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Resources Sharing the Gospel through the Media
From its small beginnings ten years ago Catholic Evangelisation Services has grown into a world-wide supplier of Catholic teaching material on video and DVD. June Palmer tells the story of how it began.
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In 1996 in response to the Pope’s call for a New Evangelisation in the Church, the National Service Committee asked David Payne, who was then working at the CCR Centre, to look at the Alpha course and see if it could be used to bring renewal and evangelisation to Catholic parishes. With a small team of mainly volunteers and working closely with Holy Trinity Brompton the Catholic Alpha Office opened, running training days around the country ably supported by a wider team including Fr Tom Kenny, Fr Peter Nealon and Sister Mary Bernard Potter from the Leeds diocese. Many Catholic parishes ran the Alpha course and as a result thousands of lives were impacted. With its “Holy Spirit weekend” in the middle of the course, Catholics all over the country were baptised in the Holy Spirit and once their faith had “come alive” they were hungry for more, particularly for similar Catholic teaching resources. In 1999 David Payne met Cardinal Stafford, head of the Vatican’s Council for the Laity in Rome, who encouraged him to develop resources to help Catholics get a deeper appreciation and understanding of their faith. This led to a renewed fundraising effort and the team was plunged into the world of film-making. Later that year, the first series “Drink from the Wells of the Church” was filmed at a retreat given by the preacher to the Papal Household, Fr Raniero Cantalamessa. This was followed very quickly by a series of talks on the Church and the Sacraments presented by Dr Marcellino D’Ambrosio. Other series followed as, in answer to prayer, gifted speakers appeared. Archbishop Mark Coleridge presented a series on Scripture, Tradition and the Teaching of the Church. Our own home grown, David Wells, Director of Education from Plymouth Diocese gave an inspiring series for parents and Michelle Moran presented the very practical, Pass It On evangelisation course that had been developed by the Sion Community. The team continued to pray and look for opportunities to develop more life-giving resources for parishes, to help the Catholics in a greater appreciation of their faith, the Sacraments and the Mass and to bring them into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As a result they produced ‘Knowing God Better” a course that David had helped to develop for The Upper Room community. Another ‘gap’ was identified in the area of justice and peace and so “Catholics Making a Difference” was developed using a number of speakers including Lord Alton. In 2001 David met Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor to seek his wisdom about the resources and he suggested they be brought together to form a process for parishes. At this point they changed their name to Catholic Evangelisation Services and launch in 2002 the CaFE (Catholic Faith Exploration) process.
In the last five years the team has developed their film-making skills and horizons. They have moved into catechetical resources with ‘Baptism’ (produced in conjuction with the Birmingham Archdiocese) and the recent ‘First Holy Communion and Reconciliation’ course for parents. The most difficult production to date (and the most expensive!) was the Youth CaFE series, with its very lively MTV style input that preaches the Gospel to teenagers. A production company with experience of producing Christian resources for young people was used for this and the result has proved very effective for schools, youth groups and Confirmation courses. The CaFE resources have made an impact around the world. There is a growing demand in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, Canada, USA and in English speaking parishes around the globe. In the last two years the ministry has expanded again with the move into running occasional CaFE missions, when a CaFE team travel to a parish and present a retreat day. To complete the ‘mission’ John Pridmore is invited to share his testimony with a local school and the parish. There is also an evangelistic evening of food and entertainment where parishioners are encouraged to bring their friends for a fun and challenging evening. A new series on the Mass (‘This is My Body – Experiencing the Power of the Mass’) has just been launched and there are other new and exciting film projects planned for the next twelve months. Over the years the team has changed as the Lord has called
people into different ministries but He has always brought forward new
and gifted people to fulfil the vacant roles at the right time. He has
also built up a strong network of like-minded individuals around the
world with a common vision and the skills to work together to spread
the resources. Visit the website of Catholic Evangelisation Services: www.catholicevangel.org
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This
course is designed to inform and inspire parents preparing to
have their children baptised. It follows the rite of Baptism and
includes input from David Payne, Archbishop Vincent Nichols and
numerous parents and children. It can be used over two sessions
with short video clips followed by questions for discussion. It
is light-hearted with funny comments from young children that
are designed to put parents at their ease but it also challenges
them to look at their own faith and how it can help them in their
everyday lives.
This
is an evangelistic course for parents of children preparing for
their First Holy Communion and Reconciliation. It gently reminds
Catholic parents of the importance of these Sacraments and encourages
non catholic parents to consider what the Sacraments are and how
they can help their children. There is input from Mgr John Armitage
(Vicar General, Brentwood Diocese), adult testimonies, comments
from parents and it follows three families as their children prepare
for First Reconciliation and Holy Communion. 
Seven
talks to help Catholics to get a deeper understanding and appreciation
of their faith by David Payne, Director of the Catholic Evangelisation
Services. This is a relaxed, fun and practical course which includes
mime, music, testimonies and opportunities for prayerful reflection
and is ideal for anyone who has had little adult formation and
wants to find out more about their faith. 
This
is the recently launched selection of talks about the Mass, including
two new sessions of a meditation on a filmed Mass using a voiceover
of the words from Fr Ian Petit’s book. It includes two talks
from the Exploring the Catholic Church series (“What is the
Mass” and “How to get More out of the Mass”), “The
Eucharist Makes us Holy” by Fr Raniero Cantalamessa, “Knowing
God’s Help” by David Payne and a homily for young people
entitled “Eucharistic Amazement”. The boxed set also
includes a CD of Music “Behold the Lamb” by CJM and
a copy of the book “This is My Body” by the late Fr
Ian Petit. 
A
series of six fast moving and inspiring sessions for teenage Catholics.
The course is very flexible and can be used for youth groups,
as part of a Confirmation course, or by schools and chaplaincy
groups. Each of the sessions contains several challenging elements
including a personal witness, young people’s questions and
thoughts, scripture dramatisation, “Grill the priest”
questions and answers and input from Fr Stan Fortuna.