ABSTRACT
This book’s second Account of Practice concerns the Westminster Agency for Evangelisation – an office of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster, which no longer exists in this form. As a part of diocesan bureaucratic structures, the Agency handled a wide-ranging remit, under the broad heading of ‘evangelisation’, including catechesis and adult education. The opening narrative describes the Westminster Agency and the research undertaken before setting out and illustrating the major learning from the project under five ‘disclosure’ headings. The first three of these are especially concerned with the effects of the positioning of the Agency as a diocesan body mandated by the bishop, and yet dependent on the ‘gate-keeping’ power of the parish priest (1). This position leads to problematic reading of espousal of an effective theology (2) and the nature of power dynamics operative in the Agency’s work (3). Disclosures 4 and 5 are more concerned with the tension a round evangelisation and catechesis felt to exist by the ARCS team, and implicit pedagogy practised by the Agency. In some concluding reflections, the particular challenges for a diocesan agency with regard to effective evangelising work are recognised.
