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Our Editorial Team

Publisher of Pflaum Publishing Group

David Dziena is the Publisher for Pflaum Publishing Group. He has also served as Executive Editor and Parish Projects Manager with Our Sunday Visitor. Prior to OSV, he was Editorial Manager for nine years at Silver Burdett Ginn Religion, followed by RCL Benziger. He also worked for St. Joseph’s Parish in Croton Falls, NY for a total of ten years—first as Director of Religious Education and then Coordinator of Youth Ministries. Since 1993, he has led Confirmation workshops and retreats, and catechist formation classes. David is the co-author of the Catholic Prayer Book for the Separated and Divorced (OSV); Our Catholic Family: Activities, Conversations, and Prayer for Sharing Faith at Home (Pflaum); and the general editor for Singing Our Faith, Second Edition: Leader’s and Catechist’s Manual (GIA).

At Bayard, David manages  all catechetical products for children and youth for the company, including the Pflaum Gospel Weeklies, sacramental preparation programs, and the Good News student planners.

Project Editor of Pflaum Publishing Group

Joan McKamey, project editor, joined the Gospel Weeklies editorial team in September 2016. Her passion for sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ led her to seek degrees in Religious Studies/Religious Education (University of Dayton, BA) and Religious Studies/Pastoral Family Studies (Mount St. Joseph University, MA). She has served as a Catholic school religion teacher, parish catechist, youth retreat team leader, parish catechetical director, and RCIA team leader.

For the past 25 years, Joan has worked in Catholic publishing—helping create the Catholic Update Video series (Franciscan Media), producing audiobooks (Franciscan Media), and editing several print publications. She served as editor of Every Day Catholic (Franciscan Media), Catholic Update (Franciscan Media, Liguori Publications), and the new edition of Journey of Faith for adults (Liguori Publications).

Joan feels privileged to bring her skills and passion to the Pflaum Gospel Weeklies. She works primarily on Seeds, Promise, and Good News. She is married to Jon and has a young adult daughter, Claire. She makes her home in southeastern Indiana, near Cincinnati, Ohio.

Bilingual Editor of Pflaum Publishing Group

Erika De Urquidi, bilingual editor, joined Bayard, Inc. in July 2018. During her 15 years as a professional translator, Erika has worked in education, human resources, marketing, and legal departments for companies in the United States, Latin America, and Europe. She has a background in teaching, both in public and Catholic schools. Since her high school years, Erika has been an active member of the Catholic Church, serving as coordinator of her Diocese’s Youth Ministries, organizing conferences and retreats, and participating as a speaker at such events. She has also served as a catechist and on the Hispanic Ministry at her local parish.

Erika collaborates with different divisions of Bayard, Inc. She works on the bilingual materials of the Pflaum Gospel Weeklies. She lives in the Cleveland area with her husband, Tomás, and their two children, Tomás and Sofía.

Music Composer

John Burland is a teacher and composer who has been writing and recording religious music for children and adults for over twenty years. During this time, he has written and recorded over 200 songs and published fifteen music collections which are used extensively in school/parish communities across Australia, New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada.

In 2008, two of John’s liturgical compositions, Come O Holy Spirit and Lord By Your Cross were included in the official World Youth Day liturgies in Sydney, Australia. John regularly works with children, parents and educators in school/ parish communities and educational institutions promoting catechesis and celebration through song, movement, meditative prayer and story. He is a sought after speaker, workshop leader and internationally published author in the area of music and catechesis.

Over the last fifteen years John has been a regular presenter at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress and the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) Convention in the United States. Each year John visits more than one hundred Catholic communities in North America, England and Australia celebrating our Catholic Faith through the gift of song.

John is the National Music Consultant for Bayard, Inc. in North America and the Education Officer: Liturgy/ Music for Sydney Catholic Schools in Australia.