culture, music is one of them.”
Packed churches are a signifi-
cant accomplishment in a country
of dwindling Mass attendance. But
Hendrick has moved outside of the
church as well in order to engage with
the “unchurched.” Each september
he and the choir attend the Elec-
tric Picnic, an annual
music festival, dubbed
ireland’s Glastonbury
Festival, which draws
some 30,000 people.
“it might seem odd for
a friar to be walking around a concert
venue with a gospel choir,” Hendrick
Where the
people are is where
we have to be!
“
says, “but i’m a religious in ireland
today—where the people are is where
we have to be!”
Face the real needs
in addition to establishing the hugely
successful choir, Hendrick has also
been involved in pio-
neering another new
outreach ministry to
young professionals.
When his order, the Ca-
puchin Friars, decided
to give priority to evangelization of
young people, he soon found himself
working as a chaplain at the Law so-
ciety of ireland, the professional body
responsible for educating ireland’s
lawyers, in the heart of dublin’s legal
district. “That role taught me that
evangelization works best when it’s
done in a gentle and unthreatening
way. i had no agenda other than to
be of assistance to the young people i
met,” he says.
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