Early Days at Polding House

Catholic Adult Education began in 1978, in a tiny Pitt St office at Polding House. The Catholic Adult Education Centre was officially opened by Archbishop James Freeman. Fr Anthony Doherty (right), now Monsignor, was the Director of Adult Education for the Archdiocese of Sydney. He was supported by Maureen Cleary, who took on the role of Manager.

Catholic Adult Education began with the production of the Lenten Program and Michael Fallon's Four Gospels. Due to the sales of these resources other initiatives came to fruition, tiny seeds, tiny steps…

Alternatives, a publication of Catholic Adult Education, set out with the modest objective of naming the cottage industry initiatives for adult education throughout the city of Sydney (250 parishes back then).

This publication also became the vehicle to publicise what the Catholic Adult Education Centre had to offer for people wishing to form and develop their adult faith - Lenten discussion programs, lecture courses aimed at breaking open the scriptures for adults training in lay ministry, leadership in establishing the RCIA, and a small but influential publication called INFORM.

The Marsfield Decade

In 1982 the Catholic Adult Education Centre (CAEC) moved to the Daughters of Charity building at Marsfield. This was a positive move as there was room to grow. Extra staff were employed to assist with the many initiatives.

John Devlin was the Manager during these years at Marsfield and the early years at Revesby.

International and local speakers and educators came and spoke about their understanding of the Church and of the Third World, shared their ligurgical ideas and a vision of the RCIA and talked about family and community life.

Parish 2000 - making good parishes better began in 1989. This initiative gave many parishes the opportunity for their parish to come together and create community, improve their parish, giving it more life to continue on to 2000.

Support for Young Adults emerged as a result of the experiences of Parish 2000. The Institute of Parish Ministry took off, forming and educating people for ministry in their own parish community.

A Building of Our Own at Revesby

In 1993 CAEC moved to Revesby. The building there had great potential for better resourcing and supporting adult faith formation in Sydney. There were two large gathering rooms which held many presentations, workshops and programs in the area of spirituality, prayer, scripture and leadership, just to name a few.

The Mustard Seed Bookshop also opened its doors at Revesby, assisting CAEC with the outreach of offering resources to the local and wider community. The Bookshop has a very popular mail order service.

In 1995 Fr Doherty was appointed Dean of the Cathedral and Fr Chris Toohey (now Bishop of Wilcannia-Forbes Diocese) became the second Director of CAEC. Mari Palomares was appointed Manager.

From 1995 other programs were established at CAEC. The GIFT program (Growing In Faith Together) gave parishes an opportunity to have custom-made programs held at their parish, covering topics that met their needs and likes.

Parish Family Ministry was held at Revesby for three years. This was an 18-month formation program for people who would like to know more about parish, leadership, networking and community and who could become more actively involved in their own parish family.

Preparation for the Great Jubilee in the Year 2000 began in 1997. This was a three-year process. Fr Chris Toohey was the Coordinator of the Great Jubilee 2000 for the Archdiocese of Sydney. This saw him travel to many parish and school communities talking about Jubilee, what it is and how to prepare for it. Presentations and resources were developed to assist in this process.

The New Catholic Centre at Lidcombe

In November 1999 the CAEC moved to Keating Street, Lidcombe, in a beautifully refurbished building with a wonderful new Bookshop - a great working environment. This move saw CAEC move in with two other agencies providing the opportunity to work alongside the Catholic Education Office - Inner West and the Liturgy Office. The building is known as 'The Catholic Centre'.

The building was officially blessed and opened by Cardinal Edward Clancy in May 2000.

Another dream came to fruition and after a lot of planning the CAEC began its first accredited course - the Certificate in Parish Ministry, presented here in the Catholic Centre.

The year 2000, the Year of the Great Jubilee was a year of celebration for the Church. Fr Chris Toohey was appointed the Coordinator of the Great Jubilee for the Archdiocese of Sydney. Robyn Kirby was appointed as Manager and worked closely with Fr Chris in preparing for the many Jubilee events.

For the CAEC this was a year of producing resources and organising major events. A kit was produced for all parishes, giving many ideas on how to celebrate Jubilee - Jubilee meals, Trees for 2000, Indulgences, Liturgies, and so much more. This kit was ongoing and additions were mailed to parishes on a regular basis.

Trees for 2000 - on June 18 a tree planting day was set down for all parishes and/or schools as a symbol of Jubilee and new growth. CAEC provided kits for each parish and school and arranged for the donation of hundreds of native bottle brush trees. These were distributed to many parishes within Sydney.

Celebrate 2000 - a celebration of our faith in song. The city of Sydney, the Cathedral, thousands of choir members, representation of various migrant groups, big name performers and so much more... What a night!

In 2000, CAEC produced Jubilee resources, PEACE Meditation CD, The Gospel According to St Luke CD, the annual Lent Program and assisted with the production of The Many Faces of Christ book.

In 2001, Cardinal Clancy resigned after years of tremendous support for CAEC. We welcomed the new Archbishop for Sydney, Archbishop George Pell.

In July 2001 Fr Chris Toohey was appointed Bishop of Wilcannia-Forbes Diocese (Ordained 30 August, 2001).

And so, to the Present

In February 2002 we welcomed our third director of the Centre. Fr John Flader, a priest of the Opus Dei prelature, came to us from Melbourne, where he had been chaplain of RMIT University since 1998.

Born in the U.S.A. and a graduate of Harvard University, he came to Australia in 1968 and spent most of his years in Warrane College at the University of New South Wales before moving to Hobart to be chaplain of the University of Tasmania from 1992 to 1997.

In 2003, Sam Lynch was appointed Manager, and the Mustard Seed Bookshop grew and flourished under his care. Sam remained with the Centre until February of 2006, and his valuable contribution helped to broaden the scope of the work done by the CAEC.

In 2004, Peter Holmes came on board as Manager - Studies, and introduced a series of courses that built on the short courses that were being run by Fr Flader. Certificate Programs were developed for youth ministers and faith educators. The Faith Education Certificate gained accreditation from the CEO - Sydney.

With new Manager, John Gresser along with new certificate programs and new units of study, 2009 promises to be the best year that the Catholic Adult Education Centre has had yet!