On Wednesday evening 10 days ago, 60 parishioners from across different Mass communities gathered at OLR church for an evening of hospitality, testimonies, worship music, Reconciliation and prayer ministry. This particular Encounter evening was the fourth time it’s been run in our parish – one in November last year and three events this year – and once again, half the people who gathered were there for the first time. This statistic tells a wonderful story: that people have a desire for more in their faith lives and that their desire is for deeply life-changing person encounters with Jesus.

A big thank you to those people who served in any way at Encounter – our catering volunteers, John Maddy and Verity Lebeter who shared powerful testimonies, our NET Team for inspiring music ministry, and those who served in prayer ministry by praying out loud in pairs for the intentions of others who came for prayer.

We would love to take Encounter evenings on the road to other faith communities in the parish so please contact me (Fr Josh – [email protected]) if you would like to know more about making this happen in your community in 2022.

Below are some photos from the night.