Can catechesis get in the way of making disciples? (Part 1)
Let me say one really important thing: If you’re going to get out there and proclaim the Gospel more, you need to be ready with good discipleship and catechesis. I recently met with a wonderful,...
View ArticleHow do you know that what you’re doing is working?
It was a moment of doubt. I was sitting in the pub, waiting for a couple of our RCIA candidates to turn up, flicking through posts in the Forming Intentional Disciples Forum on my phone....
View ArticleCan catechesis get in the way of making disciples? (Part 2)
(You can find Part 1 of this post here.) In the last post, I suggested there are two ways that catechesis can get in the way of making disciples. First, I wrote about how...
View ArticleWhat God can do…
We’re approaching Easter and so often for the parish year, this means that programmes wind up and catechists take a well-deserved rest. Well, not so in Portsmouth… We have revamped the RCIA process...
View ArticleThe (Glorious) Burden of Our Call
I laughed out loud when I found out that a priest I work closely with had unknowingly chosen the same seminar option as me for a conference we were about to attend. The seminar was...
View ArticleMissionary Disciple Saints: What I learnt in Paris
I was really inspired by the first chapter in Becoming a Parish of Intentional Disciples, where Sherry Weddell writes about the “generation of saints” in the decades after St Francis de Sales arrived...
View ArticleHope in the RCIA
I haven’t written for a while about our RCIA in Portsmouth. You’ll probably remember we started a new process here nearly a year ago (you can read about how we started it here, there’s...
View ArticleWhy Community-Loving Teams Help Us Evangelise
As I’ve mentioned before, one of my favourite books about leadership is Bill Hybels’ Courageous Leadership. I am reading it again and am struck by the emphasis he places, towards the start of the...
View ArticleMind the Gap: Crossing over from Old to New
Recently, I’ve been working with both a parish and a deanery to help them plan more evangelistic, “discipling” Confirmation processes. We have enjoyed some really invigorating sessions together that...
View ArticleProclaim ’15: Time to make our thinking on evangelisation a reality
I wasn’t sure what to expect at Proclaim ’15 last weekend in Birmingham. Having been recently to the HTB Leadership Conference and having attended evangelical Catholic conferences like the St John...
View ArticleAutumn Update
Good morning, folks! There’s been some radio silence on the blog-front the last month or so… I don’t know about you, but for me, September and October seem to be the time of year...
View ArticleRCIA: Don’t stop with just a programme
As you all know, I’ve written tons and tons and tons on RCIA. When you are doing a year-round process with enquiry and Catechumenate running simultaneously, I find that fully responding to the Holy...
View ArticleAslan is on the move
“It was a full moon and, shining on all the snow, it made everything almost as bright as day — only the shadows were rather confusing.” CS Lewis, The Lion, The Witch and the...
View ArticleWhy we’re thinking about using Alpha…
Well, it’s been quite a first week in my new Richmond life… Over the space of four days, I had goodbye parties in Portsmouth, Moving Day to a new flat, my birthday, and the first...
View ArticleIn the Beginning: Prayer and Building Trust
You know what, although moving is a pretty big upheaval, two weeks in, I am overjoyed at all God has given, although perhaps not completely able to comprehend it yet. Really, his promise is sure: “good...
View Article24 Hours for the Lord
This is the beautiful scene of our sanctuary during 24 Hours for the Lord. The statue is St Elizabeth of Portugal, our patron. The weekend before, we gave everyone a 24-hour votive candle as...
View ArticleBreaking the Silence
A little silence on the blog front, but that doesn’t mean nothing’s happening. Quite the opposite. Having said that, my morning walk to work along the river is just blissful silence. Some days I...
View ArticleHow far will you go for mission?
Recently, I heard that my twenty-something cousin and her new husband are moving to help plant a church in the north-east. 25 other young adults and their families are moving with them and the...
View ArticleMini-Mission
The last couple of days, we’ve been blessed to be part of Meg Hunter Kilmer‘s UK mini-tour. I’m telling you, this girl is such an enormous blessing to us. She probably doesn’t realise how...
View ArticleThe Complete Fullness of Grace
Oh, there is so much fun you can have in catechetics. I sense your sceptical look, but it’s true. Recently while teaching catechetics, I led some MA students in exploring in depth some catechetical key...
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