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mmanuel Community was born in 1975 as part of a world-wide spiritual awakening known as ‘charismatic renewal’, which blossomed in the decades after the Second Vatican Council. Our origins came from a small handful of lay people responding to a radical call to commit themselves deeply to Jesus Christ and to one another. They were infused with an experience known as baptism in the Spirit and wanted to share this new experience of God’s love and power with everyone they met. This rapidly growing community was soon named ‘Emmanuel’ which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:24). This is the heart of the good news we want to share with the world. From ecumenical beginnings, Emmanuel followed a call to embrace our unique identity in the Catholic Church, and have been gratefully acknowledged and supported as a lay-led community in the Church, both locally and internationally.

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