Close to 40,000 people attended the Religious Education Congress in Anaheim last weekend and went home filled with ideas and renewed inspiration to teach and live with new passion.

They listened to words of wisdom from Joyce Rupp, Margaret Silf, Richard Rohr, Tom Weston and Jim Wallis, among many others. They learned abut contemplative prayer, collaboration and ministry, alcoholics, addicts and growing into an adult friendship with God. They attended liturgies that were moving in their quiet moments and bursting with energy as liturgical dancers and beautiful music drew them from their chairs to applaud and wave their arms in prayer.

It was a weekend of crowds as well as long walks to get to workshops. Great patience was required as elevators moved slowly from floor to floor delivering people to their rooms at the end of the day. At the beginning and the end of each day restaurants and coffee shops near the convention center served people waiting in weaving lines that stretched throughout the hotels.

There was also plenty of shopping. The exhibit hall was full of booths with eager representatives ready to explain programs, sell books and sign people up for all sorts of services and publications. Everything was well organized to create a smooth running weekend experience that motivated, inspired and imparted knowledge. The time, work and organization required to successfully implement a gathering of tens of thousands of people under the umbrella of religious education had to be monumental. Yet, this went unnoticed as groups moved together laughing and talking. Everything appeared to happen effortlessly and with few, if any problems.

Beyond the speakers, their topics and the liturgies, however, I think that in the end it is the personal contacts, the quiet conversations over coffee, a meal or a late night glass of wine that make Congress work so well for so many. The Celtic liturgy with its eloquent homily and beautiful music was a marvelous experience; however, it was sharing that experience with someone else that created the smile and the memory.

In other words, Congress is a vehicle to connecting people. It is a time to share faith, fellowship and ideas. It is discussing speakers and workshops, and trying to figure out how to put what was learned into action.

Congress offers an opportunity to begin anew and this may be what brings many back year after year. There is energy, dare I say grace, which comes form the crowds of people moving together from place to place, smiling, connecting and talking to each other. Many conversations take place among people who do not know each other and most likely will never meet up again, as well as between close friends and family members.

I will remember always the conversation shared with a group of women from Denver, as we waited in a long line for dinner on Saturday night. I will also remember with gratitude the dinner shared with my uncle and a good friend outside under the stars in a quiet corner. Each encounter focused on the happenings of the day and brought to life what each of us may be looking for at Congress --- a chance to connect our faith with others.

By the end of the weekend, most people are ready to leave and return to the relative quiet of their personal lives. It is tiring to move in crowded corridors and sit for hours listening to speakers. The impact of the whole experience does not, I don't believe, settle in until we return to quiet time on familiar ground back home.

Eventually, the handouts we get at workshops will disappear into piles of papers and the books we bought will return to the bookshelves. But the recollections of the fellowship we shared in discussing the wonderful insights generated by the speakers, their handouts and books, will remain for a long time.

Anne Hansen is a member of the Camarillo Catholic community. Her e-mail address is familymail@aol.com.