The emergence of small Christian communities on every continent over the past thirty years is one of the most exciting developments in the contemporary church. Sometimes located solidly within parishes, sometimes at their margins, and sometimes outside them altogether, small faith communities have flourished widely and deeply within the Roman Catholic community of faith. Some observers see SCCs as the church of the future; others regard them as one important development among many within ecclesial life (e.g., lay ministry, RCIA, women’s leadership and ministry, scriptural literacy). The purpose of the LIM focus area in small Christian communities is to immerse students in this important development.
 
At the center of the understanding of SCCs which you will find in the two courses in this focus area is the recognition that small faith communities are like what sociologists call “primary groups” (e.g., families) in that they are characterized by an emphasis on acceptance, loyalty and close personal relationships; but they are also like “task groups” (e.g., teams in the workplace) in that they have a job to perform. A proper concern for how they are gathered is one of the hallmarks of authentic small communities. How communities gather is a way of naming the capacity of their members to communicate mutually, seek consensus and utilize conflict creatively. The inner life of SCCs refers to the conversation that goes on inside the community.

The other--and equally definitive--hallmark of small Christian communities is due regard for how they are sent. How communities are sent is a way of naming the capacity of the community to join with others in seeking the well being of the larger social world to which they belong. This is the public life of SCCs. The understanding that the community of faith does not exist for itself in isolation but rather in and for the world is deeply embedded in the historic Jewish and Christian traditions. The classic expression of this aspect of biblical faith is to be found in the voices of the Jewish prophets, including the prophet named Jesus.

A “small community of faith” with a strong inner life but no viable public presence is in actuality a support group; a “small Christian community” with notable public impact but little development of its inner life is in truth a social action group. To claim the title “community of faith” authentically means to accept the challenge of developing and integrating an inner and a public dimension. To participate in a small community is a complex and challenging process largely because it demands of its members high levels of both  relationship and task orientations if it is to work. A faithful, vibrant small community will provide a strong psychological sense of belonging for its members, even as it will learn how to address hard and timely questions regarding justice and mercy to the powers that be. Authentic SCCs are gathered and sent.

Communities of faith exist within particular historical circumstances and are called to transform them in accordance with the intentions of the Creator as these are mediated to us through our religious traditions. A biblical reading of those intentions is clear: God wants a world of shalom, of peace. But, as rabbinic Judaism has traditionally taught,  God cannot bring such a world into being without human partners committed to the fulfillment of creation through the practice of mitzvot-- actions on behalf of mercy and justice. The transformative action to which the descendants of Moses and Christ and Mohammed are called by their ongoing critical conversation with culture and society has both a practical and a public character.

What we are currently learning from the wedding of Christian communities and broad-based community organizations holds promise for a creative explosion of the public life of communities of faith in the United States. As a crucial dimension of the coming church, communities of faith have signal contributions to make to effective and sustainable community organizing in the name of justice and mercy. There no doubt are and will be other ways for small communities of faith to have a public life. I highlight the example of SCCs broad-based power organizations in this course because it is the most powerful instance of small communities committing to an intentional public presence of which we are aware at present.
 
SCCs can be true to their name only by venturing into the public arena to build relationships with diverse others in the pursuit of the common good of the larger community. Having risked engagement in public conversation and action, they must return to reflect, pray and converse as people of faith about what they have experienced in exercising their politicalness. Authentic SCCs must develop their  inner and their public life. And so we come full circle: Seeking consensus and utilizing conflict in their inner life and an ongoing commitment to seek the shalom of the city in their public life are the two crucial moments in the one conversation which constitutes small Christian communities. The price for both inner and public conversation in SCCs is that of all authentic communication--the willingness to risk what we already have and what we already know. The possibility which inevitably attends that risk is conversion.

I welcome you to this exploration of the public life of small Christian communities.

Brueggemann, W. The Prophetic Imagination. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1978.

Cowan, M. and Lee, B. Conversation, Risk and Conversion: The Inner and Public Life of Small Christian Communities. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1997.
 

Part 1: Between two worlds--publicness/politicalness and prophecy

9/2 Introductions, the faith community’s two sides, syllabus review

9/9 Small Christian communities
 [Conversation, Risk & Conversion, Chapters 2 & 4]

9/16 Publicness/politicalness
 [Spiritual Development, Faith’s Publicness and the Shalom of the City;  Politics, Nicomachean Ethics, "The Presence of the Past"]

9/23 Prophecy (I)
 [The Prophetic Imagination, Chapters 1 & 2]

9/30 Prophecy (II)
 [The Prophetic Imagination, Chapters 3 & 4]

10/7 Living between two worlds
 [“Introduction,” “The World as It Is and the World as It Should Be”]
 

Part 2: The world as it is

10/14 Society in transformation
 [“The Great Disruption”]

10/21 Lecture by Professor Willam Julius Wilson (3:00 p.m. Roussell Auditorium)
 [When Work Disappears]

10/22 Race
 [Race Matters,“Moving in White Circles”]

10/28 No class

11/3 The state of democracy
 [Who Will Tell the People]
 
Part 3: The world as it should be

11/11 The common good
 [“Is Tolerance Enough?,” “Religion and the Shape of National Culture,” “The  Common Good and the Catholic Church’s Social Teaching”]

11/18 The common good and civil society
 [“Faith, Politics and the Common Good”; “Not a Cure-All”; Conversation, Risk & Conversion, Chapter 6]

11/25 Thanksgiving--no class

12/2 Prophecy (III)
 [The Prophetic Imagination, Chapters 5 & 6]
 

I ask that you carefully prepare the assigned reading for each class meeting. That means reading the material thoroughly, and noting in the margins any points that you do not understand, as well as those with which you agree or disagree strongly. Above all, it means coming to class prepared to ask your specific questions about the meaning of anything in the reading. Beginning with our fourth session, one person will be responsible for leading us into our discussion of the material for each session. When it is your turn to do so, I ask that you give us your brief interpretation of the main point of the reading. Do not, I repeat, do not summarize the article! You have a much more important task--to lead us to its heart.
 

Grades for the course will be based on the following two assignments.

#1(30%; 5-8 pages, due October 21st): A personal, critical analysis of your “publicness” or “politicalness.” What shape does it take? What do you feel good about regarding it? Why? What do you feel bad about? Why? How did you become this kind of public/political person?

#2 (70%; 10-15 pages, due December 13th): Situational interpretation and action plan.

Include the following elements:

1. Identify a public situation in your surrounding community which is of concern to you as a person of faith, your small faith community or your church (e.g., women with children in poverty, dysfunctional public education, lack of affordable housing).

2. Develop a picture of the history of the situation, by discovering something about what caused it to develop as it has (e.g., There are probably more women with children in poverty now in your surrounding community than in 1950? How did that come to be?).

3. a.) Identify those with a stake in the situation of your concern. This might include:  individuals (specific or types of); institutions (schools, workplaces, congregations, community organizations); governmental bodies (local, state, federal); cultural groups (African American, liberal Protestant, Latino, Roman Catholic); socioeconomic classes (working poor, middle class, upper class); and locations (block, neighborhood, city, state, region, nation).

 b.) Indicate whether each stakeholder just identified is likely to be an ally in addressing your concern, an opponent, or something else; and assess how much power each possesses to affect your goal.

4. Based on the preceding analysis, plan in some detail a constructive public action aimed at the resolution or amelioration of the situation of your concern.

[Note: In completing this situational analysis and action plan, you should examine at least one book or article by researchers or theoreticians; have at least one conversation with someone who is dealing effectively with people whose lives are being affected by the situation; and meet with at least one person whose life is directly affected by the situation which concerns you.]