At Bridging the Gap Conference: ‘It’s not our job, it’s not our work, it’s God’s work’

By Cristina Cabrera Jarro -

Photography: CRISTINA CABRERA JARRO | FC

MIAMI| More than 400 parish and school administrators, secretaries, ministry coordinators and other staff from throughout the Archdiocese of Miami attended the 2025 Bridging the Gap Conference on Sept. 26 and 27, 2025, at St. Brendan High School in Miami.

Now in its sixth edition, the event was organized by the archdiocesan Development Office in collaboration with the offices of Human Resources, Evangelization and Parish Life, the Office of Catholic Schools as well as St. Brendan High School, its principal Ivette Alvarez, the director of Facilities Roman Martinez, and their team.

The concept of the professional development day, with a Catholic identity, was first introduced in 2012 by Katie Blanco Bourdeau, director of Development for the Archdiocese of Miami.

“When I first joined the archdiocese, it quickly became clear that many employees and volunteers were eager for more opportunities to grow and learn about development and other important areas. Bridging the Gap was created to meet that need—serving as a free resource for our parishes, schools, and programs to explore a wide range of topics,” said Blanco Bourdeau.

Over the two days of the conference, participants had the opportunity to select from five informational tracks led by experts in the fields of schools and catechesis, development and stewardship, evangelization and parish life, human resources, communications, and more. Topics covered in the different sessions ranged from social media strategies to reading financial statements, fundraising, canon law, establishing parent expectations and more.

Galyn Cruz and his mother, Maria Cruz, who both volunteer at St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Miami, were first-time participants.

“I had no idea what ‘Bridging the Gap’ was, but we registered together,” Galyn said.

As a Miami Dade College sophomore majoring in computer science, Galyn was excited for the “Cybersecurity: What Every Administrator Needs to Know” session, presented by Julio Lopez, founder and CEO of IT for Education.

“The people here are amazing. They know so much,” said Galyn.

Maria found Blanco Bourdeau’s session, “Two Sides to Fundraising: Ministry and Science,” to offer an enlightening perspective.

“It’s not about just asking for money, but making sure that you have the need for it. And whom to ask for, as well. It’s not just the people who have a lot of money, but particularly the ones who donate, possibly the most, would be the parishioners,” said Maria.

As a mother of six, she has taught her family the vitality of charitable giving.

“My children have their own little coin purses, and even a penny is enough for them to give,” said Maria.

And while financial giving is essential to the Church, time and talent are also important to the mission, as emphasized in this year’s keynote, given by Andreas Widmer, associate professor of entrepreneurship at The Catholic University of America’s Busch School of Business, entrepreneur, author, business coach, and former Swiss Guard. He encouraged participants to imitate collaboration in their work in the same way the Holy Trinity collaborated to create the universe and mankind.

“To earn your thought into the physical is exactly what God does in the creation story, and this is exactly what you can imitate. What happens when you imitate somebody a lot? You become more like them. When you work like this, you become more like God. It's part of our path to holiness,” said Widmer.

He also encouraged participants to question the quality and purpose of their work.

“Your reason is not just, 'I'm doing this because I have to do it,' but your reason for your work is because you, in a sense, glorify God by participating in God's creativity and seeing what you're doing as an extension, as a continuation of what God is doing,” said Widmer.

The message inspired Maricarmen Diaz, assistant principal at Good Shepherd School in Miami. Following the Holy Trinity example Widmer shared, Diaz said that the community at Good Shepherd School and Parish already makes an effort to meet and collaborate on a monthly basis.

“It’s not just about putting an event together and raising money. It’s about really having those ties,” Diaz said.

“We’re doing God’s work every day. The message that Andreas was sharing was ‘How can we help you?’ It’s more about making that connection because it’s not our job, it’s not our work, it’s God’s work,” said Diaz.

At a Mass celebrated by Archbishop Thomas Wenski at St. Rafael’s Chapel at St. John Vianney Seminary—next door to St. Brendan High—the archbishop thanked the attendees.

“In the Church, we are to build bridges, not walls. And so, I appreciate your being here today,” he said in his homily.