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Small Christian Communities

Building Small Christian Communities

YOUR PATH: WordBytes » Developing Small Christian Communities » Building Small Christian Communities

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At the start of Building Small Christian Communities, the Director of Small Christian Communities should keep the following key points in mind.

to give them an informal environment (the home) in which to grow in relationships with each other
to give them weekly opportunities to study scripture and the doctrines of our Catholic faith
to help them become more comfortable in reaching out to and serving one another
to encourage them to use this learning experience to reach out to less active parishioners, inactive Catholics and other strangers, and to evangelize others by serving them as living examples of the love of Christ and the compassion of the Church.

Promote the SCC concept to parishioners
a. bulletin announcements
b. letter to all parishioners
c. pulpit announcements
d. mention made in homilies
e. witness talk at all the Masses
f. signs/posters
Where there is an expressed willingness to form an SCC:
a. choose who will be group facilitators
b. provide instructions on how to moderate the meetings
c. provide scripture study materials for each member to use
d. set a starting date and begin
To encourage more to get involved, hold a Mass in each neighborhood:
a. schedule Masses at whatever rate the priests can handle, NOT TOO OFTEN
b. find a family willing to host a Mass
c. send out invitations to each family in the neighborhood
d. celebrate the Mass
e. invite those who are at the Mass to return weekly and become an SCC
f. serve refreshments after Mass to provide an opportunity for socializing
Continue inviting more parishioners to join SCCs
a. periodically run bulletin announcements
b. invite new parishioners personally
c. assign new members to a group
d. contact them to invite them