I AM A MISSIONARY DISCIPLE IN MY SMALL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

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 I AM A MISSIONARY DISCIPLE IN MY SMALL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

His Grace Archbishop R. C. Ndlovu

FOREWORD

Dear Priests,
Brothers and Sisters,
Lay Faithful,

The Extra Ordinary Mission Month (October 2019), we recently celebrated under the theme,”
Baptised and Sent: The Church of Christ on a Mission in the World”, revitalized our
understanding of the missionary nature of the church, increased our awareness of the Christian
baptismal responsibility to evangelise to the end of the earth. Pope Francis reminds us that by
virtue of our baptism we are all missionary disciples.
Our 2019 – 2020 Pastoral Plan focusses on the life of a missionary disciple in the Small
Christian Community under the Theme: I am a Missionary Disciple in my Small Christian
Community.
It is my wish that we all reflect on our missionary duty in the family (the domestic
church), Small Christian communities (the community of families), parish (community of
communities) and until the end of the world (Matthew 28vs19).
I urge you all to form and establish standardised Small Christian Communities in your
parishes, to foster membership, belonging and active participation of all parishioners in the
small Christian community and also to make the Word of God, Liturgy, Catechesis and charity
the thrust of Small Christian Communities.

God bless you all

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 I AM A MISSIONARY DISCIPLE IN MY SMALL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY

2020 PASTORAL PLAN TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

i. General Background
ii. Extra-Ordinary Mission Month
iii. Objectives of The Pastoral Plan
iv. Why Small Christian Communities?

CHAPTER 1

SMALL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY, WHAT IT IS

CHAPTER 2

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SMALL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES

i. Biblical Foundations
ii. Ecclesiastical (Church) Background, Synods, Papal exhortations, IMBISA,
ZCBC
iii. Archdiocese of Harare

CHAPTER 3

CURRENT SITUATION OF SMALL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN THE

ARCHDIOCESE OF HARARE
i. Structures and Size, ref. Zones, Sections, Neighbourhood, Districts
ii. Membership, Belonging and Participation
iii. Thrust, Programmes and Activities

CHAPTER 4

VISION OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF HARARE SMALL CHRISTIAN

COMMUNITIES, 2020 AND BEYOND
i. Establishment, Formation and Size
ii. Membership, Belonging and Participation
iii. Thrust and Other Activities,
(a)Word of God,
(b) Liturgy (Eucharist and other Prayers)
(c) Catechesis/Formation
(d) Charity

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CONCLUSI

INTRODUCTION

1.0 General Background

“Missionary activity flows immediately from the very nature of the Church.”1 The
Extraordinary Mission Month, October 2019, reignited and reminded us that we are
‘Baptised and Sent’. Pope Francis teaches that “in virtue of their baptism, all the
members of the People of God have become missionary disciples.”2 The Archdiocese
of Harare in 2020 looks at the life of every ‘missionary disciple’ in the Small Christian
Community under the theme “I am a Missionary Disciple in my Small Christian
Community”.
Of late, in the second half of the past decade, our themes in the Archdiocese of Harare
resonated around the Family and the Church, the Word of God and the Eucharist,
Young People and Accompaniment. These topics were addressed under the following
themes:
2015: The Word of God and the Family
2016: The Eucharist and the Family in the Year of Mercy
2017: Rejoicing in the Gospel of the Family
2018: Young People, the Joy, Strength and Hope of the Family and
the Church

1
SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL, Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity Ad Gentes Divinitus (7 Dec 1965), 6.
2
POPE FRANCIS, Apostolic Exhortation on the Church’s Primary Mission of Evangelization in the Modern
World Evangelii Gaudium (24 Nov 2013), 15.

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2019: Journeying with Young People in Faith and Vocational Discernment.

Year 2019 programmes ended with special attention to the Extra-ordinary
Mission Month in October under the theme “Baptised and Sent, the Church of
Christ on Mission in the World”.
Our theme in 2020, as aforementioned, is “I am a Missionary Disciple in my Small
Christian Community”. As such, the new emphasis is on ‘missionary discipleship’ in
the Small Christian Communities where we commune and serve daily.
2020 comes not in isolation from previous years. The Eucharist and the Word of God,
emphasized on in 2015 and 2016, come up again in 2020 as the lifeblood of the Small
Christian Communities. These Small Christian Communities are characterized by
accompaniment in communion of families. Indeed, Small Christian Communities are
a communion of families. This accompaniment guaranteed in Small Christian
Communities directed Pastoral Activities in the Archdiocese of Harare in 2018 and
2019 with prominence given to Young People. Therefore, 2020 takes its life and form
from the previous themes.
The Chapter Breakdown of our 2020 pastoral booklet is as follows:
Introductory Chapter: New Evangelization, Extraordinary Mission Month,
Objectives of SCCs and Why SCCs?
Chapter One: Small Christian Community. What it is.
Chapter Two: Historical Background of Small Christian Communities.
Chapter Three: The Current Situation of the SCCs in the Archdiocese of Harare.
Chapter Four: Vision of the Archdiocese of Harare Concerning the SCCs in 2020
and beyond.

1.1 New Evangelization

New Evangelization calls each of us to deepen our faith, to believe in the Gospel
message and
to go forth to proclaim the Gospel (cf. Mt 28:19). In 1983, John Paul II of saintly
memory used the term as a theological concept for the first time in Haiti. He called for
a New Evangelization, “not to re-evangelize but to a New Evangelization, new in its
ardour, methods and expression.”3 New Evangelization gives heed to three categories
of people namely;
(i) those who have never heard of the Gospel (ad gentes),
(ii) members of Christian Communities fervent in their faith, and

3
JOHN PAUL II, Address to CELAM (Opening Address of the Nineteenth General Assembly of CELAM, 9
March 1983, Port-au-Prince, Haiti), L'Osservatore Romano English Edition 16/780
(18 April 1983), 9.

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(iii) those of Christian roots but have lost fervour or those who no longer regard
themselves as members of the Church and live lives contrary to the Gospel
values.4
It is in Small Christian Communities where the duty of evangelization is fulfilled.

1.2 Extraordinary Mission Month

On 30 November 1919, Benedict XV issued ‘Maximum Illud Apostolic Letter on the

Propagation of Faith throughout the World. Benedict XV began from Jesus’ mandate
to “go out to the whole world and proclaim the gospel to all creation” (Mk 16:15). At
the centenary anniversary of Maximum Illud, Pope Francis declared October 2019 to
be an extraordinary mission month with the theme ‘Baptised and Sent: The Church of
Christ on Mission in the World’. The words ‘baptised and sent’ indicate the two
essential and inalienable elements of every individual believer. The Supreme Pontiff
taught that these very words contain the essential elements to be taken into account in
planning and living out the initiative of missionary discipleship. Why? The
Extraordinary Mission Month
✓ Gave new impetus to the missionary task of proclaiming the Gospel.
✓ Fostered an increased awareness of the mission ad gentes and the taking up
again with renewed fervour of the missionary transformation of the Church’s
life and pastoral activity.
✓ Brought the entire People of God to a new awareness of Christian baptismal
responsibility for the Church’s mission to evangelize to the ends of the earth.
✓ Renewed ardour and passion, the spiritual motor of the apostolic action of
countless missionary saints and martyrs.
The Holy Father gave four major pillars upon which the extraordinary mission month
rested. These are;
(a) A personal encounter with Jesus Christ living in his Church, in the Eucharist,
in the Word of God, in personal and in community prayer.
(b) Witness of missionary saints and martyrs (either canonized or not).
(c) Formation for missionary activity; biblical, catechetical, spiritual and
theological.
(d) Missionary charity as commitment on the part of the whole Church to share the
‘costs’ of proclamation and formation in the faith and in mission.

1.3 Missionary Discipleship

“Every Christian is a missionary to the extent that he or she has encountered the love
of God in Christ Jesus: we no longer say that we are ‘disciples’ and ‘missionaries’, but

4
JOHN PAUL II, Encyclical Letter on the Permanent Validity of the Church's Missionary Mandate Redemptoris
Missio, (7 Dec 1990), 33.

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rather that we are always ‘missionary disciples.”5 A missionary disciple is both a

disciple and a missionary. A disciple is a lover of Christ who wholeheartedly follows
him. We do not end at just being disciples. Rather we “go and make disciples” (Mt
28:19). As such, a missionary is sent to evangelize through dialogue and proclamation
beginning with people within one’s own locality. Pope Paul VI in his Kampala Address
dictated that the Church of Christ is well and truly planted in this blessed soil, Africa.
A moment earlier he had stated that “By now, you Africans are missionaries to
yourselves.”6 No more does ‘missionary’ refer to people who left their homelands to
go to different parts of the world, crossing oceans to evangelize. We are missionary
disciples in our SCCs.

1.4 Objectives of the Pastoral Plan

✓ To form and establish standardized SCCs in all parishes within the
Archdiocese of Harare.
✓ To foster membership, a sense of belonging and active participation of
every individual believer primarily in the Small Christian Community,
✓ To make the Word of God, the Eucharist, Catechesis/Formation and
Charity the thrust of SCCs.

1.5 Why Small Christian Communities

✓ Authentic Witnessing (cf. Jn 13:35). Small Christian Communities connect
the community with their everyday life and work and strive towards
becoming authentic witnesses in their home environment. Members are
bonded together by love. They are the local incarnations of the One, Holy,
Catholic and Apostolic Church.
✓ A Small Christian Community is a ‘Family of God’. SCCs concretely
express and realize the model of the Church as Family of God (cf. Lk 8:21).
“African SCCs emphasize personal relationships, family bonds, solidarity
and Christian belonging – sharing together, working together, and
celebrating together (including meals and entertainment) in the context of
African values and customs.”7. Members experience interpersonal
relationship and they also feel a sense of communal belonging.
✓ Evangelization. AMECEA in Lusaka Zambia in 1992 stated that “We
repeat that Small Christian Communities are not optional in our churches,
they are central to the life of the faithful and the ministry of evangelisation”.
Small Christian Communities should feel they are really part of the
Church’s evangelisation mission. They have to be involved in
evangelisation.

5
POPE FRANCIS, Evangelii Gaudium, 120.
6
PAUL VI, Homily at the Conclusion of the Symposium Organized by the Bishops of Africa, Kampala
(Uganda), 31 July 1969, 1.
7
JOSEPH G. HEALEY, ‘How African Small Christian Communities Implement the Pastoral and Missionary Vision
of
Vatican II’, SCCs Global Collaborative Website, updated 20 July 2013, 7.

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CHAPTER 1

SMALL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY, WHAT IT IS

The Small Christian Communities are contextual and regional. In other regions and places,
SCCs may be referred to as Basic Christian Community (BCC), Base or Basic Ecclesial
Community (BEC), blocks, cells and so on. However, in the Archdiocese of Harare the
standard term is Small Christian Community (SCC).

In the context of this Pastoral Plan, a Small Christian Community is a group8:

• consisting of ten to fifteen Christian families normally related to a specific geographical area.
• that gathers in a home or some other appropriate place to form a community with three
essential elements namely;
✓ Bonding,
✓ Contemplation and
✓ Reality.
• whose members, united in the Holy Trinity, holistically share all aspects of their
lives i.e. spiritually, intellectually, socially and even materially.
• that is rooted in the Eucharist and the other Sacraments, the Word of God,
popular piety and charity.
• that reaches out from the reality of their unity to further establish the Kingdom
of God in the world.
• that participates more fully in the life of the Church.

8
cf. JAMES O’HALLORAN, Small Christian Communities: A Pastoral Companion, Claretian Publications,
Bangalore 1996, 44-45.

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• whose leadership convenes, animates, coordinates and facilitates meetings.9

9
Leadership is not arranged in a top-to-bottom brand. Decisions are thus made through dialogue and
consensus (discernment) rather than domination. People come first in place of structures.

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CHAPTER 2

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF SMALL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES

i. Biblical Foundations
Jesus Christ founded a small Christian community of twelve apostles. Through the apostles’
preaching and ministry, the community of believers grew throughout Jerusalem and beyond.
After Jesus’ Ascension, wherever the disciples went, they formed communities of believers in
Christ. Members were incorporated through baptism. They “each day with one heart, regularly
went to the Temple, but would meet in their houses for the breaking of bread” (Acts 2:46a). St
Paul’s missionary expeditions yielded more SCCs. Indeed, they began small but grew
tremendously in number and size (cf. Acts 11:19-26; 12:12; 16:13-34, 40; Rom 16:5).

ii. Ecclesiastical (Church) Background, (Synods, Papal Exhortations, IMBISA,

ZCBC)

The Church changed from a communitarian model to a hierarchical one with the coming of the
Roman Emperor Constantine (288-337 C.E.). Patriarchy was practiced throughout the Roman

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Empire with the conversion of Constantine. The church ceased to be persecuted and
Christianity became the favoured religion which led to an increase of its numbers. In the
midfourth century bishops were installed as public officials and this gave birth to a Church
model that was hierarchical and institutional, a form that overshadowed the communitarian
vision. The neighbour-hood community, or house Church stopped to exist and the focus was
put on structures. Thus, the dimension that gave the early Christianity much of its vigour
vanished. Indeed, the ordinary faithful are today reclaiming their heritage as small communities
increase in numbers around the world.
The vision of the Church as community was a kind of preserved in a ratified fashion by
religious orders/congregations founded by great Saints like Benedict, Scholastica, Dominic,
Francis, Clare, Ignatius, Teresa just to name but a few. Nevertheless, these religious orders
adapted to the pyramidal Church model with more emphasis on relationships (community) than
structure. In 1961 Congo established Small Christian Communities.

iii. Vatican 2 Council and Small Christian Communities

The winds of change that blew in the 1960s with the calls of Vatican II Council altered the
prevailing hierarchical model of the Church. The Council called on the Church to be
community as the Trinity is community (Dogmatic Constitution of the Church, 4, 10, 11,
12).Since then it has been realized that the most effective way to bring forth this vision is
through small Christian communities, which then combine into larger units to form a
communion of communities.

• Interest of the World Council of Churches’ Uppsala Assembly (1968) in

creative Church initiatives led eventually to a world-wide contact with small
Christian communities. As a result, community experiences were recorded by
Dr Ian Fraser and his late wife Margaret and are to be found in a Resource
Centre at the Scottish Churches’ House in Dumblane.
• The International Catechetical Congress held in Rome, 1971, cited the small
community as a particularly suitable environment for passing on the faith and
confirmed this in a follow-up document General Catechetical Directory, no. 93,
1971.
• The Evangelization of Peoples of Pope Paul VI, 1975, has a section (no. 58)
dedicated on communities. He sees them as offering hope to the whole Church,
provided they are faithful to its teaching, united to the local and universal
Churches, and avoid thinking themselves superior to other groups and
movements. He also exhorts the members to grow as missionaries in their
awareness, fervour, and zeal. And he makes the important point that the small
Christian community is an authentic cell of the Church.
• In his Address to the Brazilian Basic Ecclesia Communities, 1980, Pope John
Paul II repeats that the small communities are Church and insists on the need
for their lay animators to be in communion with their pastors, prepared in the
faith, and exemplary life (Tablet, August 9th, 1980).

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• In his Exhortation: Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful, no. 28, The Lay
Members of Christ’s faithful People, no. 61, and The Mission of the Redeemer
no.51, Pope John Paul II affirms the small communities as “true expressions of
ecclesial communion and centres of evangelization, in communion with their
pastors.”
• Pope Francis promulgated Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel) no. 29,
other Church institutions, basic communities and small communities are a
source of enrichment for the Church, raised up by the Spirit for evangelizing
different areas and sectors. Frequently they bring a new evangelizing fervour
and a new capacity for dialogue with the world whereby the Church is renewed.
But it will prove beneficial for them not to lose contact with the rich reality of
the local parish and to participate readily in the overall pastoral activity of the
particular Church. This kind of integration will prevent them from concentrating
only on part of the Gospel or the Church, or becoming nomads without roots.
• Pope Benedict XVI in the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation Africa’s
Commitment (Africae Munus), 2011. It can be helpful for you to form
associations in order to continue shaping your Christian conscience and
supporting one another in the struggle for justice and peace. The Small Christian
Communities (SCCs) and the ‘new communities’ are fundamental structures for
fanning the flame of your Baptism.”

iv. Ecclesia in Africa (Church in Africa)

Small Christian Communities in Africa

At the1971 Synod of Bishops held in Rome, the Bishops from this continent saw that small
Christian communities already existed in Africa. Thereafter, there were some major landmarks
for the promotion of small Christian communities on the continent. O’ Halloran indicates that
they first took shape in East Africa where the fifth, the sixth and seventh AMECEA
(Association of Member Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa respectively took place in
Nairobi 1973, and 1976; and at Zomba in 1979. Pope John Paul II’s apostolic visit in Kenya
also promoted the Small Christian Communities in Eastern Africa. The SECAM (Symposium
of Episcopal Conferences in Africa and Madagascar) Assemblies at Yaounde, Cameroons,
1981, and Kinshasa, Zaire, 1984 were held. Coming closer home, the first plenary session of
IMBISA (Inter-Regional Meeting of Bishops of Southern Africa), was held at Chishawasha
Seminary in Zimbabwe. In 1989, the Kenyan Catholic Bishops wrote a pastoral letter entitled
Centenary of the Evangelization in Kenya. At the eleventh Assembly of the AMECEA held in
Lusaka, Zambia 1992, the bishops declared, “Small Christian communities are no longer
merely an option.” The African Synod of Bishops, Rome, 1994 saw the notion of Family
Church emerging, hence the communities gained wide support. Pope John Paul II then visited

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the Cameroons, Kenya and South Africa in September 1995 to launch the document Ecclesia
in Africa (The Church in Africa) which was a result of the 1994 Synod. Thus, in this Post
Synodal Exhortation, the Holy Father re-emphasized ‘taking the Church as the Family of God
as its guiding idea for the evangelization in Africa, (no. 63).
It can be noted that although there are no ready statistics of small Christian communities in
Africa, there are thousands and thousands of them and they are on the increase. Indeed, the
small communities point to the new mode of Church that is communitarian and takes its roots
from the early Christian communities.

v. Archdiocese of Harare Christian Community Programmes

During the 1980s the Archdiocese embarked on a program to develop Christian Communities.
The main objective of the program was to create a Family within the Christian Communities.
This Program was introduced in the Archdiocese by His Grace Archbishop Patrick Chakaipa.
The main focus of the CCP was the Centre, Section and Parishioners.

Objectives
Apart from the main objective of the program to the entire Church, this program was also aimed
at developing CCP Leadership. Some other objectives set were;
-To train voluntary people from the areas mentioned above
-To install the necessary love and decision to do voluntary work
-To give sufficient knowledge to carry out their work with confidence
-To procure sufficient catechist and leaders who would boost the Archdiocese
-To come up with voluntary competent catechists and leaders
-To teach them to be self-reliant and to teach a person how to fish than to give him fish to eat

Activities and Achievements

For this program to be understood and to reach to the grassroots, a group of 12 people was put
in place to help develop and bring understanding on the Christian Community Program. Below
is an account of what the team did and achieved.

• They underwent leadership training for two years at Silveira House. They got
talks from different lecturers who had vast experience in leadership technics.
• After the course they were placed in different places e.g. Br Mandaza SJ was
based at Rockwood Spiritual Centre. One had a duty of organizing outreach
trainings and the team went out.
• The CCP Program in the end provided the Archdiocese with a good number of
voluntary Catechists and competent leaders.
• The program encompassed both the urban and rural parishes especially to the
parishes whose priest accepted and gave it a chance.

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• For encouragement appreciation for the work that was being done, His Grace
Archbishop Chakaipa facilitated certificates from Rome and they were given to
leaders who had completed their two-year course, not the first group but the
subsequent groups.
• The first group had a privilege to go for a study tour in Germany to study how
they run their parishes there. The Germans sponsored the tour.
• The program was a success and bore many fruits and some results are still seen
up to this day.

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CHAPTER 3

CURRENT SITUATION OF SMALL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN THE

ARCHDIOCESE OF HARARE

i. Structure and Size

The current situation in the Archdiocese of Harare shows the existence of Christians
Communities in parishes. All such groupings have different names for instance blocks,
sections, neighbourhoods; zones and districts. These names have been used interchangeably in
different parishes. Their sizes vary from parish to parish with some consisting of even more
than fifty families. This plan aims at standardizing the structures and establishing SCCs in all
parishes. These SCCs would be consisting of approximately ten to fifteen families.

ii. Membership, Participation and Belonging

Most parishioners in the Archdiocese are members of Christian Communities. Nonetheless,
women seem to be more active than men and young people. The sense of belonging and
participation leaves a lot to be desired in most Christian communities. As a result, members
are neither connected nor united as they should be. More so, on one hand, the issue of

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dominance of one or two families over other members of the Christian communities can be
noted to stand in the way of Membership, Participation and Belonging. On the other hand,
Membership, Participation and Belonging have suffered due to reluctance on the part of some
members as in a case, to host Christian Community meetings. This plan aims at fostering active
participation of every parishioner in one Family of God.

iii. Thrust, Programmes and Activities

The thrust of programmes and activities in some parishes lacks variety. Most Christian
Communities meet weekly in their homes sharing the Word of God and in most cases, they use
Lectio Divina, the only method that has been promoted over the years. Some meet to share the
rosary every week to an extent that the meetings are referred to as ‘kurozari’. In addition to
weekly prayer meetings, Christian Community masses are celebrated in the homes. A gradual
shift of priorities from the Word of God and prayers to fundraising activities is observable.
This plan aims at reorienting the thrust of programmes within SCCs with interchangeable
spiritual activities focused on the Word of God, the Eucharist, catechesis and charity.

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CHAPTER 4

VISION OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF HARARE, SMALL CHRISTIAN

COMMUNITIES, 2020 AND BEYOND

i. Establishment, Formation and Size

The vision of the Archdiocese of Harare in 2020 is to have Small Christian
Communities in all parishes. Chapter 3 shows that most of our parishes have
Christian communities (Sections, Districts, Neighbourhood). However, these are
bigger than Small Christian Communities recommended in this book. The plan
therefore proposes subdivisions of existing Christian Communities (sections) into
Small Christian Communities.

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ARCHDIOCESE OF HARARE STRUCTURAL ORGANOGRAM

The Small Christian Communities in this plan consists of ten to fifteen (10-15)
families not exceeding twenty (20) families (this applies to people staying in flats,
farms, and villages). Considerations should be given to residential camps, flats, farm
compounds and other different compounds.

All parishes are encouraged to have structures of Small Christian Communities. There
should be ongoing formation making them one into a Body of Christ. Ten to fifteen
families should form a Small Christian Community. It is not only about the number of
families but number of members as well as proximity.

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ii. Membership and Belonging

Every member in the parish should register in the Small Christian Community. It is
encouraged that every parishioner belongs to a Small Christian Community and be actively
involved. The community is meant to embrace a spirit of ecumenism and work for
reconciliation within itself as well with regards to those of non-Christian religions. Belonging
fosters unity and forms a united Family of God. “Who are my brothers?” (Mt 12:48). The
waters of Baptism and the Body and Blood of Christ make us brothers and sisters. Therefore,
every individual ought to feel at home in their particular SCC.

iii. Participation
The community has to promote the responsibilities and rights of all members to contribute to
the church’s mission, welcoming and nurturing the gifts of its members and especially those
whose gifts have typically gone unnoticed, denied or refused. Paul tells us of the many gifts
that the Church has (cf. 1Cor 12:28–30). We need to bring our gifts together for the benefit of
the community. There should be active participation and involvement in order that the local
Church be self-ministering, self-propagating and self-supporting. All members of Small
Christian Communities are called to be actively involved in the activities of the SCC and in the
life of the parish. SCCs create opportunities for all members to contribute their time, talents
and treasures. Sometimes in bigger communities it is difficult for every member to actively
play a role in building up the Family of God. In the SCCs all members participate variedly
according to each individual’s gifts and calling. For example, every member participates in the
sharing of the Word of God when using the 7 Steps. Some may be catechists. Others may carry
out different responsibilities in the liturgical celebrations, as choir conductors, instrumentalists,
dancers, lectors, saying petitions, and so on.

iv. Thrust, Programmes and Other Activities

SCCs feed on the Word of God and the Eucharist. The thrust of SCCs programs
involves the Word of God, the Sacred Liturgy and other Prayers,
Catechesis/Formation and Missionary Charity.

a. Word of God
In Sacred Scripture, the Church constantly finds her nourishment and her strength,
for she welcomes it not as a human word, but as what it really is, the word of God

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(cf. 1Thess 2:13; Dei Verbum 24). In the Sacred books, the Father who is in heaven
comes lovingly to meet his children and talks with them (CCC 104).

The ‘kerygmatic’ task of proclaiming the Word. The word ‘Kerygma’

comes from the Greek word “keyssein” meaning to herald, to proclaim.
From the very beginning the Church understood itself to have the
kerygmatic task of:
• Evangelizing that is bringing the good news to non-Christians. Small
Christian Communities should not restrict themselves to Catholics.
• Preaching – giving a spiritual reflection to the Scriptures especially in
worship.
• Teaching – giving instructing on the Christian way of life.

Our conviction in pastoral reading of the Word of God is that in it we truly encounter
Christ. This encounter with Christ has power to touch and change our lives. The
Hebrew term for “word” is “dabar”. This term is simply translated as WORD in
English which indicates both WORD and DEED/ACTION. God’s Word is an
invitation. Responding positively to it is beneficial to the recipient. One becomes
stronger, more committed, more loving and generous. On the contrary, failure to
respond to this invitation yields spiritually feeble, spiteful and egocentric
individuals.

(b) Liturgy (Eucharist and other Prayers)

The Word ‘liturgy’ comes from two Greek words that meant ‘service or work on
behalf of the people’ or ‘public work’. It implies service. “In Christian tradition it
means ‘the participation of the People of God in ‘the work of God’” (CCC 1069).
The Holy Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith. “No Christian
Community, can be built up unless it has its basis and centre in the celebration of
the most Holy Eucharist” (Decree on the Ministry and Life of Priests, 6). Holy
Communion emphasizes the unity of the Christian Community with Christ.
Benedict XVI teaches that “The Church’s faith is essentially a Eucharist faith and
it is especially nourished at the Table of the Eucharist” (Sacramentum Caritas no
6). The first Christians gathered for the Eucharist in the house churches (Romans
16:5, 15; 14:1 Cor 11:17-34). In the Acts of the Apostles we are told that “they
devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking
of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:46). The Lord instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of
his body and blood as a memorial of his death and resurrection. It is a sacrament of
love, a sign of unity and bond of charity. The SCC should be action oriented and
always working for excellence in the liturgy, helping to form the people into a
genuine praying Christian community.

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(c) Catechesis

Catechesis means oral instruction. The word comes from Greek (katechein) ‘to
sound again’ or re-echo meaning to teach by word of mouth, to instruct, to be informed. St Paul
refers catechesis to a handing on of all that has been received through Christ.
From the Apostolic Exhortation Catechesi tradendae of 16 October 1979 of St.
John Paul II we hear that:
“Very soon the name Catechesis was given to the whole of the efforts within the
Church to make disciples, to help to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, so that
believing they might have life in His name, and to educate and instruct them in this
life and thus build up the Body of Christ. The Church has not ceased to devote her
energy to this task” (CT 1).
The six elements on which catechesis is built on are:
1. The initial proclamation of the Gospel or missionary preaching through the
kerygma to arouse faith,
2. Apologetics of examination of the reasons for belief,
3. Experience of Christian living,
4. Celebration of the Sacraments,
5. Integration into the Ecclesial Community, and
6. Apostolic and missionary witness.

We can understand Catechesis more by knowing that:

• It is a Permanent and Continuous Education in Faith because our
potential is never fully realised and we can always explore further the
reality of God and his love for us.

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• It is a community process because we grow through our relationship

with others.
• Catechesis makes us ready to listen to the Holy Spirit and to open our
minds and hearts to the constant invitation to conversion.

• The whole Church is responsible for Catechesis: therefore, each one of us

has a part to play. The work has to be shared by all because of our baptism
which lays on each of us a personal responsibility to witness to Jesus Christ.
[ John 9:1 – 45].

Catechesis and Small Christian Communities

GDC 220 states that Catechesis is a responsibility of the entire Christian
Community. Christian initiation, indeed, “should not be the work of catechists and
priests alone, but of the whole community of the faithful” (AG 14; CT 16).
Continuing education in the faith is a question which concerns the whole
community. Catechesis is an educational activity which arises from a particular
responsibility of everyone or every member of the community. In a rich context of
relationships, catechumens and those being catechized are actively incorporated
into the life of the community. Catechesis does not start and end at the SCC but it
starts in the family. There should be catechesis both in the the family and parish.
The Small Christian community follows the development of catechetical processes,
for catechumens, and welcomes the catechized in a fraternal environment, “in which
they will be able to live in the fullest way what they have learned”. (CT24)
GDC 221, “Catechesis not only brings to maturity the faith of those being
catechized but also brings the community itself to maturity. Thus, the community
grows, serves, and develops.”
While the entire Christian community is responsible for Christian catechesis and all
of its members bear witness to the faith, only some receive the ecclesial mandate to
be catechists. Together with the primordial mission which parents have in relation
to their children, The Church confers the delicate task of organically transmitting
the faith within their Small Christian Communities (cf. LG 33; CIC 228; 759).

d. Charity (CCC 1822 – 1829)

Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own
sake, and our neighbour as ourselves for the love of God.

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• St. James asks, “what good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith
but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?” (James 9:17) “Show me your
faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.” (James
18).
• Jesus makes charity the new commandment (John 13:34). By loving his disciples
to the end (cf. John 13:1) he makes manifest the Father’s love which he receives.
By loving one another, the disciples imitate the love of Jesus which the themselves
receive. Whence Jesus says: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide
in my love.” And again: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I
have loved you” (John 15:9, 12).

Christ died out of love for us, while we were still sinners/ enemies (Romans
5:10). The Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the
neighbour of those furthest away in our minds, and to love children and the poorest
of the poor as Christ himself (Matthew 5:44 – 48; Luke 10:27 – 37; Mark 9:37;
Matthew 25:40,45).

The Apostle Paul has given an incomparable depiction of charity:

1. Charity is patient and kind,

2. Charity is not jealous and boastful,
3. It is not arrogant and rude,
4. Charity does not insist on its own way,
5. Charity is not irritable or resentful,
6. Charity does not rejoice on the wrong, but rejoices in the right,
7. Charity bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all
things
(1 Corinthians 13: 4 – 7).

Charity upholds and purifies our human ability to love, and arises it to the
supernatural perfection of divine love. In SCC we spoke of small numbers and
proximity. The common English says charity begins and home and our home is the
SCC where we live as a family of God. A true Small Christian Community is a
loving and caring community. In the Small Christian Communities, we are expected
to promote human welfare and tend to human suffering and alienation through the
corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

St Paul goes on to say.... “If I... have not charity, I am nothing.” Whatever my
privilege, service, or even virtue, “if I... have not charity, I gain nothing.”

We should have SSVP in Small Christian Communities. They should

identify the needy in the SCC and no case should go unnoticed, Catholic
or non-Catholic. The programs should begin locally in the SCC.

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CONCLUSION
In sum, missionary discipleship is a way of life, renewed vision of Christian life,
defining who we are and what we do as Christians. Yes, we are missionary disciples
in our families, parishes, deaneries and to the end of the world. The missionary
discipleship in its fullest sense of being sent, starts and is best in the SCCs whose
core values include, participation which is at the heart of the life and activities of
SCCs. Hopefully this plan gives new impetus and inspiration to our SCCs. SCC is
the new way of being a Church or as some ecclesiologists say is the rediscovery of
the original manners of being the Church demonstrated by the Early Christian
Communities. The strength of the SCCs resembles the strength of the parish and
vice versa.

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2020 PASTORAL PLAN IMPLEMENTATION

Program

Date Event Activity @ Venue

30 Nov 2019 Unpacking Archdiocese Rockwood
30 Jan 2020 Launch Archdiocese Rockwood

OTHER ACTIVITIES

Works of Mercy SCC’s

Spiritual and Corporal SCC’s
Care for the Environment Clean Up Campaigns Parish
Bible Sharing SCC’s
Mass Section
Catechesis SCC’s
Talks on Saints and Feast Celebrations SCC’s
Ongoing Formation Rockwood

NB:
• Rotation of leadership and hosting of SCC gatherings
• SCCs and other Christian communities, SCCs weekly, sections monthly.
• Welcoming and registration of new comers to be done instantly by parish and SCCs
leaders.
• Pastoral Plan Team will be visiting all deaneries, parishes and centres to help with the
establishment of SCCs.

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