The captions and images shown below give an idea of activities and special events held at our SDC centre in London. Our main contribution in parishes mainly involves running catechism groups but other activities are held throughout the year for other groups for young people and adults.

See other years here:

Christmas 2021

Our Christmas activities this year continued ‘normal’ and ‘traditional’ events. These included special gatherings on the theme of Advent and the real meaning of Christmas for children in the various groups we run, the carol singing in the centre of Brixton on Saturday of the weekend before Christmas as well as the presentation of presents to children in the various groups.

Visit by Superior General

SDC superior general Roberto Zammit visited our London SDC Centre in November 2021. It was an opportunity to meet children, young people and adults from different groups we regularly meet including First Communion and Confirmation candidates as well as members of the Friday Bible Study group and other Catechists who work with us. The image here shows Roberto at the Year 1 Confirmation session at the Rosary Parish, Brixton.

Day Trips - SDC Friends

Two day trips for this group took place towards the beginning and at the end of the summer break. The first one was a trip to Sheerness when we visited a number of places of interest and also tasted the famous Kent cherries that were in season at the time. The second one was a visit to the charming city of Arundel where we visited the cathedral and learned about the life of St Philip Howard, one of the English Martyrs, then proceeded to the coastal town of Littlehampton.

Resuming 'Normal" Catechism Sessions

Following a year and a half of Covid related disruptions, this year our new catechism programmes started in the ‘normal’ way in the parishes we serve. As from September we were again able to meet in person with all our groups and hope to be able to continue to do this throughout this catechetical year.

Hybrid Meetings

Our weekly SDC Friends group/Bible group meetings have resumed after the Summer recess. We continue to meet weekly on ZOOM but we now also have one hybrid meeting on the second Friday of each month where those who can meet in person at Ryefield Road but we also stream the meeting live on Zoom so others who can’t travel are also able to join us virtually.

Year of St Joseph

Throughout the year we continued to celebrate the Year of St Joseph with our groups. Among the activities that have been taking place to learn and reflect on the life of this special father, there were meetings for children and adults, especially those who attend our groups. We also visited churches dedicated to St Joseph and also produced a short video on our YouTube channel. Click here to view.

Visit

It was good to welcome the SDC superior general Roberto Zammit at our centre in London when he visited at the beginning of December 2021. This was an opportunity to meet children, young people and adults from different groups we regularly meet including First Communion and Confirmation candidates as well as members of the Friday Bible Study group and other Catechists who work with us.

Back Together

Following at least 15 months without meeting in person, we had our first gathering for the SDC Bible group members on Saturday 12th June 2021. We met for a barbecue in the afternoon at the SDC House in Ryefield Road. There was plenty of food to share, but on someone’s suggestion we also spent some time sharing thoughts about ‘the good that came out during the time of the pandemic!’

Year of St Joseph

The Year of St Joseph was commemorated in a range of ways in a number of our gatherings. Different presentations were prepared for children and young people attending our catechism programmes. Other presentations were prepared by various members for the SDC Friends which meets every Friday evening. We also prepared some Resources for teachers and catechists including a PowerPoint presentation, worksheets and a Youtube video which were made available on our website or through Social Media.

Together at a distance

A rather different way how to hold catechism sessions! Following the easing of restrictions in London, from around April 2021 we were able to resume our catechism sessions for children and young people in person. Still, this wasn’t the same as before. We are not yet in ‘normal’ times. Everyone had to spread out and keep social distance and catechists had to do their best talking with their face mask on.

St George Preca meeting for Catechists

The life and works of Founder George Preca was this year the theme of a virtual meeting for catechists in the Diocese of Westminister on Thursday 6th May 2021. The meeting which consisted of a presentation on different aspects of SDC and its founder was held on Zoom and was part of a series of monthly meetings the diocese organised to explore founders and other saints, especially those who introduced a ‘new way’ of following Jesus, as is the case of St George Preca.

Bible Study

Our running theme for our Bible group meeting this year was ‘JOURNEYS’. Every month we focus on one particular Journey as outlined in the Scriptures. Apart from reading the text, the background and other important facts about each journey are discussed. We then leave time to share thoughts, reflections and prayers. Examples of Journeys we are looking at include Abraham’s Journey to Moriah, Moses’ escape to Midian and Ruth going to Moab and back to Bethlehem.

Pandemic Adaptations

As Covid related restrictions persisted in London throughout the Autumn and Spring term, all our meetings had to be done online. Thankfully many stepped up and embraced new technologies to be able to take part in catechesis online. Such online groups included the Communion and Confirmation groups at the Rosary Parish as well as the Bible Study group that meets every week.