After a three-year break, the Archdiocesan Men’s Conference is back, with the goal of bringing men together for faith, fellowship and fun. This year’s gathering from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 18 at All Saints in Lakeville is led by the Catholic Watchmen of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Deacon Gordon Bird, who ministers at All Saints and assists with Catholic Watchmen, recently joined “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley to talk about the upcoming conference and its theme: Raising the Bar. The featured speaker of the event, Devin Schadt, executive director of an apostolate called Fathers of St. Joseph, also was part of the conversation.

Schadt said he hopes to help and encourage men to deepen their faith, forge friendships with other men and together follow in the footsteps of St. Joseph, who modeled virtues of fatherhood desperately needed in a culture that has eroded true masculinity and fatherhood.

“The Fathers of St. Joseph was founded in 2012,” Schadt said. “It was really born out of my pursuit of discovering: What does it really mean to be a father? What does it mean to really be a man in our world today?”

He decided to write a letter to himself, in which he reflected on St. Joseph and tried to figure out “what I was I supposed to do as a father.” Later, those thoughts and reflections were published in a book he wrote about fatherhood and St. Joseph. He will use material from that book and the Fathers of St. Joseph apostolate in his keynote address. The men’s conference will open with Mass celebrated by Archbishop Bernard Hebda, and end with eucharistic adoration.

Deacon Bird said he wants men in the archdiocese to come together, find strength in numbers and understand that they “don’t have to go it alone.” Then, from there, he hopes they will continue the momentum of the conference and gather in small groups at their parishes, which is part of Archbishop Hebda’s plan for the Synod as he has expressed in his pastoral letter “You Will be My Witnesses.”

“It all starts (with) getting together in solidarity so we can believe and pray and worship together as men to strengthen each other,” Deacon Bird said. When that happens, “they do become better men.”

To hear the full interview, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts at 9 p.m. Feb. 24 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. Feb. 25 and 2 p.m. Feb. 26.

Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with Archbishop Bernard Hebda from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, who shares thoughts on kickstarting Lenten disciplines; and Father Joseph Taphorn, rector and vice president of the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, joined by the new president of the University of St. Thomas, Rob Vischer, who discuss the intersection of faith and leadership.