SUMMER CONFERENCES 2009

Kristina Cooper reports

Summer is always conference time, and there are lots that take place from small local ones to large events. Each event has its own personality and dynamic and regulars who come, but all of them will have the same elements of prayer and praise, teaching and fellowship. I am always struck at how important they are for building up people’s faith, and providing that spiritual encouragement and enthusiasm people need to take them through the coming year. Prayer groups might be declining in popularity but conferences seem to be growing, perhaps because they suit people’s lifestyles better today when everyone is so busy. I know they encourage me and I have some great conversations with people as they tell me what they are up to locally. I am often told that Charismatic Renewal is in a rut and people are not moving forward. This is not my experience, however, from the people I talk to.

There are some people too that I only see once a year at a particular conference. The conference gives me the opportunity to catch up and helps cement the sense of community that is one of the blessings of the Charismatic Renewal. Newcomers are often evangelized just by being in this environment of faith and love and enthusiasm. A young Jewish woman a friend of mine brought with him to New Dawn this summer for example, received the gift of tongues during the Baptism in the Holy Spirit night at the start of the conference. This encounter with Jesus gave her the desire to join an RCIA this autumn.

In the last issue I mentioned the wonderful atmosphere at the Northern Catholic Conference which was, held for the first time at Liverpool Hope University back in June when 500 or so people came for the weekend.

Similarly the Celebrate weekends at Brighton and Southampton with between 300-400 people attending (the Midlands, St Albans and the West Country still to come at time of going to press) went well. The weekends have been a way of spreading the Celebrate ethos for all the family, in a non-residential situation for those who have yet to go to the Celebrate Easter week conference in Ilfracombe.

The Spirit of Truth Camp which has taken place for the last 20years, at the end of July on a small holding in Staffordshire, grew out of a parish holiday week. Now it attracts people from all over. It is a small family camp, with people living in tents that are provided. The food is cooked centrally in the kitchen by volunteers. Because of the sacrificial spirit of those who serve the camp, large families are given a break at a really affordable price.

This year the Spirit of Truth had decided to limit the numbers so they could take time out to discern what the Lord was saying for the future. About 60 people attended. Although there was prayer and praise and some teaching, there was also a work element, as participants helped with gardening etc, which added a monastic feel to it. The Spirit of Truth community, who are responsible for the camp, have a weekly Friday night prayer meeting, and following the camp they are encouraging some of the participants of the camp to join them once a month, or whenever they can drop by.

The New Dawn Conference at Walsingham, which has been going since 1987, is the biggest of the English conferences and about 3000 people come each year. As it is the first week in August, the weather is normally very good, but in 2008 there was the most terrible storm towards the end of the week – really angry rain – which flooded out the camp site. Would this put people off coming back in 2009? It didn’t – and numbers were as high as ever and the weather held out!

Eighty one year old Myles Dempsey is still very much at the helm, but based now in Liverpool, he has a band of able Liverpudlians to share the load, as well as an ad hoc team from all over the country, who take on the running of various aspects of the conference, whether it is the different children’s and young people’s streams, or the stewarding and taking care of the sacristy requirements. New Dawn has more and more of an international dimension - not just because of the speakers who come from all over the world, but also the participants and at each Mass the gospel is now read in four languages – Czech, Polish, English and Portuguese in view of the groups coming from these countries. Ghanaians and Ugandans and others from an Afro-Caribbean background, who are living in the UK also come bringing their cultural sensibilities and liveliness to the celebrations, as well as families from all over the UK.

The Birmingham Conference took place as usual at the Parragon Hotel in Birmingham in the second week of August. This conference is ideal for the slightly older person who needs a bit more physical comfort, but still wants to be spiritually fed and challenged. Chairman Bob Grant comments, “Our charism is music and worship and good Catholic teaching with a particular emphasis on the Eucharist. The participants said that is was the best ever, but they say that every year.” Numbers were up – (up to 400 people at the Masses). The importance of the conference in the life of the diocese was emphasized by the Vicar General Mgr Moran in his homily, as it is a time when people can receive good teaching and fellowship which enthuses them for the year.

Jesus Youth, the Indian Catholic Charismatic fellowship, which has been growing rapidly in the UK over recent years had their 2nd large conference at a holiday camp in North Wales in August this summer. About 520 people of different age groups attended. The majority were young adults but there was also a nursery for children, a stream for teens and one for married couples. The theme was “Dare2Go” based on Matthew 28:18-20. Since the conference, leader Sibi Joseph said that there had been many new evangelization initiatives like youth prayer meetings in parishes and campuses, Life in the Spirit seminars for groups and leaders running retreats for pre-teens. Two bishops attended the conference and many priests and religious.

Risen Lord Community from Sri Lanka also arranged a very successful visit in September of the founder and leader of the community Lalith Pereira. He ran his four step retreat in three London parishes and ended with a day at Westminster Cathedral. (See page 22 for further details).

The Missionaries of Jesus community organized a weekend of healing and deliverance with Neal Velez, the Puerto Rican evangelist called “Inflamed by the Holy Spirit” (4th-6th September) at St Anne’s in Whitechapel, East London. Alex Chavez, a Brazilian (whose testimony was in the May/June issue of Goodnews) also spoke. A third Latin American speaker wasn’t able to come because of visa problems – a perennial difficulty for the Latin American community in bringing in speakers from their home countries. About 250 people attended and both Portuguese and Spanish were used at the congress.

This was the second event organized by Latin American charismatics in London. Paolo Maia, one of the leaders of the Messengers of Love group at Whitechapel commented, “It was a great experience and good for us to come together. We are two cultures but one God.” The two groups are already thinking about next May when they will be organizing together Hosanna Londres 2010.

The Brazilian CCR also organized a special event on 30th August in Oxford, where the Brazilian community want to start a charismatic prayer group. Three coaches with 150 people travelled down from London for the day which began at 1pm and finished at 8pm. Two talks were given and then people were prayed with for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. One man was healed of severe diabetes and a group has now been set up which meets regularly. For details of what happened go to www.ccblondres.com

The bi-annual Come and See conference, which took place the 12th-13th September, was also a great blessing to those who came. Numbers were down by half, however, so the venue was transferred to Christ the King High School in Southport. About 300 people attended. Fr Chris Thomas commented, “Come and See is not Charismatic Renewal in the narrow sense but we are trying to help people to explore more the broadness of their Catholic faith and living it out in the world.” The two main speakers were Fr Dennis McBride and Megan McKenna. Fr Chris added, “the message of the conference for me was that Jesus is always bigger than our understanding of him and we need to be open to this. We miss a lot if we try and tie Jesus down and try and make him fit into our preconceptions of him.”

The same weekend in Cardiff the Welsh NSC organized a Healing and Deliverance weekend with Fr Rufus Pereira, in Wales for the first time. This involved a three day training course at St Peter’s Church in Cardiff, for invited leaders on the healing and deliverance ministry for about 30 people and two open evenings at St David’s cathedral attended by about 200 people.

As part the Welsh NSC’s vision to help equip people to grow in the charisms, Chairwoman Frances Graham has organized a block booking of 50 places for the next Charism School organized by the Cor et Lumen Christi Community in February.

Youth2000 held their usual big youth event at Walsingham over the August Bank Holiday where 1000 or so people attended. Every year the organizers take a big step in faith as the weekend is free and is dependent on donations to meet all the expenses, which are considerable. This year one of the main speakers was Eduardo Verastegui (see page 10) whom we interview in Goodnews this issue.

As well as these bigger events, there was an inspiring first time initiative by Amanda Buardi, a young woman from St Joseph’s parish in Hackney,London. Wanting something appropriate for urban black youth, she got together with some of her friends and put on “Young and Gifted” for 13-19 year olds in her area. This was a two day non residential event held in the parish hall on 28th-29th August. Amanda was supported by a YCW (Young Christian Workers) worker and friends from Soul Food, a catholic charismatic young adult group. There was hip-hop music, a talent show, free Caribbean food, and an amusing but challenging take on the Jeremy Kyle show. Here the issues of drug taking and gang culture were looked at and led on to small group discussion. About 30 young people came. The organizers had funded everything themselves and their sacrificial spirit was very inspiring and gave hope for the future.

Springs Family Camp takes place the first week of the summer holidays (26th July-1st August) at St Mary’s parish, Wycliffe, near Barnard Castle. The organizers never know how many people will turn up – usually between 50-70 people. Many people come every summer and, together with two family days a year, a loose but open community has grown up over the years. Everyone pitches in using their gifts whether it is teaching drama and dance or taking care of the PA equipment. The day begins and ends with prayer, and there are talks and workshops and fun activities for children. The St Mary’s church and hall is used for some of the activities and a small marquee is erected. Cooking is done centrally and everyone helps, particularly the teenagers. The week is donation only and food is bought as the camp proceeds.

Campers Renewal took place this year at Bewerly Park, an outdoor pursuits centre at Patley Bridge 1st -8th August. This smallish camp grew out of the camping side of the old Ampleforth conference and is still going strong more than 30 years later. It usually attracts between 150-200 people, although numbers were down this year because of the terrible weather last year. 120 came this time, including a group of 30 from the Source community in High Wycombe. About 1/3 of the camp are between 14-25 and the rest tend to be young families with a smattering from the older generation- usually grandmas and grandpas. It is very much a do-it yourself conference where the participants are encouraged to run things whether it is helping with the children’s sessions, looking after the drying room, or organizing a fun activity like the egg throwing competition this year. The speaker was Fr John Wilson, the vicar for evangelization in the Leeds diocese. The sense of community is palpable and this year a family of asylum seekers from Eygpt were scooped up from being deported and taken for a week’s break at the camp. Everyone rallied round with food, blankets and a tent. Janice, who is a regular at the camp with her husband and four small children comments, “next year there is talk about extending the camp to 10 days, as no-one wants to go home at the end.” There is also talk of a more permanent community developing in the future.