Seeker Small Groups

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FOREWORD

Making Christian friends was the biggest factor in whether a new convert would grow into a mature Christian, or fall away by the path. That was my personal experience after five years working in urban evangelism as a Protestant pastor.

I would “pound the pavement,” walking around the small neighborhood where my church was located, “pressing the flesh” and introducing myself to the different residents, always trying to strike up an evangelistic conversation. Sometimes these would result in the opportunity to share the gospel message, and occasionally someone would respond positively by praying to receive Jesus into their life.

In many ways, that’s when the hard part began. As difficult as it was to find a chance to share the Gospel with someone and have them accept it, it was possibly more difficult to get them joined to the Christian community—that is, get them to the point that they thought of themselves as a Christian and a member of a church where they had friendship, support, and accountability.

It was difficult, despite the fact that I ran a rather informal Protestant church, made up almost entirely of folks living within the same neighborhood. The culture in the church was not that different from the culture on the street. Despite all that, helping young Christians put down roots in the local congregation was not easy.

It’s that much harder in a Catholic context. The Catholic Church brings a whole culture with it—which is certainly a great strength, but also a challenge—since bringing a new Christian into the Catholic Church often means leaping several cultural hurdles. Yet we know we need to help young Christians jump them because, in the long run, they will not be able to persevere with out the nourishment and support a local parish provides.

We read in Acts 2:42-44 that the first Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers,” and “they had all things in common.” These new Christians were like newly planted seeds (cf. Parable of the Sower, Mk 4:3-8) who huddled together in the “greenhouse” of the young Church.

We need these “greenhouses” within the Church even today. Many of us know the phenomenon of getting someone interested in Catholicism, but then having no where to go with them. They are spiritually hungry and curious, but also weak and unstable. They need love, help, and support, but just showing up for the 10am Mass on Sunday will not do it for them. Most of the Mass will be incomprehensible to them, and most parishioners will probably ignore them. The Mass is definitely “the breaking of bread and the prayers,” but our young seekers need more of “the apostle’s teaching and fellowship,” as well as somewhere they can share “all things in common.” Where is that going to be?

St. Paul Street Evangelization has started the “seeker small group” ministry movement precisely to meet this need. There are already teams of evangelists active around the country, planting seeds and occasionally seeing them sprout. These small groups are the greenhouses needed for these new sprouts: a safe place to learn more about the faith they’ve become interested in, and build friendships with real live, breathing, spirit-filled Catholic Christians.

This is really the only hope for the world. As society and politics get coarser and uglier, the other religions and philosophies on offer have no ultimate answers for people who hurt. Other Christian groups are blessed with more or less of the truth, but we know only in the Catholic Church is Christ present in all his fullness. But how can we welcome people into this Church where Christ lives? Seeker small groups can serve as the “welcome room” of the Catholic Church, where seeds of faith can grow into trees that bear much fruit: thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold (Matt 13:8).

— Dr. John Bergsma
Professor of Theology
Franciscan University of Steubenville

PREFACE

The Purpose of Seeker Small Groups

“Through this revelation, therefore, the invisible God out of the abundance of His love speaks to men as friends and lives among them, so that He may invite and take them into fellowship with Himself…By this revelation then, the deepest truth about God and the salvation of man shines out for our sake in Christ, who is both the mediator and the fullness of all revelation.” — Dei Verbum 2

The Seeker Small Group model was developed to fulfill a need in the Catholic Church created by the fruits of the St. Paul Street Evangelization apostolate. When SPSE evangelists minister to people in the street those people need a place to go to continue the journey of discipleship. We have found that few parishes are ready to receive inquirers at any time during the year. Those inquirers often do not follow through to becoming disciples because they do not experience Christian hospitality and friendship. Parishes will find this small group model useful regardless of whether or not they have an active St. Paul Street Evangelization team in their area.

Seeker small groups do not need to be run by professionals. They do require a sizeable commitment of prayer and time, as well as a serious personal investment of energy and interest. However, the work of conversion is the job of the Holy Spirit, so that burden is not on the small group leaders. A Seeker Small Group is meant to be run by a small team of four to six people following a 16 week cycle of topics. Team members will offer a small group for one hour a week at a stable time in a local parish. Attendees are those who have received an invitation, after having expressed interest in finding out more or joining the Church. They can join the group at any time, no matter what topic the group is covering that week. This can be anyone at any stage of life. The small group is meant to serve “seekers” whether they are Catholic or not. Seekers may even be those that already attend Mass but are looking to relearn the basics and connect with other people in the parish. The main audience for these groups, however, are those who have little to no knowledge of their faith, and who are not connected to a parish. If a parishioner does want to join, it may take some careful conversation to determine whether this is the right group; these groups are not another Bible study, but a basic introduction to the faith and what it means to follow Jesus as a Catholic Christian.

Seeker Small Groups are also meant to be a launch pad into the Christian life by helping the participants connect to other parish programs, devotions, and the Sacraments of Initiation. We recommend scheduled meetings with each participant so that you can issue invitations to RCIA, other classes, Bible studies, and other parish events, as you see they will be helpful.

The groups are both evangelical and catechetical in as much as they call men into friendship with God and with each other. Anyone can join at any time, but participants should not stay in a Seeker Small Group longer than a full catechetical cycle (16 weeks). Everyone who attends will be invited to make an act of the faith to “completely submit his intellect and his will to God,” because, “To obey in faith is to submit freely to the word that has been heard, because its truth is guaranteed by God, who is Truth itself.” (CCC 143-144) After three to four months, non-Catholics should be invited to join other encounter groups or RCIA.

There are two components to the cycle of topics. The first component consists of pre-evangelization topics that are often the basis for people to reject religion in our culture. The topics are: 1) Is there a god? 2) If God is good why is there pain and suffering in the world? 3) Is the Bible reliable? and 4) Are faith and reason compatible? Groups can choose to run these topics concurrently with a separate team and then move inquirers into the main catechetical cycle of topics or run them in a 16 week cycle. Keep in mind that while this is a catechumenal model (for the unbaptized), similar to RCIA, not all RCIA programs are equipped to receive people year around, and this program seeks to serve all people, even Catholics, who do not properly belong in an RCIA program.

The second component in the cycle of topics is kerygmatic (preaching the Gospel). Having answered more fundamental questions about the nature of reality, we can focus on God’s revelation through the proclamation of the Gospel, in 12 weeks, based on St. Augustine’s First Catechetical Instruction. By the end of the second component everyone should have the information they need to make a decision about Christ and begin (or begin again) a life of discipleship.

Guiding Principles