by Kathryn White
Special to The Leaven
OVERLAND PARK — It was 6:45 a.m., and the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon on what seemed like a typical Kansas morning. When most of Kansas City was just starting to rise and brew their first cup of coffee, over 200 business men and women, dressed and ready to start their day, poured into Fiorella’s Event Space here. Not for a wedding or other event. This was the Catholic Business Network, and the largest attendance in nearly two decades.
The Catholic Business Network is, as its motto declares: “Where faith and business meet.” It is a recognized and approved Catholic lay apostolate that serves both the Kansas and Missouri Catholic community.
The network was started by Michael Shirley, a businessman and a parishioner of Church of the Nativity in Leawood, who was seeking community and wanting to support other Catholic businesses. But when he and co-founder Dan Spencer scoured the Midwest for a group of business professionals who gathered, as Catholics, to support one another, they couldn’t find a model to replicate.
So they decided to create it. Out of that effort was born the Catholic Business Network (CBN), which recently celebrated its 18th birthday.
“We wanted to keep [The Catholic Business Network] simple,” said Shirley. “[We would] gather, invite well-spoken speakers, and break bread together.”
The group met quarterly, typically averaging 30-50 participants, alternating meetings at Nativity or St. Michael the Archangel, also in Leawood. Shirley doesn’t take credit for the organization.
“I may be founder, but it has been blessed by the Holy Spirit,” he said.
When the Catholic Business Network was in its infancy, a member had two children in Catholic school and had been out of work for two years. He asked if he could share his elevator pitch to the group. Soon afterwards, he landed a job.
Soon, CBN became a place where Catholics could share resumes and network with other Catholic business leaders. It also was a place for evangelization. Through invitation and great speakers, the number of Catholic “reverts” grew as well.
“We have had roughly 75 members to my knowledge join the church or come back to the church,” said Shirley. “That’s something I’m really proud of.”
After almost 20 years, however, both Spencer and Shirley decided to pass the baton at the April 14 breakfast to a new generation of leadership led by Kelly Kearney and the CBN’s Steering Committee. Archbishop Shawn McKnight gave the keynote at the event, and addressed both generations of leadership on the topic “Synodality in the workplace.”
“To live our faith is to have others with us, right? Sometimes to keep us on track, sometimes for us to help others,” opened Archbishop McKnight. “But it’s important that we band together because this faith that we profess as Catholics is not something we live or can live alone. It’s only in and through the network relationships that we know as the church.”
“After being ordained,” the archbishop continued, “I have never asked for any assignment. It’s always been a thing of mission. And that’s what’s important, to persevere in your own life as a Catholic, to have a firm sense of mission.”
The mission of the Catholic Business Network is to form Catholic business leaders in Kansas City who lead with faith, build meaningful community and bring the Gospel into their work. Through transformational speakers, small group connections and genuine hospitality, the network seeks to create space for growth both spiritually and professionally.
Archbishop McKnight also addressed the topic of living as a Catholic business person.
“If people know you’re Catholic, if you’re an upright person, you’re transparent, you’re accountable, you have good character, that helps the mission of the church,” he said. “When we are not, it hurts the mission of the church.
“So, it’s very significant of the role that you have to play in the life and mission of the church.“
Kearney, a parishioner of Church of the Nativity in Leawood, found the archbishop’s message a timely one as the leadership was in transition, and the network was charting a new course.
“There’s such a hunger for community, and many of us that are in the business world want to work for mission-driven organizations,” explained Kearney. “If you’re navigating the business world across all ages and stages of your career journey, we want you to know this to be a place of belonging. Our hope is to expand our engagement across all parishes for as many as we can within our Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas and also [the] Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph.”
Blake Nearmyer, also on the steering committee, agreed.
“There’s a generational gap on who we brought in,” he said. “So, I think one of my goals specifically is to bring in some younger folks so that they can really get the benefit of what this offers.
“There’s so much wisdom in this room. [It] goes beyond what happens at the meetings. There is a grand vision here — more of an actual network, a living, breathing network where people can tap into each other for business, for job opportunities.”
“We hope the Catholic community leans into itself when it needs things,” Nearmyer concluded.
Attending for the first time, Holy Trinity, Lenexa, parishioner Sarah Streitwieser was impressed by the event.
“I walked away wishing I’d attended sooner,” she said. “Archbishop McKnight spoke beautifully on synodality, calling us to hear, see and serve our clients and coworkers rather than treating them transactionally. The whole event impressed me: thoughtfully organized, rich with conversation and full of a wonderful mix of ages and experiences. I even spotted people I know from my professional life who I had no idea shared my faith. As a first-timer, I left inspired — and already looking forward to the next CBN event.”
Joan Wells, a parishioner of St. Michael the Archangel, is also serving on the Catholic Business Network’s steering committee. She believed Archbishop McKnight’s reflection was a good reminder about how to lead.
“It will help me in the workplace to remember to always seek the Holy Spirit,” she said, “and the people that are put in my path and the people that I have the opportunity to work with all over the world.”
Co-founder Dan Spencer closed out his time with the Catholic Business Network by reflecting on his 18-plus years of this special ministry.
“I will be forever in [Bishop Robert Finn and Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann’s] debt for their guidance, spiritual direction and their support. Archbishop Emeritus Naumann always insisted on being focused and committed to faithfulness to the church’s teaching. I took that as a personal pledge to the trust he extended to us.”
For more information about the Catholic Business Network, upcoming meetings and its new website, contact Kelly Kearney at: kellyk@cornerstonekc.com.
