Office of Evangelization
Diocese of Cleveland
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Small Christian Communities
Small Christian communities are a source of great hope in the church today. Our world is experiencing a vast expansion of sects and new religious movements which speaks to the quest for belonging or the sense of community. There is a search for answers, cultural identity, wholeness, transcendence and also a need for spiritual guidance, vision, participation and involvement.
Cardinal Bernardin's suggestion that the parish be a "community made up of many small communities" can be seen as a natural follow-through to the days of Catholic Action. It is time to fully explore the possibilities that a much higher percentage of parishioners are ready to be involved conscientiously in the work of evangelization, of integrating the gospel into all areas of their life, and bringing Christian values to impact upon our world. Where Catholic Action groups may have once served as a peripheral parish activity, small Christian communities might well be an integral part of parish life today.
Many materials and resources are available to guide work in small Christian communities. The following publications are available through the Office of Evangelization.
Pastoring the
Pastors; Resources for Training and Supporting Pastoral Facilitators for
Small Faith Communities.
Arthur
R. Baranowski, St. Anthony
Messenger Press, Cincinnati, 1988. $6.95
The real test of how serious a parish is about restructuring into base churches is how much effort it puts into training and supporting pastors for these small faith communities. These pastors, or pastoral facilitators, are the link between the small church community and the parish; they are also what keep the small faith community a church. Pastoring the ‘Pastors’ provides everything a parish staff or core team needs to train and support pastoral facilitators within the Called to Be Church process.
Adult faith formation is a common manifestation of small Christian Communities. One (of many available) program for faith formation and sharing that many parishes use is the Little Rock Scripture Study. For more information, go to www.littlerockscripture.org.
In addition, it is important for all of us to have a good knowledge of our faith. The following publications are on the general topic of Catholic faith.
Believing in
Jesus: A Popular Overview of the Catholic Faith.
Leonard Foley, O.F.M., St. Anthony Messenger Press, Cincinnati, OH,
1981. $5.95
Believing
in Jesus is more than
just another catechism. It is
a book which captures the Christian’s continuing journey of faith,
every-new, ever-alive—yet founded on the steadfast love of God for us,
his people. It is a book that
is sure to make your life a more Christian life through better
understanding.
Covering the complete spectrum of Catholic faith—and centering on Jesus—this book clearly embodies the spirit of Christian belief and practice. In five major sections and 27 separate chapters, Father Foley leads the reader on a journey from earliest Old Testament times through a world “starting over” in Jesus to the “end time” when Jesus will come again and we will share fully in his life.
What It
Means To Be Catholic.
Father Joseph M. Champlin, St. Anthony Messenger Press, Cincinnati,
OH, 1986. $4.95
Do
you struggle to develop a healthy self-esteem?
Search for true happiness? Long
for heroes or models? Desire
to make up and start over after disagreements and disputes?
Need help in coping with life’s hard knocks?
It
would be no surprise if your answer to each of those questions were
“Yes.” They are commonly
experienced and keenly felt human concerns in today’s world.
This book deals with a dozen of these and other similar issues
facing people who live in our contemporary society.
It tries to identify those concerns in the context of a short story. Then it attempts to show how the basic major teachings and well-known practices of the Roman Catholic Church can help us both understand these challenges and deal with them.
The Catholic
Way of Life. David Byers, Neil Parent and B. Allison Smith, Paulist
National Catholic Evangelization Association, Washington, DC, 1990.
$9.95
The Catholic Way of Life is a creative new resource that provides…
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An appealing introduction to the Catholic faith for inquirers.
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An engaging resource for those participating in the precatechumenate and the catechumenate.
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A treasure for active Catholics who wish to update and renew their faith.
Invitation:
the Search for God, Self and Church.
A Catholic Learning Guide for Adults.
Rev. Alfred McBride, O.Praem., Paulist National Catholic
Evangelization Association, Washington, DC, 1984.
$
Insightful and informative answers to common questions people have about the Catholic faith and the Catholic Church! Special features include:
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The easy-to-use question and answer format, which lends itself well to group or individual study.
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Instructive excerpts from the new Catechism of the Catholic Church.
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A helpful section titled “How to Use Invitation.”
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The most important Catholic prayers.
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A detailed index for finding information quickly and easily.
Our Hearts
Were Burning Within Us: A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the
United States. Statement of the U.S. Catholic Bishops, United States
Catholic Conference, Washington, DC, 1999.
$5.95
“Were not our hearts burning [within us] while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?” (Lk 24:32). The U.S. bishops renew their commitment to adult faith formation, addressing the opportunities and potential, challenges, and concerns of this area of ministry. Goals, principles, and content approaches are provided to help leaders as they reach out to the adults in their community.
Share Your Faith: A Behavioral Approach to Evangelization Training. Susan W. Blum, Jeremiah Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL, 1990. $5.95
Keep the flame of faith alive in your heart.
Baptismal Rite