Creating a Faith-Sharing Community
A faith-sharing group provides a simple way to gather with others, read scripture, reflect on its meaning and share our insights with one another. One way that we grow as followers of Jesus is to read and pray the scriptures with others.
To encourage you to get involved in sharing your faith with others, we include in this missal everything you need for exploring each Sunday’s readings with a small group. Gathering a group for faith sharing does not require any special permission or elaborate materials. Your group can simply begin by gathering together for reading, reflection, discussion and prayer about the coming Sunday’s readings.
No Need for Experts
Since the goal of your time together is not “study” but just sharing your faith experience, no one needs to be an expert on the Bible or on doctrine. We are each an expert on how we live our Christian faith. So we learn from one another as we share our own unique Christian journey and how our Christian beliefs and values influence our everyday lives. The point is not just to learn about our faith (the “what”) but to find ways to make that faith effective in our lives (the “so what”). All of our learning is ultimately for developing a better relationship with Christ and with others with whom we share the journey.
A group of friends from the neighborhood, the workplace or the parish, those who meet as a Small Christian or Small Church Community, an RCIA group, an adult faith formation or Bible discussion group can use these resources to grow in faith together and share their experiences of living with Christ.
Each week the foundation for sharing is based on the readings from Scripture, especially those of Sunday. We suggest that you meet to discuss the readings before the Sunday, but some groups might prefer to meet on a Sunday afternoon or evening and explore more in-depth the readings that they have already heard earlier at Mass.
Faith-sharing gatherings invite us to develop our spiritual lives to their full potential in community with others and to participate more fully in the shared life and mission of the Christian community.
To encourage you to get involved in sharing your faith with others, we include in this missal everything you need for exploring each Sunday’s readings with a small group. Gathering a group for faith sharing does not require any special permission or elaborate materials. Your group can simply begin by gathering together for reading, reflection, discussion and prayer about the coming Sunday’s readings.
No Need for Experts
Since the goal of your time together is not “study” but just sharing your faith experience, no one needs to be an expert on the Bible or on doctrine. We are each an expert on how we live our Christian faith. So we learn from one another as we share our own unique Christian journey and how our Christian beliefs and values influence our everyday lives. The point is not just to learn about our faith (the “what”) but to find ways to make that faith effective in our lives (the “so what”). All of our learning is ultimately for developing a better relationship with Christ and with others with whom we share the journey.
A group of friends from the neighborhood, the workplace or the parish, those who meet as a Small Christian or Small Church Community, an RCIA group, an adult faith formation or Bible discussion group can use these resources to grow in faith together and share their experiences of living with Christ.
Each week the foundation for sharing is based on the readings from Scripture, especially those of Sunday. We suggest that you meet to discuss the readings before the Sunday, but some groups might prefer to meet on a Sunday afternoon or evening and explore more in-depth the readings that they have already heard earlier at Mass.
Faith-sharing gatherings invite us to develop our spiritual lives to their full potential in community with others and to participate more fully in the shared life and mission of the Christian community.
