Religious Education & Evangelisation
Contributions are welcome to this page.
The Iraqi Alpha GroupThe first time this programme was presented in our parish was in 2000, by David and Liz Spencer. Listening to them talk at Mass one Sunday was Maysoon Rasaam. Having recently recovered from major surgery, Maysoon was looking for a spiritual direction in her life, and decided to attend. She was so moved by the programme, that she encouraged others, and by 2001, more than 50 Iraqi Catholics were attending the course. This group then decided to translate the course material, CD’s and the manual, into Arabic, each person doing their piece but working together. Father Philip was extremely supportive of their efforts, and encouraged other Iraqi’s to join them. As it continued to grow, it ran concurrently with the English version.
A spinoff of this programme was the start of a bible study group in Arabic, which is still running today. As a result of this new found involvement with the parish, the Iraqi parishioners became involved with the parish council, hospital chaplaincy, music ministry, small group discussions, and fund raising.
In 2006, the parishioners teamed up with John Eccles to start an Alpha-ESOL course. One again, Fr Philip was so welcoming and encouraging, that the group set up in St. Thomas More parish. Then, in 2009, the parish council hosted a mission for all parishioners, led by the ICPE mission team, based at St. Gerard’s monastery in Wellington.
for this page.
The Iraqi Alpha GroupThe first time this programme was presented in our parish was in 2000, by David and Liz Spencer. Listening to them talk at Mass one Sunday was Maysoon Rasaam. Having recently recovered from major surgery, Maysoon was looking for a spiritual direction in her life, and decided to attend. She was so moved by the programme, that she encouraged others, and by 2001, more than 50 Iraqi Catholics were attending the course. This group then decided to translate the course material, CD’s and the manual, into Arabic, each person doing their piece but working together. Father Philip was extremely supportive of their efforts, and encouraged other Iraqi’s to join them. As it continued to grow, it ran concurrently with the English version.
A spinoff of this programme was the start of a bible study group in Arabic, which is still running today. As a result of this new found involvement with the parish, the Iraqi parishioners became involved with the parish council, hospital chaplaincy, music ministry, small group discussions, and fund raising.
In 2006, the parishioners teamed up with John Eccles to start an Alpha-ESOL course. One again, Fr Philip was so welcoming and encouraging, that the group set up in St. Thomas More parish. Then, in 2009, the parish council hosted a mission for all parishioners, led by the ICPE mission team, based at St. Gerard’s monastery in Wellington.
for this page.