Bringing lightness and joy into church on the North Coast

He is modern in his approach, kind in his words and caring in his actions.

Reverend Stephen Tully has taken over Ballito’s All Saints Catholic Church pulpit from Reverend Chrys – who has returned to the Congo on sabbatical.

Born and bred in KZN, Tully said he never wanted to be a priest.

“Growing up, I always thought the Catholic church was so boring and full of nonsense,” said Tully who went to school at St Charles College, Pietermartizburg.

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Driven to make lots of money, he studied analytical chemistry and started working for Eskom. This is where he met a refreshing group of non-catholic Christians.

“I hung around this new group of people who were non-judgemental and were just popping for Jesus. I just clicked that I never really knew our Lord and so I committed myself to wanting to be a follower of Jesus Christ. My relationship with Him started when I was about 21.”

After he completed his diploma, he went into the assembly to see if it was God’s will or not for him to work in His name. He was ordained in 1974 and while his relationship with God grew stronger, he still struggled with the “Catholic heaviness”.

“The rules and regulations that hide the true intentions of the loving forgiveness and cheerful human being Jesus Christ is, is what I call ‘the Catholic heaviness’. He loved a party and his last celebration was a meal with friends. He was a person who knew great suffering and joy and had a great truth. There has never been another historical figure who has influenced the world more than Jesus did.

“My Catholic journey is about discovering beauty in the heaviness of the Catholic church. We are so busy telling people what they can and can’t do that we are not loving them.”

On a mission to share that love, Father Stephen has always been drawn to community work. He worked at Montobello inland of Tongaat for seven years, followed by the cathedral in Durban where he was one of the founders of the Denis Hurley Centre. The next three years were in Pietermaritzburg where he was chair of the Napier Centre for Healing.

He said part of lifting the heaviness is to make church a place where people want to gather and enjoy spending time.

“The Catholic church has become quite exclusive and I want to find ways to make it more inclusive. We are busy with renovations at the moment and we hope to create a beautiful, sacred place that people are drawn to and where they can get married and be quiet. A place where people feel they can connect with a God of their understanding.”

Inviting the youth into this space is a big priority for Father Stephen.

“Pope Francis is big on the youth and said the youth must make chaos in the church and I want to follow that. I want the youth to bring our church to life, respectfully of course, but to bring excitement. The youth are faced with so many hassles growing up in this world and I want the church to be a place where we can have fun, learn and work together to create a strong youth.”

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