How did it all start?

In the 1970s, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal was growing rapidly in England, and a number of regional conferences were established. Among them was the Southampton Conference held at La Sainte Union College, and organised by members of local prayer groups. It was a very successful conference catering for up to 400 people aged 16 and above, but by the end of the 1980s we began to sense that we should really be offering something for the whole family, including the younger children. We were encouraged in this by a prophetic word brought to us by one of our conference speakers, David Matthews, and so took the decision to call others to a weekend of discernment about the way ahead. As a result, the search began for a new family-friendly venue.

The search for a venue

John FowlerAt first we thought we might be able to link up with the Easter Spring Harvest Conferences, but this proved too complicated, so I wrote to every holiday camp in England to ask if there was a possibility of taking over a site for Easter Week. We only had about £400 in the kitty, but felt sure that we were in God’s will and everything would work out. Letters arrived in reply to my question, but the only positive one came from the manager of the John Fowler Holiday Park in Ilfracombe, Devon. He began his letter with these words: “The Lord has been prompting me for some time to offer our Holiday Park for a Christian conference…” A few days later we were in Ilfracombe to visit the John Fowler site. The manager, Clive Nottage, a Reader in the local Anglican church, had already checked out Ilfracombe Arts College 400 yards down the road, to see if we could hire it for our meetings, and hehad of course worked out what renting his whole Holiday Park would cost us. It was an excellent venue for us, self-catering holiday chalets, a shop, take-aways, a restaurant, a bar area with a dance-floor, and very friendly staff. And the price for the site? Well, we could always sell our house if we didn’t attract enough people to cover the costs!

The first conference

Ilracombe Arts CollegeSo CELEBRATE ’94 was launched, and almost 900 people arrived on Easter Sunday. The Conference was a great success, and financially we were in the black, having based our budget on 750 participants. There were streams for the children, special programmes for the young people and the adults, worship groups, mime artists, dancers, guest speakers, a bookshop, the evening “fringe”, and the local bishop, Christopher Budd, celebrating our opening Eucharist. The Arts College allowed us the use of part of their premises, including a large gym, which could seat everyone. Our God-given vision was fulfilled, and since then we have improved and developed the Conference year after year. Today we can accept 1,500 participants, and each year almost half of them are 22 years old and younger. The children’s streams and the accommodation on-site are booked up within a few weeks of sending out the brochures and registration forms.  Each year we assemble teams of gifted people to challenge and inspire us with the Good News, and to entertain us with their wit, wisdom, and God-given artistic talents.

As we look back, we just thank the Lord for the vision he gave 20 years ago, and for the commitment of so many people, year after year, to making it all happen. Of course it hasn’t always been plain sailing - there have been challenges along the way, but CELEBRATE is HIS not ours, and we willingly give Him all the glory.

Charles Whitehead
Conference Chairman