"A new command I give you: Love one another.  

As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

Please Prayer for the Birmingham Conference.

Conference Prayer

Father, in Heaven,

pour out Your Spirit upon the

Birmingham Conference.

Grant to everyone a new vision  

of your glory,

A new experience of Your Power

A new faithfulness to Your Word

A new consecration to Your Service

so that Your Love may grow among

us and Your Kingdom come

through Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

Our vision is to offer an opportunity to gather together in Praise and Worship,

to receive sound Christian teaching from local and international speakers and

to celebrate the Holy Mass each day.

Our mission is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in accordance with the doctrines and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.

Celebration of the Eucharist

is one of the highlights of the Birmingham Conference

and is the source and summit of our faith.

And every day culminates with Holy Mass,

Birmingham Catholic Charismatic Renewal Conference

A Registered Charity Incorporated Organisation No.1153935

Registered Office: Nine Acres, Uffmoor Lane, Halesowen,

West Midlands B63 1DL

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Pilgems of Hope Images by pixabay.com

Mass

Each person should give as much as he or she has decided in there heart, not with reluctance or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.  2 Corinthians 9: 7

2025 Conference  

Monday  11th to Friday 15th August

St. John’s Hotel 651 Warwick Road Solihull B91 1AT

Report by Mike Weaver

The Annual August Birmingham Catholic Charismatic Renewal Conference, 11 to 15 August 2025, “Awakened, Equipped, Commissioned”

130 eager delegates gathered at the St John’s Hotel in Solihull to ponder the Conference theme of “Heart speaks to Heart – Be who you were meant  

to be and you will set the world on fire”.

Opening Mass was celebrated by Bishop Timothy Menezes. Preaching on the Conference theme he invited participants to embrace “a week of grace” filled with gratitude, prayer, and openness to God’s healing.

He reflected on the legacy of St John Henry Newman, whose motto (Heart speaks to heart) continues to inspire. The bishop noted that Pope Leo’s recent declaration of Newman as a Doctor of the Church highlights his teaching that faith is not only an intellectual pursuit but a living encounter with Christ in the Eucharist.

Recalling the memorial of St Clare, Bishop Menezes pointed to her friendship with St Francis as an example of Gospel-centred love in contrast to worldly values. He also shared insights from children preparing for Confirmation, who reminded him that the fruits of the Spirit — love, joy, peace, kindness and gentleness — have the power to transform the world.

He urged participants to allow “heart to speak to heart” with each other and with the Lord, so that, filled with the Holy Spirit, they may set the world ablaze by being the people God calls them to be.

Read Bishop Timothy's Homily in full

Terry Quinn, a lay Catholic evangelist, author, and founder of  the Catholic Revert ministry, lived up to his reputation as a  bold, Spirit-filled teaching that empowers clergy and laity for evangelisation and renewal in the Church.

Over three inspiration talks Terry shared his testimony with  reference to his three books Bring me Back Lord, Everybody  has a story and 7 Most Common Questions on Biblical  Economics. Terry explained that after three decades in  Evangelical ministry, he returned to the Catholic Church with renewed zeal. Terry emphasised the need for Spirit-filled  living, strong preaching, and the empowerment of lay people in mission. His teaching was full of energy and marked by clarity, scriptural depth, a call to personal renewal and commitment to the Church’s mission. He urged participants to know their Faith and God’s ways - Know So. Then proclaim God’s power – Say So. Then go on to Do So! Drawing on Ephesians Chapter 2 verse 10 Terry asked delegates to remember everyone has a purpose “For we are God’s handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do”.

Daniella Stephens (pictured below) recalled that the Blessed Sacrament was reserved in the hotel room dedicated as a Chapel of Repose and reflected that St John’s Hotel had never had a more important guest! She said she would preach on the glory of God. She took us on a journey drawing out God’s glory in the universe, human kind, the sacraments and sacred scripture. God’s glory is experienced in His radiance of holiness, power, wisdom and love. In doing so she shared her moving testimony and how she began to see the glory of God in the suicide of her brother. God’s glory observed as the best brought out of difficult situations.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce from 40 Days for Life and March for Life recounted her crusade to protect the unborn. Her shocking stories of the hostility and harassment she has received from local residents and the civil authorities attempting to stop her campaigns culminated in her arrest, prosecution and subsequent acquittal for praying silently in the vicinity of abortion clinics in Birmingham. More worryingly she is under police investigation again for praying silently. Isabel concluded that abortion is a modern Calvary story.

Tom Ward might be in his 80s but his passion for promoting the Divine Mercy Devotion still burns brightly through his inspiring life story. Tom leads the Divine Mercy prayer group at St Mary and St Benedict parish in Coventry. Since 2002 he has been entrusted with a First Class Relic of St Faustina by the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Poland. Tom spends his time travelling throughout the country offering opportunities for veneration and deeper reflection. Delegates also had the opportunity to venerate the Holy Relic and receive a personal prayer from the Divine Mercy community in Coventry.

Mark McClean led two workshops showing his passion for the Catholic faith and evangelising by focussing on the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary over the centuries. Mark presented a detailed context of how God is preparing his people for the New Pentecost and reminded delegates of the significance of the messages of the Blessed Virgin Mary concerning the conversion of Russia.

Bishop David Oakley (pictured below) in an afternoon talk asked delegates to reflect on two questions: who am I and why did God make me? We each have our own unique purpose. None of us are nobodies – we are all a unique somebody. Having drawn on the nourishment of sacred scripture, sacred tradition and the Catechism to answer these questions Bishop David shared two memorable quotations.  

1.    From St John Henry Newman: “God knows me and calls me by my name.…God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission—I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.”

2.    Blessed Carlo Acutis: “All people are born as originals but many die as photocopies.”

Ros Powell led the Prayer Ministry and Healing Team.

The Conference was blessed by the presence of supporters of Mary’s Meals and the opportunity to hear about their work and support their fundraising endeavours.

There were opportunities to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Music and Youth ministries served the Conference.

Holy Mass was offered daily by:

Bishop Tim Menezes, Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham, Patron of the Conference celebrated Holy Mass to open the Conference.

Bishop David Oakley, Bishop of Northampton.

Canon Brian McGinley, Dean of St Chad’s Cathedral, Birmingham.

Father Pascal Uche, Priest in the Brentwood Diocese.

Father Eamonn Corduff, Parish Priest, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Barton -under-Needwood, Staffordshire. Chaplain to the Conference celebrated the closing Mass.

Father John Cavanagh concelebrated at each Mass.

Participants left the gathering healed in heart, empowered to live their true calling, and aflame with the Spirit to set the world on fire.Main photograph: Altar party before Opening Mass, left to right, Brother Andrew Ferris, Chloe Moran, Bishop Timothy Menezes and Fr John Cavanagh.