“For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.” MATTHEW 18:20
Whether through participating in Alpha, Lenten or Advent groups, people have realised the joy and fruitfulness of journeying in faith with people they have come to know, love and trust. All the evidence shows that living and growing in our faith is best done as part of a small group—turning rows into circles!
As the use of Alpha continues to grow in our diocese, Faith Circles is the ideal post-Alpha resource for continuing to build and develop strong community and faith relationships with God and one another.
FAQs
What are Faith Circles small groups?
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Faith Circles are faith sharing small groups aimed at bringing people together to share their lives and the ways in which Jesus is working in them through his Holy Spirit.
At each Faith Circles small group, members use the free weekly A4 PDF Faith Circles resource (available to download below or you can subscribe to our monthly email and we will send you a batch for the following month) that contains the upcoming Sunday Gospel reading as well as a reflection on the Gospel (usually by Pope Francis) accompanied by questions for discussion and prayer points which we encourage groups to utilise. Group members share how the upcoming Sunday Gospel reading connects with their life and relationship with Jesus. Time is then given for small group sharing followed by prayer with, and for, one another. Through Faith Circles small groups, the parish ensures that all parishioners are known individually, loved, nurtured and cared for.
Come on the adventure in deepening your relationship with God today!
Small Faith Sharing Groups are wonderful places for:
Reaching out to those who don’t come to church
Commencing a faith journey
Developing genuine relationships with each other and Jesus
Discussing freely our thoughts and feelings in relation to faith and life
Learning to pray together
Training others to lead
Why bother with small groups?
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Have you ever been successful in growing or building something in total isolation? No? We are always part of communities and quite often small communities such as our family, our group of friends, our neighbours or colleagues. They give us support, encouragement, nurturance, assistance and gifts for doing things we could not do alone.
This is the role of Faith Circles small groups—to bring people together to share their lives and the ways in which Jesus is working in them through his Holy Spirit. In Faith Circles small groups, we can especially invite people who aren’t regular Church-goers. They are places where we can safely share our lives and faith with one another in a welcoming and friendly environment. Through sharing and reflection, faith is deepened, knowledge increases and insight happens. This growth in intimacy with others and with the Spirit gives us the courage to live our lives as Christ has taught.
Faith Circles small groups provide a place where each person can grow in their faith journey. They are not support groups for dealing with problems, issues, addictions, etc. Rather, they focus on the ways in which the Spirit is calling us to live more lovingly, actively, deeply, joyfully and fruitfully our relationship with God, our Church and our World. Come on the adventure in deepening your relationship with God today!
How do I find a faith Circles in my area?
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If you are interested in finding an existing Faith Circles small group, contact your local parish. If your parish does not have a group, you may consider starting one or contact the Office of Renewal and Evangelisation and we will help you find a group that best suits your needs and growth.
Have you ever invited people you know over to your house, or down to the local coffee shop and just started conversation with them? Easy, wasn’t it!
That is really how Faith Circles small groups work! Getting together with other people and talking about life and faith using the material provided. This could be done weekly, fortnightly or monthly and even built into your normal regular catch-up with your circle of friends.
Thus, hosting a Faith Circles small group is similar to hosting a small party. Here are a few ideas that could help.
CREATING THE ENVIRONMENT
We all know how important the surroundings are for good conversation. Noise and distractions don’t help us connect. When starting your group, how about doing the following:
When inviting people to come, be natural and simply offer a time for sharing a cuppa and using the Faith Circles resource.
Arrange the room beforehand in a way that enables everyone to see each group member. Perhaps have a coffee table in the middle with easy access.
Create a welcoming atmosphere—put on some background music, think about background lighting and remove any distractions.
Welcome people as they arrive, find out their name and give them a name badge if it’s the first time with people unknown to each other.
Introduce people to one another.
Cater for the needs of each guest—make sure they have food and drink.
Put your guests at ease—avoid heavy or religious topics straight away, ease into it all and facilitate conversation.
Finish on time. Adhere to a finish time so people know when they are free to leave without feeling uncomfortable. Stick to the finish time.
USING THE FAITH CIRCLES RESOURCE
Once the group is welcomed and settled, you can begin to use the resource itself. Here are a few suggestions on how this could be done:
The Gospel and reflection questions
Begin with inviting the Holy Spirit to be present with the group, guiding your thoughts insights into what is about to be read.
Read the Gospel passage slowly a couple of times.
Progress through the questions as needed. Simply keep the discussion on topic. It’s okay to only cover one question.
A reflection by Pope Francis
If you get time, read through the Gospel reflection, usually by Pope Francis.
Ask the group what struck them from the reading.
Prayer Points
Finally spend time in prayer with one another.
Conscious of what has just been shared, members briefly name/describe their prayer needs.
Intentionally call on the Holy Spirit to be present (e.g. “Come Holy Spirit, please be present as we pray”).
Move to prayers of thanks and praise to God.
Prayer for each other’s prayer needs. Where appropriate, you may like to encourage the group to place a hand on the shoulder of the individual that you are currently praying for.
Conclude your prayer time with another prayer of praise, perhaps reciting the “Glory Be” or similar prayer.
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Us and we and our means the Catholic Development Fund.
You means the customer(s) who signed the direct debit request. Your financial institution is the financial institution where you hold the account that you have authorised us to arrange to debit.
Debiting your account
By submitting a direct debit request, you have authorised us to arrange for funds to be debited from your account according to the agreement we have with you.
We will only arrange for funds to be debited from your account:
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Changes by you
If you wish to stop or defer a debit payment you must write to us at least 5 business days before the next debit day.
This notice should be given to us in the first instance.
Your obligations
It is your responsibility to ensure that there are sufficient clear funds available in your account to allow a debit payment to be made.
If there are insufficient clear funds available in your account to meet a debit payment:
you or your account may be charged a fee and/or interest by your financial institution;
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you must arrange for the payment to be made by another method
Please check your account statement to verify that the amounts debited from your account are correct.
Dispute
If you believe that there has been an error in debiting your account you should call us on 1800 047 703 and confirm the details in writing with us as soon as possible so that we can resolve your query quickly.
Accounts
You should check:
with your financial institution whether direct debiting is available from your accounts offered by financial
your account details which you have provided to us are correct by checking them against a recent account statement; and
with your financial institution before completing the direct debit request if you have any queries about how to complete the direct debit
Warning: if the account number you have quoted is incorrect, you may be charged a fee to reimburse our costs in correcting any deductions from:
an account you do not have authority to operate; or
an account you do not
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We will keep any information (including your account details) in your direct debit request confidential.
We will make reasonable efforts to keep any such information that we have about you secure and to ensure that any of our employees or agents who have access to information about you, do not make any unauthorised use, modification, reproduction or disclosure of that information.
However, we may use your contact details to provide information about the fund. Should you wish this not to be the case, please advise the fund in writing.
Our diocesan logo is theologically rich and very succinct. As a hand, it depicts our mission as a diocese and as individuals within the diocese, of bearing (bringing, carrying) Christ’s love to one another and to the world around us. In this, we are the hand of Jesus Christ, and we are offering ourselves to him so that he might work through us.
We can be the bearers of his love only as a response to his call and in the strength of his grace. We are reminded of this in two ways—through the symbol of the dove (the Holy Spirit) also present in the logo, and by the incorporation of the cross that segments the logo. The presence of the cross is a reminder that bearing the love of Christ will inevitably cost us if we live it authentically. However, in the way that the Cross is the portent of redemption and life—an echo of the tree of life in the book of Genesis—so becoming bearers of the love of Christ will also bring us to life.
The four fingers of the hand also represent the four regions of our diocese. The first is bluerepresenting the beautiful water of the Shoalhaven. The second is a blue and green combination representing the waters and escarpment of the Illawarra. The third is greendepicting the hills and plains of the Macarthur. The fourth is dark green illustrating the forests of the Southern Highlands.
