SAMUELS: Unity Explosion Conference returns

For the first time in over seven years, we are proud to announce the return of the Unity Explosion Conference to Houston and the Texas area. The vision of the conference was to recognize, embrace and share the gifts that Catholics of African descent bring to the universal Church. The Archdiocese will serve as the host for the 2025 Catholic Conference with the theme “Awake to Evangelize through Faith, Hope and Love.” The conference will be held June 18 to 20 at the Hilton Houston NASA Clear Lake Hotel, located at 3000 E NASA Pkwy., in southeast Houston. 

The Unity Explosion Conference began in Dallas in 1989 by the United Black Commission and was developed to be a Roman Catholic liturgical conference. During a Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops (TCCB) meeting in the early part of the 21st century, the bishops of Texas unanimously agreed to continue and support the Unity Explosion Conference in Texas. The conference is now composed of the dioceses located in the Region X states of Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. 

According to the Unity Explosion Conference chairperson, Evelyn Wagner Wright, the then-Diocese of Galveston-Houston hosted its first Unity Explosion Houston Conference in 1990. A team of 12 volunteers in Houston began planning a conference the same year and continued with the name Unity Explosion. The Unity Explosion Houston Conference became a program under the Office for Black Catholic Ministries. Through the efforts of Charolette Davis, the Unity Explosion Conference became a tri-city conference and included Dallas, Houston and New Orleans. The conference was hosted once in Birmingham, Alabama.
Historically, the Houston conference has generally occurred and planned to occur every three years. The last conference was held in 2018 in San Antonio. However, due to the pandemic, the conference was postponed for 2020 and now preparations have been made for the conference for June.  

The conference chose as its mission to provide a conference experience that addresses the expressed evangelization, liturgical, ministerial, catechetical and leadership needs of its participants, with a direct emphasis placed on the African–American Catholic experience. 
The 2025 Conference Pastor (Leader) will be Father Anthony Bozeman, SSJ. Father Bozeman currently serves as the Academic Dean at St. Joseph Seminary and assistant vocations director in Washington, D.C.  

The director of music for the conference is Clark Knighten. Currently, Knighten is completing his 11th year as a choir and piano class instructor at The Academy of Our Lady High School in Marrero, Louisiana. Under his leadership and direction, the Academy of Our Lady Choirs has become well-known throughout the New Orleans area.  

In 2022, the Academy of Lady ECHO Choir was honored with an invitation to sing at the closing mass of the National Association of Catholic Educators Conference, which was held in New Orleans. This year, the ECHO received a Superior Rating in the LMEA District VI Small Ensemble competition. The choir sang at the 2025 Governor’s Luncheon in April and was invited to perform at the Gospel tent at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. 

The conference will have program tracks for adults, young adults and youth, and its conference content is planned for Catholics who desire to be on fire in ministry, worship and evangelization. The conference will culminate in a Juneteenth celebration in Galveston, which will be a Mass to commemorate the 160 anniversary of the Proclamation of the Emancipation of enslaved people in Texas on June 19, 1865.
For more information, visit unityexplosion-regionx.com. †

Father Reginald Samuels is the vicar of Catholics of African Descent and pastor of St. Laurence Catholic Church in Sugar Land.