SMALL CHURCH COMMUNITIES

All  parish members are invited to participate in one of our small church communities.
These communities have several key characteristics: A shared life of some kind, faith sharing, socializing, prayer and a commitment to individual and/or group service.

We have two main ways that parishioners can participate in these communities:

Ministry Groups:
These communities are made up of individuals who are involved in one of our ministries at our parish center:  e.g. Faith Formation, Liturgy, Social Justice, Pastoral Ministry and Administration.

Neighborhood Small Church Communities:
These groups are an opportunity for single and married adults of all ages to experience the power of personal and spiritual growth within a community of 8-12 other parish members.  These groups meet in members' homes and are led by facilitators.

An opportunity for single and married adults of all ages to experience the power of personal and spiritual growth within a community of 8 to 12 other parish members.  These groups meet in members' homes and are led by facilitators. Gatherings include socializing, faith sharing, and prayer.  There are two options for participation.

Seasonal Communities:
You can sign up for the Fall season four week session and/or the Lenten six week session.  This is a limited commitment.

Ongoing Communities:
These communities make a commitment to gather together for a minimum of one year.  Each community sets its own schedule, leadership and focus for reflection.  We currently have 15 of these ongoing groups.

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Books
    1. Care of the Soul - by Thomas Moore
    2. The Wild Man's Journey - by Fr. Richard Rohr
    3.  Quest For the Grail - by Richard Rohr
    4. Everything Belongs - by Fr. Richard Rohr
    5. A Boy's Passage - by BrianMolitor
    6. The Masculine Spirit - by Max Oliva
    7. The Quest for the Male Soul - by Martin Pable
    8. From Ageing to Sageing - by Zalman Schachter-Shalomi
    9. Fire In the Belly - by Sam Keen
    10. Wildmen, Warriors, and Kings - by Patrick Arnold
    11. The Sibling Society - by Robert Bly
    12. Iron John - by Robert Bly
    13. Soul of a Man - by William J. O'Malley
    14. Crossing The Soul's River: A Rite of Passage for Men - by William O. Roberts Jr.
    15. A Feminist Spirituality For Women and Men  - by Sr. Joan Chittister
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You can choose from a variety of resources to reflect on. Group life can revolve around one or more of the following: weekly scripture readings,  teachings of the catholic church, parenting issues, moral decision making, role of the church in the world today, spiritual traditions within the catholic church, etc.

All Small Church communities have several key characteristics: A shared life of some kind, faith sharing, socializing, prayer and a commitment to individual and/or group service. Registration for these groups will begin in mid September for the Fall season and in mid January for the Lenten season. For more information call 763-425-6505.
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Signs of a healthy Faith Community:

1. A spirit of hospitality and openness to new members.
2. Respect for all members of the group and no one person tries to dominate.
3. A commitment to learning to pray together, both formal and informal prayer.
4. A willingness to listen to one another even when there are differences of opinion and belief.
5. An outward looking attitude in the group that stays focused on how we live, individually and as a group, the Gospel values in our daily lives.
6. An attitude of service, individually and as a group, to the parish community and the larger community.
   
   

1. The group leader or host home for the first night:
Call all those in their group to let them know about when and where you will be meeting.

2. First night announcements and decisions to be made:
- Have each person take a minute to introduce themselves
- Go over schedule
- Invite others to host a meeting.
- Decide if you will be doing refreshments each week.  And who will be bringing them.
- Be sure to start on time and finish on time ( e.g.7-9pm).

3. Warm ups:
Occasionally try breaking your group into smaller sharing circles of 2 or 3
- Invite members to check in by sharing high and low points from the past week.
- Invite members to take a few minutes to meditate on the past week and look for "God moments" where they are able to see the presence of God being active in their lives.

Then take time to share stories.
- Select a warm up/ice breaker idea,e.g. from the Serendipity bible.

4.  Optional ideas for faith sharing time:
- Use the faith sharing questions for the upcoming Sunday's scripture readings.

5. Closing time:
- Light a candle, lower the lights and:
- Pass the candle and invite members to share prayers of need, thanks, praise, etc.

When the candle comes to them. Remind them that they do not have to pray out loud.
- Invite members to set a goal for themselves for thecoming week and put it into a prayer.
- Find ways to talk about the importance of prayer time as a way to deepen your group's shared life.

Experiment with various prayer forms: e.g. Litanies, prayers of petition, guided meditations, using music in the background, sing a song, vespers (churchnight prayers), reading from scripture or a Psalm, Lectio Divina, etc.,

6. Other ideas for developing group life:
- The facilitator should regularly find ways to remind the group of the purpose of the gatherings:

Seasonal groups emphasize building community, doing faith sharing, learning to pray together.

Ongoing groups emphasize developing a shared life together. Besides faith sharing, prayer, etc. there are other ways for  developing this shared life: e.g. taking on a service project; attending Mass once a month together; holding a seasonal event for the families of the group members; helping to prepare children in the group for receiving sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation, and Confirmation; go camping together etc.

- If your group has been together for a while, you may want to discern who in the group might be a good group facilitator in order to share the responsibilities of keeping the group together.

- If your group has been together for a while, take time occasionally to ask for feedback as to what needs and directions your group wants to go in.

- If your group is getting too large, you may want to consider dividing the group into two smaller groups.

- To deepen your sense of identity, pick a name for your group. e.g. The St. Francis Community; or the Pax Christi community; or the Dorothy Day Community; The Mother Theresa Community, etc.

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A. www.small groups.com
B. www.sharing faith.org
C. www.catholicism.about.com
D. www.bible.org
E. www.buenavista.org
F. www.littlerockscripture.org (Catholic bible study materials, order on line)
F. www.goodgroundpress.com ( small groups resources and on line retreats, etc.)
G. www.emmausjourney.org
H. www.litpress.org
I.   www.nccbuscc.org
J.  www.personal.psu.edu/users/d/d/ddz/index
K.  www.cyberfaith.com
L.  www.americancatholic.org
M. www.serendipityhouse.com

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