Meet The Team
Kyle Huelsing
Week 1 Worship Leader
Kyle Huelsing is a Catholic worship leader and evangelist in the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Missouri. He has ministered to thousands of people across the country for the past 15 years, leading conferences, faith rallies, Catholic camps, and retreats. Kyle has a heart on fire for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and works full time as a music minister at St. Joseph in Cottleville, St. Clement of Rome, and the Lindenwood University Catholic Newman Center. He currently resides in St. Louis, Missouri, with his wife, Kimberly, and their four children.
Fr. Mike Schmitz
Week 1 Team Priest
Father Michael Schmitz is the director of Youth and Young Adult Ministry for the Diocese of Duluth as well as the chaplain for the Newman Center at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Father Mike attended Saint Paul Seminary and was ordained in 2003. He offers weekly homilies on iTunes and bulldogCatholic.org and has appeared in programs for youth and young adults through Ascension Press, as well as through regular short video messages on Ascension Presents.
Sr. Josephine Garrett, CSFN
Week 1 Speaker
Sister Josephine Garrett, CSFN, is a native Texan, a convert to the Catholic faith, and a sister of the Holy Family of Nazareth. She lives and serves in Tyler, Texas, as a licensed professional counselor. She also loves traveling around to share the love of God with the young Church.
D.J. Bernal
Week 1 Speaker
D.J. Bernal has the great privilege to routinely travel for ministry events serving youth, young adults, and adult groups at conferences, retreats, and parish events. D.J.’s ministry focuses on a relationship with Christ and with his people (Rom. 8:38-39). He is a leadership development consultant, helping leaders empower and engage teams through leadership program facilitation, business coaching, and change management. He also founded a Catholic-Christian clothing line called “AGOH Apparel” (After God’s Own Heart).
Sarah Swafford
Week 1 Speaker
Sarah Swafford is the founder of Emotional Virtue Ministries and author of the book Emotional Virtue: A Guide to Drama-Free Relationships. She speaks internationally to people of all ages and has appeared on EWTN’s Life on the Rock, EWTN Live, and is co-host of EWTN’s At the Heart of Relationships. She contributed to Ascension Press’ confirmation program Chosen, YDisciple’s True Beauty, Dynamic Catholic’s Better Together, and is a proud team member of chastity.com. Sarah and her husband, Dr. Andrew Swafford, reside in Atchison, Kansas, with their children, Thomas, Fulton, Cate, Kolbe, and John Paul. Find out more at emotionalvirtue.com.
Sarah Kroger Quaglia
Week 2 Worship Leader
Sarah Kroger is a songwriter and worship leader. She has been leading worship at a range of national and international events for the past 10 years. Her passion is to create a safe, prayerful space through her music in which people can encounter the heart of God. She released her fourth studio album, Light, in 2020. Sarah lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband, Dom.
Fr. Rick Martignetti, OFM
Week 2 Team Priest
Father Rick Martignetti, OFM, is a Franciscan priest in the Order of Friars Minor. In 2002, he was awarded a doctorate in sacred theology and Franciscan spirituality from the Pontifical University Antonianum in Rome. He has served God through preaching, teaching, campus ministry, spiritual direction, retreat ministry, formation work, youth ministry, and pilgrimage work. He is currently director of Campus Ministry at Ave Maria University in Florida. His book of meditations, Hidden Beauty: Reflections on Saint Bonaventure’s Tree of Life, is available from Tau Publishing. Check out his “2 Minute Homilies” on YouTube or through his blog, fatherrick.wordpress.com.
Sr. M. Karolyn Nunes, FSGM
Week 2 Speaker
Sister M. Karolyn Nunes entered the Franciscan Sisters of the Martyr St. George in 2005. A native of Rhode Island, since graduating from Franciscan University of Steubenville, she has worked in the field of catechetics and youth ministry in parishes and schools around the country. She loves to share the fullness of life and the merciful love of Christ with others and to help them to find the same in God’s incredible plan for their lives which is her current apostolate as vocation director for her community. She enjoys arts and crafts and is known to be a human jukebox!
Jimmy Mitchell
Week 2 Speaker
Believing deeply in the power of beauty to change the world, Jimmy’s gifts of storytelling and piano-playing bring him to every corner of the world. He’s the director of Campus Ministry at Jesuit High School in Tampa, founder of Love Good (an ongoing formation platform for Catholics who want to evangelize the post-Christian culture), and composer of film scores for countless movies that don’t exist. Whether he’s mentoring young men in virtue or interviewing a GRAMMY award-winning artist in his studio, Jimmy loves nothing more than helping others fall in love with God.
Chika Anyanwu
Week 2 Speaker
Chika Anyanwu is an international Catholic evangelist, author, and the director of Formation and Events for Vagabond Missions, a Catholic nonprofit serving teens living in inner cities and underserved communities. Her missionary zeal is inspired by a love of Christ and the Church, the lives of the saints, and a desire to see people live in the knowledge of their worth while affirming the dignity of others. Her book, My Encounter: How I Met Jesus in Prayer, is the perfect pocket-sized prayer companion for men and women of all ages.