The editor recently took part in a conference on Evangelisation.
Here is his report.

"Gosh, Wow, and Amen,
Here's hoping we'll meet now and then"

Imagine a great old house, where you were once young and happy. You still feel thoroughly at home there, but the place has lost some of its bounce and bustle. For all that the house is well equipped it no longer gets many callers. Now and then you hear that the people in charge have plans to bring new life to the house, but for all the hard work and good intentions, nothing much seems to change. Fewer and fewer people seem all that interested, and you yourself go on living quietly, with your memories to sustain you.

Then one day, you’re invited to revisit the house. There you discover a great Chest full of treasures of all kinds. Some seem brand new. They sparkle and shine and easily catch your eye. Others, although more familiar in some ways, still need to be looked at carefully to discover their true worth. Suddenly because of what you found in the Chest, the whole house becomes more appealing, more full of interest. The example may not be perfect, but my recent visit to London Colney, seemed a lot like re-visiting just such a familiar place.

London Colney is near St Albans about an hour north of London. The diocese of Westminster has a Pastoral Centre there which, is often used for meetings by people from much further afield. In late November, C.A.S.E, (the Catholic Agency for the Support of Evangelisation) organised a conference there on “Evangelisation.” I expressed my interest and was invited to attend. Glad I am. It may have been a brief overnight stop, but there was much that caught the eye with a bright new sparkle, and many familiar things demanding fresh and better attention. More than anything else, it made me feel that though the Good News of the Gospel can still be overheard, it is not often enough told with the dynamism and drive it deserves. The C.A.S.E meeting at London Colney was rich in hope precisely because the people there were busy doing just that kind of “Gospel-Telling”.

So what shone, and what demanded attention? To begin with there was a strong ecumenical presence, especially from “Churches Together in Britain and Ireland”, people who already have huge experience in this field and were generous with their help. (and their patience?) It was one of their number, Simon Barrow, who responded to what he was hearing with, “Gosh, Wow and Amen”. A young lady named Bobbi Siddhu, told us about the great work being done in Soho Square by “The International School of Mission.” C.A.S.E. team member, Clare Ward introduced us to the quite excellent web site that now complements the Catholic Enquiry Centre. Fr Tony Pateman from the Nottingham diocese reminded us of a fundamental part of the early church, Kononia (“put your coin on ‘ere”) while telling us about his work with small communities. He also made Evangelisation seem ridiculously simple with his suggestion that it was for each one in the church to reach one outside of it. “Each One, Reach One”. Two ladies, Nicky Stevens from Plymouth and Veronica Murphy from Salford, combined to give us a very thoughtful and encouraging re-appraisal of the R.C.I.A. Frances Ryan of the Sion community told us all about the work for young people being done by the Oasis movement in five of our largest cities. Paddy Flanagan came across from Dublin and cheered us all with the hopeful signs of Gospel rebirth in the fair city. Down-sizing seems necessary before there can be new life. There was much else besides, including a certain amount of Sales Pitch. (You want to have a mission? Hire us). The C.A.S.E team themselves seemed anxious to sell themselves too. They must have found the experience helpful in defining their role more clearly.

Everyone was agreed that if people are to bring the news to others, they first need nourishing themselves. The most basic nourishment had to come from an altogether different experience of parish life. Wise words came from Fr Jonathan Cotton, a Benedictine monk at Leyland who reminded us: “The best way ahead in all this is firstly to rejoice and celebrate the variety and goodness of approaches that were put before us. Secondly not to think that in our particular circumstances should we do this or that, but rather to look at what linked all these different approaches together. This is Love. After all the fullness of God’s Word is Love. Love will bring the light to discern which way we in our particular circumstances should go in responding to the continuous and urgent call to be evangelisers. The Lord is THE evangelist. We do our part by letting Him live in us as we respond to his will, the call of Love, in our lives”.

Leaving for the slow lane of a long motorway, I thought of the Narcissus bulb we were given on arrival. “Come the spring” we were told, “it will flower, provided you plant it of course”. The symbolism was clear. Driving back I managed to fit Simon Barrow’s words to the tune of an old song, “Just one of those things.” “So, Gosh, Wow and Amen, here’s hoping we’ll meet now and then, it was great fun, and much more than just one of those things”.