Eleven men and nine boys drove out of Kingston on a Friday evening in early May for a weekend packed with games, singing, prayer, laughter and brotherhood in the lush foothills north of the city. Buildings gave way to banana plantations, cattle and dirt roads as the group approached their destination—River Edge, a camp and retreat center located in a vibrant green valley with a small river winding through it. These campouts started more than 20 years ago as father-son events, but this year six of the nine boys came through branch members’ friendship with the sisters of a local Missionaries of Charity outreach.

 

On January 14, 2014, Tony Palmer, a charismatic bishop from a little-known Anglican communion, used his phone to shoot a video of a friend—Pope Francis, leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics. In the video, Francis opened his heart to a group of Pentecostal leaders affiliated with Kenneth Copeland’s ministry.

 

More than 200 students and adults from 11 community locations came to South Bend last weekend for an Action conference, the first community-wide Action gathering in three years.

 

Jeanne Ireland (Cross) DeCelles passed away on April 17, 2015, after a prolonged illness, surrounded by her loving and compassionate husband, Paul, and many devoted family members and friends.

Rockford branch leader Mark Doherty says that the tornadoes struck to the south of the areas where most branch members live. "We suffered no injury or major damage to property."