"The mustard seed, which indeed is smaller than all seeds but, when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches."

The Mustard Seed programme is a process centred retreat. It therefore seeks to achieve a specific task only in the broadest terms. The task as identified is to bring the group, through an experiential learning process, from a focus on outside influence to a focus on who they are in relation to Others, Themselves and thence to finding a personal relationship with God, as they understand God to be within their own religious tradition.

The team began as an offshoot of a Christian Brothers team, and as it was disbanded, Lay members of the team chose to continue the work, encouraging people to explore what faith meant for them. 

The team has changed over the years, with many people contributing, some for a short time, others for a number of years, all enriching the team and the people we've worked with. 

The needs of young people have also changed over the years, and so the team has adapted, acknowledging that many groups are of mixed faiths, and some of them are of no faith. But the aim of the team remains the same, to encourage groups to explore what it is they believe, and how they put it in to the context of their lives, how they treat others, the difference that they make in the world.