanding. Reference will be made to the lives of holy women, such as Saints Thekla, Monica and Jane Frances de Chantal, who welcomed conflict as a hopeful opportunity for growth and deeper conversion. Participants will walk away with practical tools to approach everyday conflicts with new insight, deepened empathy, and enduring virtue. 

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• Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD

  Donald Wallenfang, OCDS, PhD is a Secular Discalced Carmelite, Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, and Academic Advisor for the Benedicta Institute. He received his MTS from St Norbert College and his PhD in systematic theology from Loyola University Chicago. He has published twelve books as well as numerous articles and book chapters on a variety of topics in Catholic theology and philosophy. His areas of expertise merge at the intersection of Carmelite spirituality, phenomenology, metaphysics, and sacramental theology. Wallenfang served in full-time Catholic youth and young adult ministry for nine years. He has been married to his wife, Megan, for twenty-three years and has six children.