Introducing Camberley Medjugorje Centre

Our Early  Symbol

The Phoenix rising from the ashes of its own self-sacrifice with the slogan Susret was used in our early literature to express the identity and purpose of the organisation.

The Phoenix is an ancient symbol of New Life and of Resurrection. For us it symbolises the church arising out of many self-destructive activities and attitudes and the onslaught of ideas, moral principles, and ethical assumptions all totally at variance with its own. Even within the church the pursuit and acceptance of secularism and atheism is commonplace, to the extent even that we are no longer astounded when an Archdeacon tells one of his clergy that he does not believe in God or that the liberalism of many clergy has slipped beyond agnosticism into atheism. The result - in a ten year period designated as a Decade of Evangelism - was its virtual demise as a centre of radical change in the lives of the people and nation it serves.

Worldwide, there are places in which this decline has not taken place, one of them being the parish of St. James, Medjugorje in the Republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina where the tide of secularism and atheism has been set back and a deeper Christian faith put in its place. It is from this parish that our title and our motto are taken.

The Motto and the Purpose

The Croatian word Susret means Encounter in English. We have adopted it as our slogan and our motto for reasons which reflect the purpose of the centre:

A personal, corporate and continuing encounter with Jesus Christ as Risen Lord and Incarnate Son of God is the essential beginning to Christian Faith;

The word Susret has overtones of a desire for mutual help0 and for friendship i.e. more than chance encounter, more a genuine meetings of whole persons and whole peoples for their common benefit;

As a compliment to our various hosts and guides on our visits to Medjugorje and the warm hospitality and sharing of their own personal encounter with God;

Susret is also the title of the agency in Medjugorje with which we have been associated on visits there.

What we do

As a Centre we offered the following services and continue these on today:

Newsletters reflecting on the messages of Our Lady given at Medjugorje;

Information about the Medjugorje Apostolate - the largest single agency for renewal in the churches overall giving almost two decades of wholesome and fruitful personal and corporate renewal;

Study programmes for all levels of the Christian Church and for enquirers and seekers after the faith;

Ecumenical dialogue in every available circumstance at the deepest level;

Booklets and publications about Medjugorje, the Christian Faith and related subjects through our subsidiary organisation Susret Publications.

How we came to be

The full title of our centre is Camberley Medjugorje Centre - Surrey Heath Centre for Peace. We use only the first part to avoid confusion with our parent body The Centre for Peace in Ilford. We became associated with them through the Medjugorje Network in England and Wales at a time when much aid was needed to those affected by the civil wars within the Republics formerly belonging to the Yugoslav Federation. The Centre for Peace in Ilford took the aid directly to those who needed it, regardless of ethnicity and without the political overtones of some aid organisations. Dr. Baty became one of the founding Trustees of the Charity formed to meet this need.

Dr. and Mrs.Baty made their first visit to Medjugorje in 1989 and regular visits followed, interrupted only for personal medical reasons in 1996. At the time of their first visit they were both heavily involved in training volunteers for the Cambridge centre of Dr. Billy Grahams Mission 89 and were struck by the similarity of the evangelistic methods there to Dr. Grahams despite the wide differences in churchmanship and location.

Dr. Baty's parish at the time drew from both a long-standing Anglo-Catholic tradition and a more recent influx of committed evangelical lay members. The resultant mix produced a parish of deep devotion and commitment to its worship, and to its mission and service within the local community. The lessons learned through Medjugorje and Dr. Graham were incorporated into the regular life of the parish. It was useful too in the visits during the civil war that he had been involved with the regular army and cadet forces for some time and thus able to appreciate and assess the military and security situation in the field.

After many searchings of heart Dr. Baty decided to leave parish life in 1994 and moved to Surrey in order, inter alia, to concentrate more fully on the Medjugorje Apostolate. Dr. and Mrs. Baty settled quickly into life at St. Marys, Thorpe - some twelve miles from their home - where Dr. Baty acts as honorary assistant priest.

Mrs. Baty died on 14th December 2006. The Centre was formally closed in the autumn of this year (2007). However Dr. Baty continues the work ina more personal capacity and through the Internet.