The Christian Brother Community at St Timothy’s
Who are We?
Brothers Christy, Fergus and David arrived here in Liverpool, from Ireland and set up the first community in St Timothy’s in 2008. Originally it was a community of six. Three of the Brothers returned to Ireland after a number of years. In May 2020, Brother Dominic joined the community. We are a group of male religious who answer the call of God by pledging ourselves to live our lives through community, prayer & ministry. We are committed
to love all (celibacy), to share our lives (poverty) and to listen and respond to the needs of the world (obedience).
Wider Network
The Congregation of Christian Brothers was founded by Blessed Edmund Rice in 1802. He began his work in Waterford, Ireland and the Brothers first came to England in 1825 to set up a community in Preston. The vision of Blessed Edmund Rice still inspires thousands of men and women today. There are vibrant communities of Brothers to be found in Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Waterford, Limerick, Wexford, Liverpool, Manchester and Salford. Around the world there are Christian Brothers communities in more than 27 countries. Over 200,000 children are educated in Edmund Rice schools; these include St. Edward’s College and Runnymede in West Derby, St Mary’s College and The Mount in Crosby.
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More about the Brothers at St Timothy's
This local community of Christian Brothers have declared their aims and have split them into three categories: Community, Spiritual Search (or Prayer) and Compassionate Action.
In their community, they try to:
Live a simple and shared lifestyle
Build a joyful community through gentleness, compassion and love
Engage with one another in the day to day events and activities of our lives
Welcome people to share our hospitality
In their prayer life, they say:
We engage in personal and communal reflection
We share our prayer and reflections
We value and respect each person’s uniqueness
We invite others to share in our network and parish to engage with us in the spiritual search through Breathing Spaces and Prayer
Breathing Space is an opportunity to explore and share your faith journey in a safe environment with others. It's a journey of the heart, meeting monthly for 7 sessions, for two hours in hospitable, non threatening surroundings.
We reach out to and support those of other religions through ‘Called to be One’ and Asylum Link
We respond to the spiritual and temporal needs of others
We promote vocations to the Brothers' way of life and the Edmund Rice Network
In their compassionate action, they say:
We work with asylum seekers and refugees
We reach out to the homeless of Liverpool
We support and visit prisoners
We reach out to others; sharing the word of God through Breathing Spaces,
conversations and hospitality
We respond to the needs of those around us
We are a presence and a support at our Network Conferences, Retreats and other related activities
Contacting The Brothers at St Timothy’s
Address: Community of Christian Brothers, St Timothy’s Parish House, Rockwell Road, LIVERPOOL, L12 4XY
Phone: 0151 228 0088
Br Christy Turner
Br Christy Turner is from Cork. He joined the Christian Brothers at 15.After his formation, he taught in primary school. Later, he qualified to teach in secondary school. When Ireland joined the EEC in 1973, the Provincial Council sent brothers to France to learn French. Christy took part in this initiative and spent some time there learning the language. He went on to teach French in secondary school. After retiring from teaching, he joined the mission in South America. After studying Spanish in Dublin and Salamanca, he joined a community of Brothers in Argentina training catechists. Next, Christy transferred to Asuncion in Paraguay, where he taught English to prisoners. His next assignment was teaching English to novice brothers in Lima. Health problems brought Christy back to Ireland in 2005 where he joined the staff in Pearse Square, Dublin, teaching pupils with learning difficulties. Four years later, he joined a Congregation initiative called ‘New Life in Mission’, which brought him to Liverpool.
Br Fergus Reilly
Br Fergus Reilly is from a place called Kells, County Meath, a very historical place in Irish history. He spent much of his life as a teacher and Principal in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was quite involved in organizing a holiday for the students in Bray for many years, giving them some respite and freedom during the troubled period. With his interest in photography and technology it wasn’t surprising to find him attending courses in these areas and then transmitting his knowledge to his students. Fergus took a sabbatical in Berkeley, USA and, during that time, he studied spirituality. On his return to Dublin, he spent some time working as a volunteer in Merchant’s Quay with the homeless and drug addicts. In 2002, Fergus was appointed onto the Province Leadership Team, which he served for 5 years. He used his gifts in various ways during that time. In 2008 he came to Liverpool with the other Brothers in St Timothy’s.
Brother David Ryan
Before Br David Ryan arrived in Liverpool in 2008, he had spent many years working in various positions in Ireland. His ministry brought him to teaching both at primary and secondary level during which time he was in Dublin, Cork and Waterford. Later, he spent 4 years as Director of Novices in Bray, training young men on a formation programme and preparing them for Brotherhood. From this position, he was appointed home/school liaison officer in Crumlin, Dublin. This experience brought him opportunities to visit every child’s home, run many and varied adult education programmes and do some counselling with the most vulnerable in the school. Out of this experience, the opportunity to train as a psychotherapist arose. On completion of his studies, he worked as a therapist in the Liberties in Dublin for three years. Then David was elected onto the Leadership Team of the Province, where he worked for 11 years. This ministry was very varied. Among his responsibilities were establishing and promoting Edmund Rice Camps, pastoral care of the Brothers, attendance at conferences, promoting and supporting projects for the marginalized youth, promoting and supporting safe guarding structures for child care, accompanying complainants of child abuse, promotion of renewal programmes for the Brothers, and the visitation of our missions in Zambia and South America.
Brother Eamon joined the community at St Timothy’s towards the end of 2022. More later.
As explained near the top of this page, the Christian Brothers have a presence in many countries of the world. Their global aims are:
Community:
Challenged by society to live in peace and harmony we aim to:
Be a presence to, accepting and valuing others as companions along the way
Bear witness to a new way of living together in fidelity to the Gospel
Witness in our lives fraternal authenticity, community reconciliation, open to exploring and sharing our personal feelings and emotions
Be in right relationship as brothers with each other, with people made poor and with the whole earth community
Work collaboratively with others
Spiritual Search (Prayer)
We share our lives and experiences with others
We connect with those who are on a spiritual search
We commit ourselves to heart - centred spirituality
Keep spirituality integral to all activities
Compassionate Action
It is the agenda of the world that sets the mission direction of the Church and our Congregation (Chapter 2014)
We are encouraged to find Jesus in the faces of others, in their voices, in their pleas
We must constantly be missionaries
We engage in advocacy with the voiceless, the marginalised and all who are oppressed
We work within the Church with others and value religious diversity and interconnectedness
We welcome as companions all who are inspired by the charism of Edmund Rice
Read more about the global community of the Christian Brothers at: www.edmundrice.net