They say that life begins at 40; however, in various ways, the Centre for Faith Enrichment (CFE) has been abounding in life since its conception back in 1976!
The CFE is the adult faith education agency of the Archdiocese of Perth. Its mission is to help “everyday” Catholics in both Perth and rural parts of the Archdiocese – and, indeed, anyone who is interested – to understand their faith more deeply, so as to live their faith more vibrantly.
“Someone recently described the Centre for Faith Enrichment as offering food for the soul, heart and mind, all in the same place,” comments CFE Director, Dr Michelle Jones.
“That captures very well what we are trying to do. On any given day, we may be offering a short course at our home base, the Newman Siena Centre, a workshop in a parish, and an online course – which particularly enables people in the country and those who may be unable to attend our programs in person still to experience faith enrichment.”
Dr Jones adds, “People love that our courses do not have any exams or assignments!”
Recent face-to-face and online courses offered by the CFE include Exploring the Mass, Grace-Filled Parenting, Prayer: Being Yourself Before God, Last Things, Five Portraits of Jesus in the Year of Mercy and The Spiritual Journey of Thomas Merton.
The CFE has evolved significantly over its 40 years. It emerged under the leadership and guidance of Sister Mary Berry RSM.
From its inception in 1976 until the early 1980s, the agency – known initially as the Holy Spirit Institute of Religious Formation and later as the Maranatha Institute – was primarily a facility for retraining for pastoral ministry religious sisters who had retired from the ministries of teaching and nursing.
Gradually, the focus of the agency was widened to include training lay people for pastoral ministry and, in time, the agency began to offer short courses to all simply wishing to deepen their understanding of their faith.
So what does the future hold for the CFE? Dr Jones explains.
“We plan to continue making a wide variety of faith enrichment opportunities as accessible as possible to people all throughout the Archdiocese. We are also hoping that the CFE will be able to offer a comprehensive, structured program of theological formation for those who would like to go a little further on the faith enrichment journey.”
If it is indeed true that life begins at 40, the CFE surely has a lot to look forward to!
For information about upcoming courses and events, call the Centre for Faith Enrichment on 08 9241 5221 for a brochure, or visit www.cfe.org.au.
From page 16 and 17 from Issue 3: ‘Education: Teaching, Learning and Technology in 2016’ of The Record Magazine