By Sharon Brewer, Catholic Enquiry Centre, NCE
The National Centre for Evangelisation (NCE) recently launched several new resources which will be of great benefit to those whose ministry focuses on evangelisation and catechesis. The resources include a new website and book aimed at people becoming Catholic or returning to the faith, an online video platform and a pastoral study guide based on the decrees and commitments of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia.
A summary of the four resources is provided below.
Becoming Catholic website (becoming.catholic.au)
The new website offers theologically sound, yet simple, explanations for the non-churched about God and what it means to be Catholic. It also provides links to extra material for those who want to dive deeper into the faith. The website has been designed to provide a friendly and welcoming space where seekers can find answers to the most frequently asked questions received by the Catholic Enquiry Centre in recent years.
Becoming.catholic.au also includes a growing library of short testimonies by Australian Catholics, speaking on various aspects of the faith.
The website, which can be viewed as a stand-alone site, is also part of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference’s website offerings (www.catholic.au). This will allow website visitors to explore beyond the Becoming Catholic site to see what is on offer from other teams in the Conference. For example, research about the Catholic Church in Australia and the many social justice offerings for groups such as migrants and refugees, those living with a disability, the marginalised as well as care for the environment.
Discovering God and what it means to be Catholic
This book includes introductory material found on www.becoming.catholic.au. It complements the NCE’s 2017 publication, Discovering Prayer. The pair of books will be offered free to those who are enquiring about the Catholic faith through the Catholic Enquiry Centre.
For parishes, these books and the website will be very useful to those making enquiries about the faith and those participating in the RCIA process. The books would also be useful gifts for parents participating in sacramental programs, families commencing at parish schools, and for high school leavers. Parishes can purchase the books for a minimal cost (a bundle of five copies of either book for $22 including GST) via the ACBC online shop.
If you would like a single copy of these books for review purposes, please contact info@catholicenquiry.com and mention that you read about the resources in the CIAN newsletter.
It should be noted that both the website and the book strongly encourage readers to connect with their local parish so they can be accompanied on their faith journey. Also, our older resource, Call and Response: An Introduction to the Catholic Faith, which is still available for sale, will not be reprinted once stocks are depleted.
Evangelise Plus (evangeliseplus.com.au)
This website is our new video platform offering a broad range of presentations from Australian Catholics. The videos can be viewed on-demand and for free, with new titles being added regularly. Our current offerings include:
- The Church and Sport (2023)
- Evangelise Conference (2022): Includes five Plenary Sessions and 21 keynote presentations
- World Meeting of Families (2022)
- National Catholic Men’s Gathering (2021): Brothers what must we do?
To assist with utilising these resources in parishes or faith communities, site visitors can download a video catalogue, as well as documents on how to host a gathering and how to effectively use the videos.
Carrying Forward the Plenary Council – Pastoral Study Guide
This pastoral study guide has been published to support local reflection on the outcomes of the Fifth Plenary Council of Australia. Carrying Forward the Plenary Council invites Catholic parishes, schools and other communities to pray about, reflect upon and review what they are already doing, or could be doing, in relation to acting on the commitments the Council members made in the decrees.
This resource, prepared by the NCE, is available to download from the Plenary Council website.
For more information about these resources, please contact the NCE via info@nce.catholic.org.au.
For parishes and dioceses who have links to the Catholic Enquiry Centre on their website, please note that this site now diverts to becoming.catholic.au.
