The
History of Beginning Experience:
Beginning Experience began in Fort Worth Texas in 1974.
Sister Josephine Stewart, a Roman Catholic nun who was working as a
counselor found herself working more and more with separated, divorced and
widowed individuals. She noticed
that many of these people seemed to “stuck in their grief”.
Along with a divorced friend, Jo Lamia the two researched and presented
Plans for a weekend for divorced people in the Fort Worth area.
In October, 1974 eighteen participants came to the first ever Beginning
Experience weekend. Sixteen of these individuals formed the first team to carry on
to other separated, divorced and widowed persons what they had learned and
experienced.
By 1980, teams had started from coast-to-coast in the United States,
as well as Alaska, Hawaii, Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand
and in Canada. At the current time,
the International Ministry Centre’s Executive Director is Emilia Alberico.
B.E. International’s Head Office is presently being relocated from
Detroit to Chicago and serves 140 Teams around the world.
The History of Sarnia
Beginning Experience:
The Pilot Beginning Experience Weekend was held at St. Andrews here in Sarnia on
March 30, 31 and April 1st, 1984.
The Presenting Team was made up of local Team Trained individuals who had
previously made a Beginning Experience Weekend in Flint, Michigan, bringing the
Ministry to Sarnia.
The Beginning Experience (BE) Weekend is
the foundation of our Program. We have two Weekends per year where
participants spend the entire weekend in a safe and isolated environment which
has proven to help individuals make a new beginning in life. To date thousands
of individuals have gone through the doors of Sarnia Beginning
Experience and we are still going strong. Sarnia
Beginning Experience is celebrating it’s 25th Anniversary in
November, 2009.
We also have several Levels or Support Groups along with planned social events
such as our Dances, Summer Picnic, Games Night, Canada Day Celebrations and Christmas Pot
Luck.
