CATHOLIC SMALL GROUP

ESSENTIALS

PART ONE

 
Anthony Longoz has been a lay leader of Catholic prayer groups and bible study groups in Catholic parishes for over ten years. During that time Anthony has had the opportunity to study and apply successful small group techniques in a variety of settings involving Catholics with varying degrees of spiritual maturity. The parish based small group that Anthony currently leads has been meeting once a week on Wednesdays for over six years now. Anthony shares with us some of the core principles for success that he has learned over the years.

We can look at building men’s groups in our parish as being similar to building a new house. If you want to build a solid house, you’ll need a blueprint. Without one, your approach will be haphazard and there is no telling exactly what your house will end up looking like. Catholicman.org offers you this free blueprint for starting and sustaining new Catholic men’s groups in parishes. We hope you’ll find it to be useful.

First things first. If you’re going to build a new house you’ll need three main things:

1) The Foundation

2) The Structure

3) The Neighborhood

Without these three key things, the house will not function properly.

We can look at men’s small group ministry in much the same way. The three essentials in a healthy men’s group are Sacred Scripture Study (The Foundation), Community Building (The Structure) and Outreach (The Neighborhood).

1) The Foundation:

Like any structure that is to stand the test of time, a successful men’s group must be build on a sure foundation. That foundation is Jesus, the Word of God. There is no stronger foundation than God’s Word; God built the entire universe and everything in it by His Word, and it is through His word that everything in the universe is sustained.

 
Sacred Scripture Study
The goal here is Spiritual Formation. The best way to begin is to share the history of your faith journey through Scripture. Giving a new group the gift of your spiritual journey is an invaluable teaching tool-As they hear about your growing pains, your battles, successes and failures, they can relate it to their own experiences and find hope for the future. The goal of the bible study is about more than introducing them to God’s truth; it is also designed to create an opportunity for you to convey your faith journey to the group, so they can begin to look at you as a potential role model; someone who has walked in their shoes, overcame the obstacles and moved closer to God.

2) The Structure

You can’t build a structure without building materials; and it all has to fit together in exactly the right pattern and order if it’s going to stand upright. Each piece plays an important part in the overall structure. So it is with men’s groups. Each man has a role to play, each is an indispensable part of the whole.

 
Community Building
The goal here is to become a caring community of Catholic men. Building a loving, caring community is a priority in the early stage of group building. Building a strong men’s group doesn’t just happen by accident. It is a process. Using a football analogy, we start with the ball on our own one yard line, then advance it to center field, then down to our opponents goal line, then over the line and in for the touchdown. The touchdown is when we achieve close bonds between the men in our group. It is only then that we can move on to the next phase in the process. The ultimate goal is for us to become a close-knit group. But before we can get there we need to move the ball down the field.

3) The Neighborhood

Okay, so you have built your foundation and put up you structure and everything is solid and without leaks. So what else do you need? Sure you could survive on your own, but it would be a dreary existence without access to some basic neighborhood services like power and water and fuel. Who would bring our mail? Who would fix our broken lawn mower? Who will deliver the daily paper? Our life would not be the same without our neighborhood and the help of some of our neighbors. We need our neighbors and our neighbors need us. 

 
Outreach
The goal here is to reach out to other Catholic (or non catholic) men in our neighborhood to grow your group numerically and spiritually. The mission of your group is the greatest mission anyone can give their life to-to bring new people into newfound joy and purpose through a personal relationship with Jesus. You are also opening up to them the companionship of a Catholic Christian men’s community. The goal here is to invite new people into your group and try to double your group in size.