What is a Small Faith Community
Small faith communities are relational groups that gather regularly to pray, learn, and share faith. A small faith community is a smaller, more intimate experience of church. Small faith communities provide safe places where people can be open and honest.
Who is invited to join a SFC?
You are invited to be part of this exciting and enriching model of parish life! It’s our hope that everyone would be a part of a small faith group.
What are the benefits?
Here are just a few:
- feeling like you belong to the parish
- having the opportunity to be listened to in a trusting and non-judgmental atmosphere
- making the connection between what we believe—what we celebrate at Mass—and your own life
- having your abilities and talents encouraged and appreciated
- feeling supported during trying times and sharing joys during the happy times
- deepening your faith and your relationship with Jesus Christ
- finding ways to serve the parish and the wider community as an individual and as a group
What is the importance of joining a SFC today?
Catholic parishes are meant to foster an experience of love and an experience of faith. In a large parish like St. Thomas Aquinas, that can be a challenge. Among so many, it is easy to feel isolated and alone, especially during a pandemic. Gathering in Small Faith Communities allows the church to become smaller and more intimate. These communities offer what everyone desires: the experience of being known and being loved. SFCs also offer an experience of faith. We all have faith, but most of us need help from others to learn to trust the faith within us and learn to recognize and describe our experience of faith. The more our experiences of faith and love are shared—and this can only happen in a small group—the more we notice God and God’s call to be church for one another. SFCs enable us to be who we are—the loved and cherished faith-filled people of God.
What is faith sharing?
It is the simple sharing of our experience that gives us the opportunity to reflect on and recognize God’s activity and presence in our daily lives.
What about the programs used by the groups?
Groups begin with Come as You Are, a 12 session program that is an invitation to slow down and become more reflective about life. It helps people connect with one another beyond the usual “news, weather, and sports” conversations so that they will want to stay together and go beyond this introductory program.
How do the groups meet?
- In homes
- Online
- Outside around a fire pit
- In parks
- Wherever!
How do Small Faith Communities remain connected to the parish?
Each group has a leader who keeps the community connected to the parish just as the pastor is the connector to the diocesan church and the bishop is the connector to the Pope and the universal church.
Come As You Are – (Audios)
01 Pg12 Welcome To The Program
02 Pg17 What The Program Is About
03 Pg21 Sigmund Wollman’s Reality Test
04 Pg35 To Look At Anything
05 Pg36 I Never Looked AT it That Way
06 Pg38 Seeing And Not Seeing
07 Pg53 The Art Of Listening
08 Pg88 Where Do You Find Time Today
09 Pg102 Childlike Qualities
10 Pg113 Appreciate Yourself
11 Pg115 Appreciate Yourself (Cont.)
12 Pg128 The Family I Came From
13 Pg 133 Understanding People
14 Pg 134 (top)
15 Pg 134 (bottom)
16 Pg137 Guided Meditation
17 Pg143 All Those People
18 Pg153 The Joy Of Growing Up Italian
19 Pg155 An Asian Experience
20 Pg159 I Just Don’t Understand You
21 Pg162 The Best Gift-A Human Being
22 Pg170 A Tough 4-Way Conversation
Pray As You Are – (Audios)
01 Pg20 Windows To God
02 Pg23 I Remember The First Time
03 Pg25 Did You Hear What I Said
04 Pg41 Letting In Some Fresh Air
05 Pg44 Who Is Teaching Whom
06 Pg47 Introduction To Review Of Life
07 Pg56 God’s In The Busy Too
08 Pg59 Snatching Time Dialogue
09 Pg74 Block-O-Rama
10 Pg106 I’m Only Human After All
11 Pg125 Images Go With Us Always
12 Pg132 Letting God Be God & Us Be Us
13 Pg145 On Eagle’s Winds
14 Pg149 By The Stream
15 Pg164 Her I Am, Lord
16 Pg165 Part One: Hearing The Story
17 Pg169 Part Two: Remembering The Story
18 Pg180 Of Course I’m Listening
19 Pg186 A Centering Experience
20 Pg199 Earthen Vessels
Remember the popular television show “Cheers”? Its opening song went like this:
Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
and they’re always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.
That song is a great description of a Small Faith Community. People who were once strangers come together, get to know one another and, before long, become friends.
They know they are accepted as they are and are supported in their struggles as well as their joys.
Testimonials
“Anytime I have a challenge, I have this group of people that I can just e-mail [and ask them to pray for me] and they can e-mail me and say, “Pray for me.” …Also, it is great to share the joys in our lives. …It’s true joy looking around and seeing the faces of people who are happy for you.”
“I love the way that our small faith group comes together to serve others.”
“I love my small faith group because it has allowed me to have a safe place where there is no condemnation or judgment of anything I share…only love and encouragement.”
