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Liturgies of the Word

Celebration of the Liturgy 

Sunday, Sept. 7, Nov. 2, Nov. 27 (Thanksgiving, 10 AM), Dec. 21
4:30 PM on Zoom
Presider: Michael Corso

 Community Celebration

 Sunday, Sept. 21, Oct. 19, Nov. 16, Dec. 7
 4:30 PM on Zoom

We regret that due to unforeseen events, the VOTF liturgy for September 21, 2025 has been cancelled. We hope to see you at our next liturgy on October 5, 2025.

Zoom details will be provided in the invitations to the liturgies and presentations that are emailed on the Thursday before the event. If you are not on our listserv, sign up here.

We invite everyone not only to join our liturgies but to actively participate! Please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.if you would like to be a reader or present the Eucharistic  prayer.

Michael Morwood

Symbolism and Literalism: Christianity Confronts Its Greatest Challenge

Author & Speaker: Micheal Morwood

Friday, November 7, 2025, 7 PM EST

Michael Morwood in his books and presentations proposes radical changes in order to recover the true purpose of Jesus' teaching. He challenges us to discard doctrines shaped in belief in a heavenly deity who denied access to himself. Instead, let us immerse ourselves in appreciation of the Presence permeating everything that exists and how Jesus insisted that nothing was more important than people give - here on earth - the best possible human expression to this Presence, individually and socially.

Michael Morwood is an Australian author, speaker, and former Catholic priest. His book Tomorrow’s Catholic: Understanding God and Jesus in a New Millenium challenged traditional doctrines and was banned by Archbishop George Pell, following which Morwood resigned from priestly ministry in 1998. He is the author of twelve books and lives in Australia with his wife, Maria.

View a video of Michael Morwood's presentation here.

The Sacrifice of the Masses

Author & Speaker: Robert Hoatson, Ph.D.

Sunday, September 14, 2025
4:30 PM

West Orange Resident & Former Priest Publishes Book About Childhood Clergy Sexual Abuse

Congratulations to VOTFNJ Coordinating Team Member, Bob Hoatson, on the publication of his book.

West Orange Resident & Former Priest Publishes Book About Childhood Clergy Sexual Abuse

"The Sacrifices of the Masses is a riveting description of one man’s painful journey of recovery from sexual abuse by clergy and religious. More than that, it is the story of a victim turned survivor, whistleblower, advocate, and healer of souls. Sexual abuse by clergy imposes a life sentence. It is the murder of innocent souls; there are no quick fixes or cures, but there is a road to recovery that former priest and author, Dr. Robert Hoatson, has paved for numerous victims. Over the course of more than twenty-five years, through ‘Road to Recovery, Inc., ’ Bob Hoatson, founder, has touched the lives of over 5,000 victims and their families..."

View a video of the progam here.

THE VOICE - VOTFNJ News & More

THE VOICE - VOTFNJ's Monthly Newsletter

Click here for VOTFNJ monthly news and more...

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VOTF National News & Views

Stay in touch and informed!

Read In the Vineyard and stay abreast of VOTF national activities and views here.

Living the Gospel - Intentional Eucharistic Communities

Intentional Eucharistic Communities (IECs) are those small faith communities, rooted in the Catholic tradition, which gather to celebrate Eucharist on a regular basis. Born in the enthusiasm flowing from Vatican II for a church of the people, some IECs were instituted in parishes, some were created as alternatives to the parish, some retain close ties with the institutional church, and some function independently. VOTFNJ considers itself to be an Intentional Eucharistic Community. 

Sophia Inclusive Catholic Community is the "Sister Community" of VOTFNJ. Follow Sophia on Facebook. You can join Sophia's Zoom liturgies on Sundays at 10:00 AM. Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.

Call to Action's Alternative Liturgies Directory provides a space to share information about spiritual communities that meet outside a traditional parish setting. These gatherings include online prayer services, Intentional Eucharistic Communities, churches presided over by women priests, Call To Action chapter liturgies, and more.

Find a faith community with the Federation for Christian Ministries.

Join Us to Support Refugees in New Jersey

 Refugee Assistance Update

Refugee Assistance Morris Partners (RAMP) is a volunteer organization which seeks to assist vetted and documented refugee families and individuals threatened by war or violence to transition to productive lives of dignity, safety, and hope in Morris County, New Jersey. 

In the Spring of 2016, at the invitation of VOTFNJ, a coalition of Morris County faith-based organizations came together to address the refugee crisis. This community of Christians, Jews, and Muslims formed Refugee Assistance Morris Partners, RAMP. RAMP partners with International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Church World Service (CWS) to resettle people safely in the Morris County area.   

Today, RAMP is governed by a volunteer Board of Trustees who strive to give our families and individuals hope for a better future by building a "Bridge to a New Life". 

Learn more about RAMP here.
See how to help and donate to RAMP here.
Read RAMP's latest newsletter here.

Road to Recovery

Voice of the Faithful New Jersey (VOTFNJ) is pleased to be a financial supporter of Road to Recovery.

Road to Recovery is a nonprofit organization that offers compassionate counseling and referral services to survivors of sexual abuse. Launched in 2005 to provide direct assistance to victims of clergy sexual abuse, Road to Recovery has expanded its mission to include all survivors of sexual abuse. Learn more about Road to Recovery here.

Dr. Robert Hoatson is president and co-founder of Road to Recovery and a survivor of clergy sexual abuse. Hoatson has been the president of Road to Recovery, Inc. since its founding.

Msgr. Kenneth Lasch is co-founder of Road to Recovery and has been an advocate for survivors of abuse for more than three decades. Msgr. Lasch is a leading advocate for clergy sexual abuse victims in the United States.

Dr. Hoatson has recently published a book, The Sacrifice of the Masses: A Former Priest Turned Whistleblower Tells His Private Experience of Clergy Abuse & Cover-up, What He Witnessed on the Inside, and What He's Doing About it Now. This a must read for all those concerned with the history of clergy abuse. Learn more here.

Confronting Systemic Racism

VOTFNJ Offered Two-part Online Series on Racism

• Moderator, Peg Pipchick PhD APN, Member of Voice of the Faithful New Jersey
  Peg Pipchick is an Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse and Marriage and Family Therapist who has spent the last five years trying to understand the true facts about Racism and Slavery in the United States.

Racism in the Catholic Church
Event held Sunday, January 24, 2021

Program readings: Please click on this PDF to access these readings:

• Open Wide our Hearts, 2018 pastoral document of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
• Interview with Bryan Massingale SJ, in Commonweal. 
• Daniel F. Horan OFM, When Will US Bishops Address Evil Systemic Racism? 
• Shannen Dee Williams, The Church must make reparation for its role in slavery, segregation. National Catholic Reporter 
• Black Catholics: Words Not Enough as Church Decries Racism AP article.
• Desegregating the Altar: The Josephites and the Struggle for Black Priests. Book review by Randall M. Miller, published in U.S. Catholic Historian. 
• Oral History interview with Sister Gwynette Proctor. From “Habits of Change: An Oral History of American Nuns” by Carole Garibaldi Rogers (Oxford University Press, 2011).
• Pope Sends Strong Message to US Catholics After Floyd Death AP article. 
• Church of St. Francis Xavier, New York. Pastoral Council Statement on Communal Commitment to Establishing Racial Equity and Dismantling Racial Injustice.

Systemic Racism in American Society

1. What was Jim Crow? Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia
2. The New Jim Crow. Michelle Alexander (Book Review)
3. The White Space. Elijah Anderson, Yale University
4. The GI Bill. Discovering the meaning of unearned privilege. Excerpt from book by Debby Irving.

Resources on Systemic Racism

The VOTFNJ Coordinating Team has compiled a resource list on the subject of systemic racism, offering theological readings as well as historical and political perspectives. Download it here.

Dr. Shannen Dee Williams was with us on November 21, 2021. Her book, Subversive Habits: Black Catholic Nuns in the Long African American Freedom Struggle is available through VOTFNJ. Please email if you would like to purchase a copy.

God made Black saints. The church whitewashed them. US Catholic Magazine