Foundation of Everything
Part 3 of 3
Getting the Most Out of Your Small Church Community
Contents
- Focus on Discipleship
- Focus on the Journey
- Focus on Fellowship and Support
- Focus on Evangelization
- Focus on Priorities
- Your Next Step
Focus on Discipleship
Our small church community, like the Church itself, won’t prosper automatically. The small church community (SCC) needs to know its primary purpose and all the sub-purposes that entails. As with the Church, the primary purpose of a small church community is to form faithful disciples. Indeed, that is the entire reason we’ve been talking about small church communities. So, make sure this is your group’s top priority, and that it stays its top priority—its primary purpose. The leader must make this clear up front. It must be talked about and agreed upon.
A mission statement like the following will help with this:
“Our goal is to form living, growing disciples of Jesus Christ in our small church communities through group prayer and worship, supportive fellowship, and faithful Catholic studies available to all.”
This statement keeps discipleship primary; it promotes the worship, spiritual growth, fellowship, support, and evangelization that are necessarily parts of discipleship. It also formally asserts that Catholic studies and by extension the group discussions that ensue are central to the group. It states the studies are faithful; they follow the teaching authority of the Catholic Church. And it affirms that its evangelization includes keeping the group open to all. Of course, it’s good to elaborate a little on this mission statement. The leader should cover all these matters in greater depth over time.
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Focus on the Journey
The journey to God and discipleship are largely interchangeable. One difference is that many on the journey to God are not yet disciples; these folks often have different needs than disciples. Another difference, at least for our purposes, is that the journey is made with others and the journey together emphasizes this togetherness. The journey together focuses on meeting people where they are. It emphasizes very personal fellowship and support.
The journey of life is the journey to God. For a SCC, it’s not so important where we are, as that we are moving forward. And to move forward, we must not only learn about the beautiful truths of Christ, but we must also apply these truths to our lives and open ourselves to an encounter with Jesus. To best apply these truths to our lives, our group discussions need open-ended questions that urge us to do so. Unfortunately, most Bible studies notoriously lack such questions; their authors most often simply require us to repeat the insights their study offers. A SCC needs open-ended questions that apply the truths to our lives and inspire lively discussions. Leaders are better off using religious books they appreciate and creating their own discussion questions rather than using materials with close-ended questions.
The journey to God must involve applying the gospel to our lives and takings steps forward. The studies, discussions, and support of the members must assist us in these steps forward. The members will take important steps, even if very small steps, even if “baby steps,” and accumulate more steps. They will incorporate the last step into their life and look for the next step. Always looking for the next step. That’s how any journey works—including the journey of life—the very journey to God.
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Focus on Fellowship and Support
The SCC does one thing better than any other level of Church: it has ordinary people helping each other connect everyday life to their faith. The SCC discussions reveal important truths and help us apply them to our lives. We experience this as a mighty encouragement and support on our journey to God. And part of this support and part of this journey is offering our own encouragement and support to the other members of the group. This overall experience yields profound fellowship and lifelong friendships. A SCC is indeed together on the journey to God. A SCC is truly a support group and much more.
And the support that blossoms in a SCC is not limited to the spiritual alone. SCC members should offer emotional support and other kinds of assistance as needed. Generous friendships proper to disciples of Christ should flourish within a SCC. A SCC is by nature somewhere between family and church; fellowship and support, inside and outside the group, is important and should be encouraged.
The Paladin SCC is a place to give a reason for our faith; however, it is not a place to have our faith attacked! No one is required to agree with every or any tenants of the Roman Catholic Church; however, this is not the place to challenge those tenants or demand answers to questions regarding them. The Paladin SCC is a place to challenge the status quo of the modern church; however, it is not a place to condemn the Church as a whole—or any other group as a whole. The discussions will often challenge the beliefs and attitudes of people in general and groups in particular; however, this should never come across as a judgment against the individuals themselves. Often enough, a brief explanation of a view counter to the Catholic view may be appropriate; however, this must remain brief and never allowed to lead to a debate. This is a Catholic home, not a place of debates—ever. Period.
Focus on Evangelization
The word evangelization inspires uneasy feelings in many. Evangelization is not primarily knocking on the doors of strangers or shouting the gospel from the rooftops (though, of course, this has its place). Evangelization is primarily showing our love for one another and inviting others we know to fellowship with us. Evangelization has always been more effective as a generous love for those we don’t know and an invitation to come and see. And this is the kind of evangelization a SCC does.
In the SCC, we evangelize each other; we evangelize our family, friends, coworkers, and acquaintances. In a sense, mature disciples even evangelize each other. Evangelization is an invitation to conversion, and every true disciple knows his conversion is an ongoing, lifelong process. The invitation to come and see bears no prerequisites. We don’t worry that someone has never opened a Bible or never stepped foot into a church. We not only invite Catholics and other Christians, but we also invite the non-religious, the agnostic, and the atheist. We not only invite the respected and moral, but we also invite the irreverent and immoral. All are welcome, if they’re open to hearing what we have to say, and they agree to the honor code of the SCC (embracing a spirit of confidentiality, authenticity, respect, positivity, and hospitality).
Some won’t know anyone; some will fear they won’t fit in. It’s the responsibility of the SCC—especially the leader—to make sure everyone feels welcome and feels they know someone—even if at first, it’s only the leader. Everyone has something important to say; everyone has something to contribute to the SCC. Even the nonbeliever will contribute to the believer in their own way.
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Focus on Priorities
Our lives are like an iceberg. We see the tip and obsess about that small, known part of our life, while largely oblivious to the rest of our life, to that 90% below water! It’s the 90% that determines where we’re going and impacts everything else about the 10%. We need to explore the deep waters. After all, “the unexamined life is not worth living” (Socrates).
So, what am I getting at? The small church community isn’t just one more thing to do; it’s a foundation on which to build and grow, to help put everything else in perspective, to give meaning to life, to rediscover beauty and purpose in life. The SCC needs to be a priority. We make time for priorities; we don’t put off a priority waiting for that perfect time that never comes. We reap what we sow. We will get out of life—we will get out of a SCC—what we put into it. The SCC is important. After all, it will help us—all of us—shed the self-destructive worldview that sucks true joy out of our lives! A good and faithful SCC will help us on our journey to God, on our journey to life more abundant.
Your Next Step
Are you interested in learning more about our vision for small church communities? We have a four-part series that offers everything you need to know to get started. The series covers “Introduction & Vision,” “Basic Guidelines,” “Important Goals,” and “Paladin Materials.” Are you interested in becoming part of a small church community? Unless someone is already forming Paladin SCCs in your parish, you will most likely need to help start the group yourself. Are you a living, growing disciple? If so, you should consider leading a SCC. If you’re not quite yet a living, growing disciple, consider sharing this material with someone in your circle of friends and family that you believe is. Perhaps such a person sent you to us. If so, let them know what you think.
Of course, even more basic and important than involvement with a small church community is your ongoing journey to God. The SCC is there to help and support you on this journey; however, the journey remains your journey. So beyond seeking involvement in a SCC, what’s your next step? Taking your obligations as a practicing Catholic more seriously? Additional spiritual reading and prayer? Working on the virtues? Volunteer work? The Lord will help you discern the next step that is most important for your walk with him. So, step out in faith, take a decisive step forward, and follow through—the Lord will do the rest. Once you have solidly incorporated this next step into your life, look for the next step. The journey to God is a lifelong journey of many thoughtful, decisive steps guided and empowered by the Lord.
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