Harare archdiocese releases pastoral plan for small Christian communities

Harare, Zimbabwe, Feb 14, 2020 / 04:26 pm (CNA).- The Archdiocese of Harare has released a pastoral plan to instigate smaller community cells aimed at fostering an intimate Christian experience.

Archbishop Robert Ndlovu of Harare encouraged these small communities to focus on scripture, liturgy, and charity.

“I urge you to form and establish standardised Small Christian Communities in all parishes, to foster membership, belonging and active participation of all parishioners and also to make the Word of God, Liturgy, Catechesis and charity the thrust of Small Christian Communities,” he wrote in a foreword to the pastoral plan.

The Small Christian Communities will gather regularly at a parishioner’s home. The members will participate in formation, camaraderie, and solidarity. Among other events, the community will share the word of God, celebrate feast days, and band together in times of trouble, like sickness or mourning.

“Small Christian Communities are meant to form a family of God, a people whose hearts beat together- sharing life and sharing about God,” said Father Kizito Nhundu, pastoral vicar of the archdiocese.

The groups will consist of 10 to 15 families from the same region. If a group expands to 20 families then it will split into two separate groups. Nhundu emphasized the importance of smaller groups to ensure intimacy.

“The smaller, the better, we are forming a family of God, that is, people who are united, who share life, who share about God. So the involvement of all the faithful in the Church’s life is important,” said Fr Nhundu.

The project will be monitored by a pastoral council and the progress will be reviewed in March. It is part of the archdiocese’s focus on youth’s formation and vocational discernment, which has been a major emphasis for the archdiocese in the last two years.

“[SCCs] will also serve to accompany young people in their journey of faith, so one will no longer be accompanied by their family only, but also by the community,” he said.

“These SCCs will also serve to accompany young people in their journey of faith, so one will no longer be accompanied by their family only, but also by the community,” he added.