Twenty-three-year-old Julian Sieber is making his way to Sydney as part of the relocation of The Catholic Guy ministry.
The Como parishioner will join at least 10 others in making the move across the country, and he told The Record he was excited about his new role as national director of creative media for The Catholic Guy and Impact Catholic Ministry.
“I look forward to working on something that simply has not been done here before and overcoming the challenges that brings,” he said.
“I feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to spend my time pursuing God’s call on my life – to reach people disconnected from the Church as both my career and ministry – using the specific talents he has given me.”
Mr Sieber, who has been involved with Impact Catholic Ministry for seven years, said he believes technology and media is fundamentally necessary to evangelisation.
“There certainly are ways to evangelise that do not require the use of technology or contemporary media, and any evangelisation, even if communicated completely through media, requires the human element of understanding one another, spending physical time with each other and being there to serve those who have less than we do,” he said.
“Yet teaching and preaching the Gospel is so important to us and those we are reaching that we should be using absolutely everything at our disposal to make it as effective and far-reaching as possible.”
Mr Sieber said he plans to drive across the Nullabor in late February before commencing work in March.
Founder of The Catholic Guy Bruce Downes told The Record he and his wife will be moving to Sydney, along with about 12 other team members from Perth.
He said the move will reduce the amount of travel the team does as a “mobile ministry” that frequently flies East for parish programs.
The idea of moving came about several years ago, after The Catholic Guy first began working in NSW and Victoria.
“We did 18 parishes in Perth in a row when we began, and then Cardinal Pell and Archbishop Coleridge were asking us to go over there and it just boomed in the East,” Mr Downes said.
With the success in the East and a reduced demand in WA, it made sense to move the ministry, Mr Downes said.
“We haven’t worked in WA for a couple of years,” he said. “Because of all the work we’ve done in Sydney, Cardinal Pell asked if we would establish Impact Catholic Ministry there, and we’ve also had discussions with Archbishop Coleridge in Brisbane.”
Impact Catholic Ministry will continue in Perth, Mr Downes said, while its Sydney branch will be launched in September.
It’s an exciting time for all involved, with a new program due to be released soon on Foxtel and The Catholic Guy about to be launched internationally.
Mr Sieber described Impact Catholic Ministry as a “community of people called by God to proclaim Jesus Christ through their lives”, with a particular focus on reaching out to those who are disconnected from the Church.
The next parish mission Impact Catholic Ministry will conduct in Perth will be at St Benedict’s Parish in Applecross from February 19 to 25.