Keynote #1:

The Joining of Masculine and Feminine Spirituality in the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony

Tim and Valerie unveil “the secret” to living joyfully the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony that really isn’t so secret. The real challenge is living it once you know it! You have to come to the talk to find out what “the secret” is!

Tim Staples

Tim Staples was a fallen-away Southern Baptist who as a teen came back to faith in Christ through the witness of televangelists. During his four-year tour with the U.S. Marine Corps, he became friends with a Marine well-versed in his Catholic Faith who challenged Tim to study Catholicism from Catholic and historical sources. That sparked a two-year search for the truth. Immediately after his tour of duty, Tim attended Jimmy Swaggart Bible College and became a youth minister in an Assembly of God community. He was determined to prove Catholicism wrong, but he studied his way to the last place he thought he would ever end up: the Catholic Church. He converted in 1988 and spent six years in formation for the priesthood, earning a degree in philosophy and studying theology at the graduate level. Realizing that his calling was not to be a priest, Tim left the seminary in 1994 and has been working in Catholic apologetics and evangelization ever since.

Valerie Staples

Valerie is a cradle Catholic and native Southern Californian who felt very close to God in her childhood. But as a teen she began to take her faith for granted like so many do. At one point she was even a self-professed "cafeteria catholic".

This would all change when Valerie had her Catholic Faith challenged by a friend who was a self-proclaimed "fundamentalist" and "bible scholar". And it was not just Valerie, but she and her two sisters were each challenged by well-meaning friends who wanted them to leave the Catholic Church of their youth. It was during this time their father introduced them to the science of apologetics. It was then that Valerie fell in love with her Catholic faith all over again. And it would only be a few years later when Valerie would meet and marry Tim Staples. The rest is, as they say, history!

Valerie has been a guest speaker with Magnificat, is a regular speaker with MOM's ministries in Southern California and is a full-time homeschooling mother of 7, one of whom is autistic! Valerie has a degree in Liberal Arts but is a student of philosophy and theology. She has been a facilitator with ENDOW (Education on the Nature and Dignity of Women) study groups and was the Director of Goretti Girls for six years (a San Diego based Catholic fellowship ministry for teens). She is also a Director of Marketing with Legal Shield Services, and was Ambassador Secretary with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Orange County.