Encounter Mary Dinner

Join us for this special evening designed to uplift, renew, and bring together women to celebrate our Mother Mary. 

NEW THIS YEAR: A discussion about the doctrine of Mary in our daily lives featuring an entertaining and inspiring panel of women.  

 Saturday, January 4, 2025

Doors open at 6 p.m.

Prayer and dinner begin at 6:30 p.m.

Program concludes at 9 p.m.

Christ the King Catholic Church in Tuohy Hall

5884 Crittenden Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46220

This event is open to all adult women, so gather your mothers, sisters, aunts, and friends for a relaxing, catered dinner with dessert and wine. Guests must be 21 and over.

Please note that this is not a fundraiser and 100% of ticket sales and donations go toward the cost of the event. 

About the Panelists

Anita Bardo 

Anita Bardo was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. She is a devoted wife and mother to four beautiful girls and four active grandsons.

Anita is a long-standing member at St. Rita's Catholic Church for over 55 years, where she has served diligently in many roles. She has been the Director of Youth Ministry for the past 23 years, the Director of Faith Formation for the past 13 years and serves as a lector, extraordinary minister, and mentor for the Young Adult Ministry.

While that may sound like a full-time job, she is also the Coordinator of Evangelization & Discipleship at the Archdiocese of Indianapolis where she connects with 126 parishes in central and southern Indiana to lead evangelization teams to discerns and organize specific strategies to support each parish community in outreach to the unchurched, the alienated and practicing Catholics in the area. In addition to being a strong resource for all the Ministries in the parish.

Mary Caltrider

Mary Caltrider is a TV News Anchor in St. Louis, Missouri. Mary moved to Missouri in July 2022 after working for WBND in South Bend, Indiana where she won a Regional Edward R. Murrow Award.
The Carmel, Indiana native got her start behind the camera at the age of sixteen as the in-game host for the Indianapolis Indians. She went on to study mass communication in the Honors College at Purdue University. During her time at Purdue, Mary worked as the in-game host for the men's basketball team as well as program director for the Purdue Old Master's Program.

Mary is the host and producer of "Let There Be Light with Mary Caltrider." On her podcast, Mary talks with vowed religious, professors, and authors about topics such as mental health, work and life balance, and even conversations revolving around Sacred Scripture and the Eucharist.

Jennifer Klee

Jennifer Klee is a cradle Catholic, wife to Danny, the Christ the King middle school Religion teacher, and proud mama of two boys: Kolbe and Leo. Prior to her children being born, she taught Theology at Bishop Chatard High School for a decade. More recently, she has been involved with Storytelling Arts of Indiana, and she performed as the 2024 Frank Basile Emerging Stories Fellow. She and her family have been parishioners at Christ the King since 2020.

About the Emcee and Moderator

Elizabeth Sowinski

Elizabeth Sowinski describes herself as a woman of faith who is a wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt, friend, and teacher. She and her husband Kevin have been members of Christ the King since 1995 when they moved to Indianapolis in what they referred to as the "5 Year Plan." Fast forward thirty years and five children, (plus a daughter-in-law!) and it's clear that both Indy and Christ the King are home! The whole family is grateful for the life they have led here and the people they've known.

Liz loves her work as a private tutor for elementary students. She feels really lucky to be able to work in a field that is so personally rewarding while still giving her time to volunteer in various parish ministries. Her favorite things to do with spare time are playing games with the family, traveling, reading, or learning to play guitar!