We have had an amazing weekend!

Great company, great conversations, great community building.

Soon we’ll be on the road, driving back from the amazing experience that was the Democratic Conference 2024, but we just had to give you a brief report while we digest the riches of the weekend.

This conference was a first in many ways.

One significant element was the inclusion of families with small children.

We talk a lot about the importance of the next generation, the importance of family, the importance of life – and then we hold our events in such a way that those people who are doing the most in this regard cannot participate. That is a terrible mistake.

It can be more messy with lots of kids zooming around while their parents are talking economics and philosophy and national security – but it’s worth it.

We’re proud we made sure to have child-minding available, and also had the delight of seeing children tumbling across the verdant lawns at Campion College.

And the conversations were a highlight. We integrated group discussions into our sessions, giving people a chance to refine their thinking and leading to more pointed and impactful questions for our panels. You didn’t have to agree, but you also didn’t have to be silent.  We welcomed your ideas and your company.

We’d like to thank Campion College for their stellar job in hosting us and co-sponsoring the event. The quality of their service was outstanding and their grounds amazing. We were privileged to have alumni of the College present and to see their reactions to the transformation of the space was a delight.

We’d like to thank the Community of St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Catholic Parish Lidcombe, and the Very Rev. Mitred Archpriest Protopresbyter Simon Ckuj for hosting us for their English-language, fully sung Divine Liturgy. We can see why the pagan Slavs thought they were in heaven on visiting Constantinople after it.

We’d like to thank our dedicated and youthful organising team – involving members of the Democratic Club and Thomas More Centres across the country for pioneering an innovative, polished and professional take on the Conference experience.

And we’d like to thank all of you for your support, be it financial or material. It’s thanks to you and because of you that we are exploring these approaches.

We are committed to bringing about the True, the Good and the Beautiful in our lives and to help local communities in this task too.

This conference was but a taste of what is possible.

Finally, we want to thank God for blessing us with this, and keeping us going.

Warmly,

Luke, Gabriel and Anna