Home groups thriving in Tauranga

Members of the home group formed six years ago, from left: Alan Papesch, Marion Larsen, Alison Fitzgerald, Peter Fitzgerald, Mary Mullany, Janette Papesch, Suzanne Hodder, Max Larsen, Terry Hodder.

by PETER GRACE
TAURANGA — Home groups that encourage and challenge members
are showing their fruits in Christian love in Tauranga.
St Mary’s parish priest Msgr Frank Eggleton told NZ Catholic the
first home group began about 2008.
He said the group met regularly, essentially to reflect on and discuss the Scriptures for the following Sunday — using a study guide prepared by Sr Alison, a Cluny Sister.

Members of the home group formed six years ago, from left: Alan Papesch, Marion Larsen, Alison Fitzgerald, Peter Fitzgerald, Mary Mullany, Janette Papesch, Suzanne Hodder, Max Larsen, Terry Hodder.


“She’s a very tuned in lady, so we are very lucky,” he said.
A few months ago it was decided to extend the home group idea
to the whole parish, Msgr Eggleton said. That expansion started about last September, and now about a dozen groups were going.
Alan and Janette Papesch are members of the original home
group. It had been “a tremendous gift in terms of our Catholic development and our friends that we have made here in Tauranga”, Mr
Papesch said.
According to Mrs Papesch, it had helped them focus on God and
the Bible and a closer, more personal relationship with God. Group
members grow in understanding of the meaning of the Bible and learn
from each other.
The Bible had not been a focus in his Catholic background, Mr
Papesch said, and the group had helped fill in that gap.
The group also helped them adjust when they moved.
“We were in Christchurch for a number of years,” Mr Papesch said,
and when they moved to Tauranga they left behind a place where they
had been well integrated into the parish community. “So it’s helped
us get to know people.”
They told NZ Catholic that groups usually had no more than eight people, perhaps a maximum of 10, and came together once a
fortnight, each member taking a turn to host and lead the meeting.
They were not exclusively Catholic, either.
Mr Papesch said that at one time he would say “I love you”, only to
Janette. But now his expression was reaching further.
“A Baptist man said to me, ‘I love you’ . . . and now I am saying
to people that I love them.”
The group has encouraged them, Mrs Papesch said, but also
challenged them.
“Everyone has responsibility when it’s at their home. They are
challenged really to do a bit more homework and to lead it.” Members
also tend to look for each other on Sundays, “so it’s group fellowship and that, I think, is visible to others, so I think it creates the feeling of togetherness beyond the group”.
Members feel more alive, and a big thing is they go to church and
truly listen.
Earlier on the group tended to look inwards, Mr Papesch said.
“Then after a year or two we thought, “Now what do we do?”
Now they were looking outwards.
They have, for example, helped a struggling family. “It’s challenged
us to see how we can help other people.”
In the group they study and learn. And that translates into actions
such as helping, intercessory prayer, healing.
Msgr Eggleton told NZ Catholic that it was obvious in the oldest
group that the members are an inspiration and are lovely and
gentle to each other, “and the other groups are inspired by them and
try to do likewise”.

fb-share-icon
Posted in

Michael Otto

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *