SCCConnect Master

Basic Resources for New Groups Printable Copy
Use these five books to begin new groups and get them off on the right foot. Here is an overview of the books and helpful excerpts you can begin incorporating in your group now.

Creating Community: Transforming Lives through Mutual Support (Temporarily out of stock)
(originally titled Ubi Caritas: Where there is love and caring for others, there is God)
By Barbara Howard and William V. D’Antonio; published by Buena Vista, Inc.

This book includes a sample small Christian community agreement to set the direction for a new group:

We will make attendance at meetings a priority. A large part of the success of a small community depends on the commitment of its members to be at every meeting except for emergencies.
We agree to share ourselves. Personal sharing is the basis on which we build and maintain our relationships. We will be honest and express our feelings about life and faith.
We will listen to each other with patience and try to be understanding and appreciative of others’ feelings. We ill not give unsolicited advice or counsel.
We will respect the viewpoints and opinions of each individual.
We will support each other in appropriate ways. Encouragement and affirmation are important in our relationships.
We agree to work through conflicts as they arise. We recognize that unexpressed negative feelings can be destructive.
We agree to keep what is said at our meetings confidential.

Ritual: Celebrating the sacred in the ordinary
By Fr. James Telthorst, Richard White and Felicia Wolf, OSF; published by Buena Vista, Inc.

What things traditionally happen as your members first walk in the door for a meeting? What things happen as members leave?
Are there any similar patterns of things you do at each meeting time? How do you determine who talks when? How do you make other decisions?
What role does silence play?
How do you acknowledge the needs of group members?
How do you expand your consciousness of the realities of the world? How do you address these realities?

Development of ritual is important in the life of a community. It involves being attentive to the way the community recognizes and acknowledges God’s presence and activity in the life of the community

Living Scripture: Small Christian communities and the great story
By Rick Connor, SM, Nora Petersen and Richard Rohr, OFM; published by Buena Vista, Inc.

Bernard Lee, SM, of the institute for Ministry at Loyola University in New Orleans, suggests following the reading of the gospel by asking, “Was anyone here accosted by this gospel?” The gospel is meant not only to comfort but to challenge. In Lee’s view, SCCs always have a public mission beyond their private, internal life. His process for discovering both levels of mission is divided into three phases. The scripture passage is read at least once during each phase.

In phase one we interpret the story by allowing it to wash over us, accepting images and feelings as they come and sharing what we experience. We then identify the experiences in our lives that set us up to hear this passage as we did. Finally we reflect and share on what claim the scripture makes on us.

In phase two we look at what the story might have meant to the author and the community when it was written. One member of the group, having studied a reliable scripture commentary on the passage, helps the others situate the narrative in it’s original age and culture.

In phase three we look for similarities between our lives and the scripture message. We also consider what the story asks of us as individuals and a community and what resolutions, if any, we will make as a result of our reflections.

Seeking Justice: The public life of faith in small Christian communities
By Peter Eichten, Michael A. Cowan, Bernard Lee, SM.; Published by Buena Vista Inc.

In their treatise on justice, the authors suggest that SCC members take some time to examine the difference between justice and charity using questions like:

How could our small Christian community be engaged in works of charity?
What risks and obstacles will we need to overcome? How do we do that?
Talk about the systems and structures that put those who we serve in need.
The group decides if there is any consensus to continue investigating the methodology to develop justice. If so, what steps do we need to take?

Getting a Grip on Your Group: A guide for discerning priorities in your small Christian community
By Barbara A. Darling; published by Good Ground Press

The author takes us through six sessions designed to help a group which has been meeting for a while. After exploring the four books mentioned above most groups will be ready to make a long term commitment using this text:

Consciously continue to gather in the name of Jesus and commit to a long-term relationship
Come to a consensus about why they’re gathering (a purpose) and what they intend to do when they gather.
Agree to be church, to keep a healthy connection to the larger church, to ground themselves in prayer and scripture and to journey toward transformational action.