September 16th is Mission Sunday and the Catholic Agency to Support Evangelisation (CASE) is encouraging all parishes, groups and communities to use this Christmas in a special way as an opportunity to evangelise and reach out to lapsed Catholics. On page 4 we have contact details for various resources they have to help, and an inspiring testimony of a young man who lapsed from his faith and came back. Another resource might also simply be the Goodnews magazine. We have had some wonderful feedback from those who have read in particular the special anniversary issue. One man from the West Country was apparently baptised in the Holy Spirit simply through reading it and for Len Akehurst, a reader who now lives in Brazil, the anniversary issue became part of a series of God-incidences which led to his wife being baptised in the Holy Spirit and a whole new ministry developing for them as a couple. So if you haven’t already done it before, why not buy someone a special issue as a gift or take out a gift subscription for them, and we will include the special issue for free.

Tapes of talks are also a wonderful way of spreading the gospel. See this month’ selection of Agape tapes. We also hear the inspiring story of two unsung heroes, David and Alma Pinkney who in the early days of CCR were responsible for recording and duplicating many of the conferences and for helping to spread teaching about CCR all over the British Isles and Ireland.

Patti Mansfield, one of the original retreatants of the famous Duquesne weekend reflects in her article, “Proclaim the Glorious Deeds of the Lord”, that it was the power of one to one testimony that really spread the word about Charismatic Renewal in the early days. She encourages those who have been touched by the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives to share their experiences with others, so that they too might come to believe in the power of the Holy Spirit working today. As well as the importance of preaching and sharing the word of God with others, Fr Chris Thomas in his article “Preach at all times and if necessary use words”, reflects on the importance of radical Christian living in making the proclamation of the gospel effective in our society today.

In “Evangelising in the Endz” I share my own experiences of trying to bring the gospel to a contemporary housing estate and what I have learnt through it. Fr Pat Collins, in his article reflects on the importance of evangelisation in the life of the Church if she is to remain vibrant.

If the word has power to build up and convert, it also has the power to destroy and Paul Grutsch, in his challenging article, “The Power of the Tongue”, reflects on how easily we can slip into criticism and negative thinking, and how this destroys the body of Christ.

In the second part of their seminal address from the 40th anniversary celebration at Westminster Cathedral, in May this year, Kevin and Dorothy Ranaghan, identify the four main characteristics of the CCR in the early days – lay ministry, charisms (particularly healing), young people and ecumenism – and call on these to continue to be priorities for the CCR in the future. Fr Peter Hocken, author and historian of the CCR, continues our series of reflections on the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and looks at what he sees as its purpose and meaning at this time in our history.

For evangelisation to be effective and for the CCR to be renewed what is needed above all is prayer. Fiona Hendy, a member of the English National Service Committee, from the House of the Open Door, encourages people in the renewal to become intercessors. Tied in with this, Goodnews is promoting a well known English translation of the Veni Creator Spiritus prayer, (the hymn “Come Holy Ghost, Creator come from thy bright heavenly throne”) which has been said (in Latin) since the 9th century at all major synods and gatherings of the Church. A version of the same prayer was also said by the retreatants at the Duquesne weekend, which ushered in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal in 1967. The same prayer was also promoted at this year’s national CCR conference in Ireland and it thus seems appropriate that in our 40th anniversary year, we should also be encouraging everyone in CCR once again, to say this prayer for the renewal of our lives and of the Church in general. If you would like more copies of the bookmark, please contact us at the Goodnews office (see p24-25).

As we went to press we received news that the House of the Open Door Community has been badly hit in the recent floods, and we felt sure their friends and supporters would want to know, so they could help. See “Noticeboard” on page 34 for more details

Kristina Cooper