What do you think?
Rate this book
The Catholic Experience of Small Christian Communities
The future of the church At a time when overall church attendance is dropping, many Catholics are becoming not less involved but more. This is due in large part to the phenomenal growth of small Christian communities. A wide-scale sociological study headed by the authors examined who these community members are, what they did in their groups, why they joined, and what difference the groups make. The findings are summarized in this book, as well as considerations of what the findings mean. Small-group members, the study concludes, are apt to be more aligned with the parish, more social, more vocal, and more active than other Catholics, making their impact on the church of undeniable importance. The book-- --gives an overview of the phenomenon's recent history --shows how small Christian communities connect Word to world --includes a theological reflection on this U.S. experience --offers practical pastoral recommendations for working with small Christian communities --investigates groups on college and university campuses as well This is important reading for-- o pastors o diocesan offices o sociologists o small group leaders
191 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2000
8 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 25, 2024
AN EXCELLENT OVERVIEW OF SUCH SMALL-GROUP COMMUNITIES
Bernard J. Lee (S.M.) teaches a Loyola University and has written books such as 'The Beating of Great Wings: A Worldly Spirituality for Active, Apostolic Communities,' 'The Galilean Jewishness of Jesus: Retrieving the Jewish Origins of Christianity,' 'Gathered and Sent: The Mission of Small Church Communities Today,' 'Jesus and the Metaphors of God: The Christs of the New Testament,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface of this 2000 book, "While I accept responsibility for the final shape of this report in book form, I want to say that... it is OUR book. The shape of the research has been a co-creation of the two teams, the theologians and the researchers. The basic shape of the book is also the outcome of extended conversations together... All that I have written is nourished by remarkable conversations with the theological team. We have met several times together for days at a time, and more often in telephone conferences. Collaboration with a hard-nosed and dialogic sociologist like William D'Antonio has been a larger gift to this project than any reflections could convey."
He explains, "Imagine it this way. The setting is a home, with about a dozen adults and some children. It's informal... Someone has been telling the story of Jesus, and others are telling their own stories, sometimes personal, sometimes... their social stories. They encourage these stories to connect: Word and world. Livable meaning is being generated, and that's the major MAGIC. They are centers of meaning for Catholics seeking to live their faith---to live their lives---meaningfully. These communities often move from Liturgy of the Word to table fellowship, sometimes with a sharing of bread and cup, not a Eucharist, but a table experience that remembers that Catholic culture is eucharistic, inside of Mass or out. Or it may be agape and potluck." (Pg. 5)
He notes, "In the years following Vatican II, a different kind of small group began gathering, akin in some respects to SCCs. They were sometimes identified as 'underground churches.' These were often people in search of more participative liturgical experience, and they were also people with social commitment... Some of the longer-lived SCCs in our research encounters have roots in the underground church." (Pg. 12)
He summarizes their demographic studies: "Communities vary in number from several members to over 100... The 13-17 average in most groups means that every member normally has a chance to be interactive at each gathering... Women outnumber men in membership, as they do in regular church attendance... What is most immediately striking is that the majority of SCC members are middle0aged and above... whereas the number of young adults (18-39) ranges between 18-25 percent for all of the groups... The meager presence of young adults needs to be a concern of SCCs as well as of the church in general." (Pg. 49)
He notes, "'Having people who can pray with me' was one of the reasons people gave for seeking out an SCC. In some groups participants take turns preparing rituals related to the liturgical year, scripture study for the day, or life events of members of the group. In some groups arranging prayer is the responsibility of the leader... Still others... value spontaneous prayer. The use of hymns or psalms in prayer varies across groups." (Pg. 86-87)
He summarizes, "Most small Christian communities meet weekly or biweekly, a frequency that is important to the hold that SCCs have on members' lives. Most meet in members' homes, a more the merely incidental location. SCC members believe that what they are doing at home is being community and being church, and the location itself reminds them of the house churches that were the normative form of ecclesial life in the early centuries. The four activities most common to all SCCs are prayer, faith sharing, scripture, and spirituality." (Pg. 114)
This very informative and thought-provoking book will be of great value to anyone (and not just Catholics) interested in SCCs.
Bernard J. Lee (S.M.) teaches a Loyola University and has written books such as 'The Beating of Great Wings: A Worldly Spirituality for Active, Apostolic Communities,' 'The Galilean Jewishness of Jesus: Retrieving the Jewish Origins of Christianity,' 'Gathered and Sent: The Mission of Small Church Communities Today,' 'Jesus and the Metaphors of God: The Christs of the New Testament,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface of this 2000 book, "While I accept responsibility for the final shape of this report in book form, I want to say that... it is OUR book. The shape of the research has been a co-creation of the two teams, the theologians and the researchers. The basic shape of the book is also the outcome of extended conversations together... All that I have written is nourished by remarkable conversations with the theological team. We have met several times together for days at a time, and more often in telephone conferences. Collaboration with a hard-nosed and dialogic sociologist like William D'Antonio has been a larger gift to this project than any reflections could convey."
He explains, "Imagine it this way. The setting is a home, with about a dozen adults and some children. It's informal... Someone has been telling the story of Jesus, and others are telling their own stories, sometimes personal, sometimes... their social stories. They encourage these stories to connect: Word and world. Livable meaning is being generated, and that's the major MAGIC. They are centers of meaning for Catholics seeking to live their faith---to live their lives---meaningfully. These communities often move from Liturgy of the Word to table fellowship, sometimes with a sharing of bread and cup, not a Eucharist, but a table experience that remembers that Catholic culture is eucharistic, inside of Mass or out. Or it may be agape and potluck." (Pg. 5)
He notes, "In the years following Vatican II, a different kind of small group began gathering, akin in some respects to SCCs. They were sometimes identified as 'underground churches.' These were often people in search of more participative liturgical experience, and they were also people with social commitment... Some of the longer-lived SCCs in our research encounters have roots in the underground church." (Pg. 12)
He summarizes their demographic studies: "Communities vary in number from several members to over 100... The 13-17 average in most groups means that every member normally has a chance to be interactive at each gathering... Women outnumber men in membership, as they do in regular church attendance... What is most immediately striking is that the majority of SCC members are middle0aged and above... whereas the number of young adults (18-39) ranges between 18-25 percent for all of the groups... The meager presence of young adults needs to be a concern of SCCs as well as of the church in general." (Pg. 49)
He notes, "'Having people who can pray with me' was one of the reasons people gave for seeking out an SCC. In some groups participants take turns preparing rituals related to the liturgical year, scripture study for the day, or life events of members of the group. In some groups arranging prayer is the responsibility of the leader... Still others... value spontaneous prayer. The use of hymns or psalms in prayer varies across groups." (Pg. 86-87)
He summarizes, "Most small Christian communities meet weekly or biweekly, a frequency that is important to the hold that SCCs have on members' lives. Most meet in members' homes, a more the merely incidental location. SCC members believe that what they are doing at home is being community and being church, and the location itself reminds them of the house churches that were the normative form of ecclesial life in the early centuries. The four activities most common to all SCCs are prayer, faith sharing, scripture, and spirituality." (Pg. 114)
This very informative and thought-provoking book will be of great value to anyone (and not just Catholics) interested in SCCs.
Displaying 1 of 1 review