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Christian Brothers work in many fields outside their traditional school apostolate of teaching and administration.
In New South Wales the Christian Brothers are involved in the following additional apostolic activities: Youth Refuges;
Social; Emotional; Hearing and Visual disabilities; Correctional Centres and a Centre for Justice and Community Education.
Adult Education & Formation Ministries
Aged Care Ministries
Chaplains Working in Correctional Facilities
Edmund Rice Camps
Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community
Education
Educational Annexes to Schools
Indigenous Ministries
Migrant Education
Outreach Ministries
School Ministries
Tertiary Education ~ Australian Catholic University
Spiritual Direction
Youth Refuges
INDIGENOUS MINISTRIES
* WALGETT ~ New South Wales, Australia
This town of approximately 3000 people is at the junction of the Namoi and Barwon rivers, which later becomes the Darling River.
It is around 100 kilometres from Queensland. Overall the population of the town is Aboriginal, mainly Gamilaraay, Yuwaalaraay and Ngiyambaa people. The main employment in
the area is related to farming, sheep and more recently wheat and cotton.
Christian Brothers in Walgett
At the end of 1994 the Brothers left Moree, 200 kilometres away, and transferred to Walgett. St Joseph's Primary School was
run by the Sisters of St Joseph for 98 years. It is a thriving school and has the highest number of Aboriginal students of any Catholic school in the Armidale Diocese.
The Brothers work in the general area of Aboriginal education. This has involved tutoring tertiary students and in recent years the
major focus has been on Aboriginal language revival - working with the Gamilaraay and Yuwaalaraay languages and programs for teaching them in schools.
A major focus of the Brothers in Walgett has been working with Aboriginal people and this has been a real change for all of them.
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* NAMBUCCA HEADS ~ New South Wales, Australia
* WADEYE ~ Northern Territory, Australia
The Brothers' community in Wadeye (pronounced "Wod-air") is comprised of both Christian Brothers and their associates. One of
the Brothers is the local Adult Educator. The rest of the household are working on a project involving the young men (Kardu Kigay) of Wadeye - "KARDU KIGAY HOST THEIR URBAN PEERS".
The local people of Wadeye have expressed a concern for their young men. In a world of increasing complexity, the Kardu Kigay,
as future leaders, need to learn how to adapt to the rapid changes going on around them, while retaining what is important in their own unique culture. The Christian Brothers were invited in by the
local Elders to assist in this development.
English is still a foreign language for the majority of the Kardu
Kigay. The initial aim of the project is to get the Kardu Kigay up to the "startling line" with their English. This will be achieved, firstly,
by getting the Kardu Kigay to host a group of their non-Aboriginal peers (from a southern city, such as Brisbane or Sydney) in their
traditional lands. Further incentive will be provided by way of a trip to the urban environs of their former guests. The project will be a
twelve month training program which will be highly practical in content and involve work experience in the local community and in Darwin, Northern Territory.
For more information on the work in Wadeye, please contact ~
Project Co-ordinator
Christian Brothers
Wadeye N.T 0822
Australia
Telephone & Facsimile + 61 02 8978 2770
Email: erfwadeye@hotmail.com
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EDMUND RICE CAMPS
For the past 13 years the Edmund Rice Camps in New South Wales have been providing quality, no cost, activity based holiday
camps for children aged 7-16, who come from backgrounds that are very much considered marginalised and disadvantaged.
The Camps provide an opportunity for these children to enjoy a care-free and relaxed time in an atmosphere of support and
challenge. The children who attend, are encouraged to do things they have never had the opportunity to do before, and to see that there are far more things in life than they have realised. The focus
is one of achieving goals - if you are prepared to put in the time and effort.
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WORKING IN CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES
Brothers assist and support Inmates, their families and staff at all times. The Brothers are currently at Parklea Correctional Facility
and were recently at the Metropolitan Reception and Remand Centre, Silverwater.
The Brothers help provide opportunities for prayer alone and in groups, reflection on their lives, Bible discussion, Church services,
Communion services and Mass, growth in faith and encourage all in their religious practice. The Brothers are available to counsel people and to act as mediator when necessary. Encourage
Inmates to be responsible for their actions and look at their real self and encourage to seek assistance for addictions and problems. The Brothers assist in facilitating all faith communities
within the Centre with access to their own ministries, special needs for worship and dietary needs according to their own religious belief. The Brothers encourage Inmates to explore many
spiritual issues and how life can change when it revolves around God.
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ADULT EDUCATION &
FORMATION MINISTRIES
The Christian Brothers Adult Education Team exists primarily to be of assistance to people working within the Edmund Rice Family.
It seeks to respond to their hunger for faith development and spiritual growth in the light of their various ministries and occupations.
~ P R O G R A M S ~
* Introduction to Ministries
* Called & Gifted Workshops
* Workshops for School Boards
* Small Group and Individual Retreats
* Gospel Values Across the Curriculum
* Follow-up Workshops for Called & Gifted Participants
RETREAT TEAMS
The Youth Apostolate Team began in 1974 with Br Peter Hancock as Vocation Director. He believed that visiting classrooms was
not the way for senior students to consider Vocation. Time away from school during a retreat, was the way for all Vocations to be considered.
Mission Overview .....
The Youth Apostolate Team is a ministry of the Christian Brothers,
St Mary's Province. It seeks to provide the opportunity for senior Catholic secondary school students in New South Wales to experience, in a retreat atmosphere, period of reflection and
personal spiritual development. It also provides in-service programs for teachers in conducting retreats.
Conducted by a fully professional team (Religious and lay male and female practitioners) within the teaching and traditions of the
Congregation of Christian Brothers, the ethos of the Catholic Church and the charism of the Founder of the Christian Brothers, Edmund Rice.
These retreat facilities are at historic "Winbourne", Mulgoa, New South Wales.
RETREAT AIMS
* To deepen in the young people an appreciation
and love of their lives,
and the life that surrounds them.
* To be aware of and sensitive to the needs of young people.
* To present a Christian perspective, that offers possibilities and
provides openings for further inquiry.
* To provide a safe, relaxing and prayerful physical
environment
that nurtures and promotes the individual.
* To provide an opportunity for retreatants to take time
from their hectic lifestyles.
* To awaken in retreatants their sense of responsibility
for social issues in the world and challenge them to respond.
* To deliver the uniqueness in the individuals
and to raise their self esteem,
so as to build better relationships.
* To have a spirit of Christ, to treat the retreatants
as if Jesus was running the retreat.
* To challenge the retreatants to share their personal story
in a safe environment that is not critical.
* To allow the retreatants to be involved
in the preparation and experience
of positive and creative liturgy.
* To facilitate the retreatants exploration of Spirituality
and to encourage them to take ownership of the process.
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