2024 YOUTH RALLY - MEET THE SPEAKERS

Fr.-Mathias-Thelen
Fr. Mathias Thelen

Father Mathias Thelen, S.T.L. is the Co-Founder and President of Encounter Ministries and Pastor of St. Patrick Church in Brighton, MI. Being passionate for preaching and teaching the Gospel, his ministry has not only been accompanied by incredible verified healings, but he has also garnered a reputation of leading people into the loving arms of the Father. Recently, Father Mathias has been selected as a Eucharistic Preacher for the National Eucharistic Revival. He is the author of Biblical Foundations for the Role of Healing and was featured in both the Fearless (2017) and Revive (2020) documentaries.

Fr Alex Colautti, CC

Fr Alex Colautti, CC is a Canuck who originally hails from Windsor Ontario which is (not so) often called the “Florida of Canada” as the southernmost city in the Great White North. He was ordained a Catholic priest on May 5, 2018 as a member of the religious community, The Companions of the Cross. His deepest passion is to see people’s lives transformed through an encounter with Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit and this passion informs his approach to preaching and ministry. Fr Alex currently serves as the vocations director for his religious community from Detroit, MI. When he’s not priesting it up, Fr Alex enjoys doing regular human-being type things like reading books, watching movies, playing soccer, and traveling. Once he was foolish enough to run a marathon, but try not to hold that against him, he really is a nice guy most of the time.

Bishop Scott McCaig, CC

Bishop Scott McCaig, CC, was born in Duncan, British Columbia, Canada, and grew up Kamloops, British Columbia. He entered into full communion with the Catholic Church in 1987. After serving with NET Catholic Youth Ministries USA, he joined the Companions of the Cross in 1989 and later served two terms as general superior (2006 to 2016). Bishop McCaig holds an undergraduate degree in history from Carleton University, a Bachelor’s Degree in Sacred Theology from the University of St. Paul, and a Master’s of Divinity degree from the University of Toronto. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1995. He was appointed by Pope Francis as Military Ordinary of Canada in 2016. Bishop McCaig serves on several boards, has participated in many missionary outreaches, and assists in training missionaries with NET Ministries of Canada. In addition, he is an episcopal advisor for the Spiritual Motherhood of Priests Apostolate in Ottawa, serves on the Committee for Ecumenical Dialogue for the Canadian Council of Catholic Bishops, and is a liaison to the Catholic Charismatic Renewal for the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario.

Connor Flanagan 1
Connor Flanagan

Connor Flanagan is a hip-hop artist passionate about encouraging others to step into God’s dream for their life. In a world where people are crippled by fear, scared of the unknown, and longing for purpose; Connor desires for his career to serve as a witness of what can happen when you don’t settle for what the world offers, and instead allow God to breath life into your gifts. From a small farm in Richfield, OH to opening for David Crowder and having two records debut in the top 10 on the iTunes chart; Connor knows first hand the hard work, hustle & unshakeable faith it takes to step out and pursue a career in music.

Chris Bray

Chris Bray is a full time travelling Catholic speaker & musician. Having received multiple Gospel Music Association Covenant awards and numerous #1 hit songs on Christian radio in Canada, his ministry has spanned North America from headlining the National March for Life rally on Parliament Hill for 25,000 people, the Air Canada Centre, working with great figures such as Matt Maher, Audrey Assad, Matt Fradd, Jackie Francois, Leah Darrow, Emily Wilson, Paul J. Kim, Steve Ray, Ralph Martin, Chris Padgett, Fr. Dave Pivonka, Sr. Miriam James, Teresa Tomeo, involvement in Life Teen, World Youth Day, Steubenville Toronto, National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC), featured on EWTN, Salt & Light TV, 100 Huntley St., Shalom World TV, presenting to tens of thousands each year at hundreds of conferences, retreats, schools and churches.

Rachel-Herbeck
Rachel Herbeck

Rachel Herbeck is the Director of Young Adult Discipleship for Renewal Ministries. She received her BA in Catholic Studies from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has worked extensively in youth ministry and she speaks to youth and young adults at retreats, conferences, and events in the US and Canada. Rachel is passionate about life issues and has worked for multiple pro-life and political organizations both in Minnesota and Washington, DC. Before joining the id team, she worked for the Minnesota Catholic Conference, where she did outreach and lobbied on behalf of the Catholic Bishops of Minnesota. She currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Steve Norman

Steve Norman serves as the director of Forged, a ministry that aims to form young men into missionary disciples of Christ. Steve moved to Ann Arbor with his wife, Katey, and two children, Jeremiah and Kateri, from Stratford, Ontario. He served as a high school campus minister in Canada and is currently finishing his Master of Arts in Theology Degree from the Augustine Institute in Denver, Colorado.

Katey Norman

Katey Norman is a proud Stratford, Ontario, native, and graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville. She and her husband, Steve, moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan in August of 2023 to be on mission and serve the Lord with Renewal Ministries. With over 13 years of working in ministry, Katey has a heart for evangelization, mission and a desire to see the Body of Christ living dynamically and boldly as sons and daughters of the King.