A Small Christian Community (SCC) is a group of catholics of a locality, who come together regularly, to seek ways to respond to God’s presence in their lives in the light of the gospel and to share their faith through prayer, friendship, and service. Originally, the early church lived their faith within small home-based communities, gathered around their chosen leader, the community was small enough to allow a deep sharing of life and faith (Acts 2:43-47). When the community became larger, the church soon appreciated its need to divide into small groups – parishes.
The concept of the present SCC is like the earlier times. The Parishes are divided into wards and the members of each ward get together once in a month, at a pre-determined time, in one of the houses of the ward, under the leadership of the Gurkar of the Ward. The Gurkar is assisted by two ward representatives and the core committee of the ward. The core committee comprises of like minded volunteers of the ward.
The Core Committee members usually meet a week before the SCC meeting and plan the SCC meeting.
In Bendur Parish SCC was started in the year 1995 by Fr J P Tauro, the Parish Priest at the time.The present SCC Convener is Mr. Robert D’Souza, who is also the Co-ordinator of Episcopal Varado and also the Secretary of Mangalore Diocese. Under the patronage of the Church clergy then and now, the SCC meetings as well as the preparatory Core Committee meetings are regularly held in all 46 wards of the parish. These meetings are attended by the parish clergy as well as by the religious members of the Parish.
A number of community services are rendered as a result of the SCC meetings. The ward members regularly visit the elderly members of the ward, attend the funerals if any, in the ward, visit the sick people in the hospitals, help the needy people, pursue the local corporators to get some jobs done in the locality etc. and try to bear witness to the Christ in their own way.
In the present world where time is a scarcity, many a times the people would not have known their neighbors but for these Small Christian Community Meetings.