Lessons From the Long Paddock 2017

Welcome to Lessons from the Long Paddock 2017

There is no need to register and there are no fees.  If you enjoy watching Lessons from the Long Paddock, please look for the image of the church bell at the bottom of our Diocesan home page and click on there to make a donation.

You can watch this pre-recorded workshop this morning and take a few hours to engage with the whole experience at once or you can do a segment at a time over several hours, or even days if you wish! Lessons from the Long Paddock will stay on this website for several months.

We would like to thank our sponsors.  Without them we could not have made these short films. Thanks to: Catholic Healthcare, Catholic Church Insurance, Catholic Education – Archdiocese of Canberra Goulburn, Sisters of Charity Australia, Sisters of Mercy in Australia and Papua New Guinea, Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, Makinson d’Apice Lawyers, Bishop David Walker.

There are 4 segments to watch.

We suggest you go to the ‘Resource Material’  first and have a look at the booklets there. You might find it helpful if you are running a workshop of your own or if you simply have a small group gathered together. You’ll find some helpful reflection questions there which might come in handy as you pause between segments and allow a little time for conversation with your group. If you would like to comment on the experience, please go to our Facebook page – Lessons from the Long Paddock and make a comment. If you would like to email Kate and make an observation or ask a question please email her at:

kate.englebrecht@wf.catholic.org.au

Resource Material

Reflection Booklet 1

Reflection Booklet 2 – Marks of a healthy spirituality

Reflection Booklet 3 – Insights relevant to Authentic Life

Instructions to start

The first segment is called:  Intro and Dawn’s Story. If you click on that segment, you will go straight to the opening of the workshop and meet Bishop Columba and Kate Englebrecht as they introduce you to the Diocese and to Lessons from the Long Paddock. Dawn is an Aboriginal woman from Bourke and her story is reflected upon in the first segment. Kate leads a reflection after it on some themes relevant to the spiritual life.

The second segment is called: Johnny’s Story. If you click on that segment you will see Johnny’s story and reflect with Fr Frank Brennan SJ. Fr Frank reflects on both Johnny’s story and on Dawn’s and makes some comments about a uniquely Australian experience of the spiritual life.

The third segment is called:  Kylie’s Story. Kylie lives on a remote cattle station NW of Bourke. Bishop Columba reflects on her story and on the other stories as well. Bishop has a unique experience of outback spirituality and reflects on some major themes relevant to a healthy spiritual life.

The last segment is called:  Mary Anne’s Story and closing from Bishop. Mary Anne is a pastoral worker in the Bourke region. After her story, there is a panel conversation with all the speakers and Dawn, Johnny and Mary Anne present. (Unfortunately, Kylie couldn’t join us on the day for workshop filming.)

So to begin, just click on Segment 1 – Introduction and Dawn’s Story. Then when segment 1 comes to an end, and in your own time, begin the next segment….and so on.