SCCConnect

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The SCCConnect website is presently under construction.
You are welcome to look around to what has been done.
Not all linkages may be functional but we are updating
and adding more each day so come back often.

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Small Christian Community Connection
Mission Statement

Small Christian Community Connection empowers God’s people to share their gifts with each other and to form life-giving and transformative small Christian communities.

We are committed to:

CONNECT diverse people with communities and communities with each other.
CULTIVATE in leaders and members the best practices for supporting small Christian communities today.
CREATE resources to deepen the mutual sharing of faith and life.
CALL all people, especially SCC participants, to work for a more just and loving world.
CELEBRATE and nurture hope for revitalizing our church and our world.

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Enduring Faith: What Makes a Community Thrive? More Printable Copy

by Amy Sluss

Building churches is a big job and I think a risky one! I recently visited Delhi, India, and was struck by the number and grandeur of the temples, mosques, and other worship sites in the area. As I made my way around the city (with a trusted friend and a driver) and visited temples and mosques I noticed the beauty, attention to detail, sense of history and the amount of workmanship that went into the structures themselves. The architecture, carvings, and the open spaces spoke to me of the holy, the enduring, the illuminating quality of God – in so many forms of worship.

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Stages of Community More Printable Copy

by Mary Ann Jeselson

Some Small Christian Community groups meet weekly, some biweekly, and others monthly. Some groups are called together by a parish staff person or pastor. Some are created out of weekend experiences or diocesan programs. Some communities use the Sunday scripture to connect their faith and life. Others use contemporary authors to stimulate their faith sharing. Often groups spend much time in prayer while others work harder at justice and community. No matter how often a group meets, how they were invited to gather, or what they do when they gather, most all groups have one thing in common.

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What Would Jesus Do? When Faith Sharing Leads to Conflict More Printable Copy

When a small community meets for more than 30 years, the shared story of the community contains not only a broad range of joys and sorrows but also the conflict that is inevitably present in human interaction. Small Christian community members don’t escape from the universality of human difficulties and stresses, we hope instead that we respond to them with gospel values. What happens then when gospel values clash?

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Prayer of Faith, Hope and Love

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Prayer Upon the Death of a Community Member
Composed by Barbaraa A. Darling

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Buena Vista and Small Christian Community Connection

Thirty-three people from across the nation came together in January, 1987, at Buena Vista, Colorado, to share their experience of small Christian community (SCC) with one another. The invitation to gather came from Spirit of Christ Catholic Community Parish in Arvada, Colorado, Pastor Ken Leone and parish SCC Coordinator, Barbara Howard. Sr. Cathy Nerney and Fr. Tom Dowd of RENEW facilitated the week. These 33 people answered an invitation to a one-time gathering that blossomed into a long-term organization with a “beautiful vision”: Buena Vista.
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Gathering Prayer
We come…Venimos

God of pilgrims everywhere we bless you and thank you for the highways of life, the hallways of home, the sources of beauty and adventure, wonderment and questioning which bring us to this place.
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Baptized for the World More Printable Copy

by Mary Lou McGee

Jesus said, “…be my witnesses…to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) For the last 40 years, the church has been getting back to its roots, to living as a community fulfilling its mission…of service to the gospel. Small Christian Communities have been integral to this renewal.

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Faith Sharing More Printable Copy
Finding Common Ground Amid Diversity
By Barbara Howard

I was privileged to visit with a small church community whose membership is all women. Some of them have been together for several years and some have just joined the community. As we settled in on a cold, snowy, Colorado Wednesday evening, the women greeted each other warmly and began a review of the week since they had last seen one another. Along with sharing the personal experiences of their week, the women candidly spoke about current events prominent on the nightly newscast or in the daily paper. Most of those events had their roots in the “prohibited” topics of politics and religion. I was interested to see where the discussion might lead.

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Last Updated February 20, 2008

Small Christian Community Connection
P.O. Box 745475
Arvada, CO 80006-5475

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