Recap of Small Group Leader Formation Sessions 4-7

Session 4

Small groups in the Parish Evangelization Cells System (PECS) are intended to be missionary communities within the parish. PECS offers a “Path of Evangelization”, a series of steps leading from our personal relationships with those in our parish, families, workplaces, neighborhood, and those with common interests, slowly, respectfully, and lovingly, to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and his Church. Those relationships are Step 1 in the path of evangelization, our “oikos”, a biblical Greek word meaning “household”, those in our lives. We began to make a list of those in our own “oikos”.


Step 2 is to have an attentiveness to those in our network of relationships who the Lord may be calling us to share him with, and is primarily a work of prayer for the friend, their needs, and how the Lord is leading us toward them. We began to pray for the friends who are most on our heart. Types of prayer were explored.
 

Session 5

Continuing along the “Path of Evangelization“, we learned about serving our friends, sharing the Gospel ”without words“, as Step 3. This segment is a helpful catechesis on Christian service in general. Then in Step 4 we explored ”sharing with words“, growing in how to share our faith simply, briefly, and authentically, as the fruit of our lives of discipleship, seeing him act in our lives, and responding generously to him. We began to write some of our personal testimonies in a pattern from St. Paul: what our life was like before we met Jesus (or as we continue to be transformed); how we encountered Jesus in a way that changed us; and how we have been changed by cooperating with Jesus’ work of grace.


Our selfless service, and our sharing of our own relationship with Jesus, may result in our friend being intrigued or curious about why we are how we are. In Step 5 we attempt to “give an answer (explanation) for the hope that is in us”, or help to address issues that may be barriers to our friend’s trusting Jesus or the Church. We don’t have to have all the answers, or give a complete treatise on the issue. We respond simply, and always with respect, kindness, and love, remembering that the goal is for our friend to trust Jesus more.
 

Session 6

Session 6 also continued explaining the “path of evangelization” steps. Step 6, Invitation Into the Cell, is pivotal. At this point in the evangelization process, the friend is invited to entrust his or her life to the Lord, making, in a few words, what might be their first simple act of faith in Jesus. In addition, the friend is invited to meet the other small group members and join the group.


The seventh step, Life in the Small Group, is the regular meeting of the group, but includes much more than that, the living in a community that results in all the members growing as intentional missionary disciples of Christ. Marks of Christian discipleship were explored. Finally, in Step 8, Integration into the Parish, the friend becomes more and more connected to Christ and the members of the parish, drawn in through the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist. The Eucharist, as the “source and summit” of our faith, is the culmination of evangelization. The leadership structure of PECS small groups, under the care of the Pastor and intermediate leaders, was presented. Finally, the characteristics of an effective small group leader were explored.
 

Session 7

Session 7 will include information on variations of small groups that are possible and the discernment of participants to be leaders or assistants for the small groups to be formed in Lent 2024. An additional, practical session has been added for leaders and assistants to explore in more detail how to conduct a PECS small group meeting, and learn effective group facilitation techniques. This will be followed in January by leaders forming temporary small groups to “practice” PECS small group meetings, before they are joined by other parishioners in Lent.


The Archdiocesan Small Group Leader Formation Series has been a very helpful introduction to the style of small groups being proposed by Archbishop Hebda. The Parish Evangelization Cells System groups will provide deeper Christian community, formation opportunities, and lead us into our mission, the mission of the Church, to make Jesus Christ better known, followed, and loved. We participants have been richly blessed by this course and are eager to begin implementing the PECS small groups next Lent.