A network of Catholic communities
joined in mission and outreach
Parish Twinning
and SCC: Small Christian Communities

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Updated: Thursday, November 9, 2000
NEW:
This has been the basic page "about" twinning since the beginning of this website. Now, we have introduced an additional resource for all who are interested in aspect of twinning -- an interactive "Message Board" which you can update yourself with replies, questions and ideas.

"Called to Global Solidarity: International Challenges for U.S. Parishes" (November 12, 1997) published by the Office of Social Development & World Peace of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops/United States Catholic Conference states:

"One special way parishes have reached out in solidarity is through a process known as twinning, in which a parish in the United States develops an ongoing relationship with a parish in another part of the world. Our Secretariat for Latin America reports that more than 1,700 parishes in the United States have connected in special relationships with Catholic communities in Central and South America. We welcome “twinning” relationships and encourage the development of these relationships in ways that avoid dependency and paternalism. These bridges of faith offer as much to U.S. parishes as their partners. We are evangelized and changed as we help other communities of faith."

"Twinning" or setting up "Sister Parishes" (or "Sister Dioceses" on a higher level and "Sister Small Christian Communities" on a grassroots level) is a practical, proven and rewarding pattern for U.S. Catholic involvement with the Global Church.

In particular Small Christian Community (SCC) Twinning has developed rapidly in the last three years. It is a concrete expression of how SCCs are a new way of being church. This is a partnership of local churches on all six continents on the very grassroots level. This partnership is a special way for lay persons to participate and to say, 'We are church' and to reveal a unique face of sharing and collaboration. The twinning relationship is joint and reciprocal. The SCC in a Third World country is not just a receiver (for money, material goods, for example) but a giver and sharer.

In the United States of America SCCs in 23 different states have "twins" in Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. Other countries involved in SCC Twinning are Australia, Canada, England, Hong Kong and Scotland.

This resource page on "Parish and SCC Twinning Opportunities" is developed in cooperation with Buena Vista --a Network of People Devoted to the Formation and Support of Small Christian Communities -- (E Mail: sccbuenavista@CompuServe.com), the Office of Small Christian Communities of Hartford, Connecticut Archdiocese (E Mail: RkMoriarty@aol.com) and other organizations. We hope to help dioceses, parishes and Small Christian Communities interested in twinning get in touch with each other.

For examples of SCC Twinning and more information how your SCC can find a Sister Small Christian Community in another part of the world see:

  • Buena Vista Website
  • July-August, 1999 issue of Maryknoll's  WORLD PARISH
  • February, 1998 issue of the Maryknoll Magazine


    Visit Buena Vista website

    From WORLD PARISH, July-August, 1999:

    We Have Much in Common:
    Dialogue Between "Small Christian Communities"

    By Barbara Darling (of Buena Vista)

    "You know that while all the runners in the stadium take part in the race, the award goes to one person. In that case, run as to win!" (1 Cor. 9:24)

    The St. Maria Goreth Small Christian Community in Geita, Tanzania, referred to this passage in a recent letter to the Oilers, my Small Christian Community (SCC) in Arvada, Colorado. They offered encouragement upon learning how we missed several of our members who stopped attending our regular Friday night gatherings. Our two communities have maintained a spiritual partnership since 1997. We assure each other of mutual prayer and share scripture insights through a relationship that spans great distance and diverse cultures and concentrates on mutual faith. We've traded photos and stories of holiday traditions and observances. We've introduced our families to theirs and shared news of deaths and illnesses.

    "Even in this age of global travel none of us expects to travel halfway around the world to meet with the members of St. Maria Goreth community," says Sharon Hoover, a member of the Oilers community. "But we realize how much we have in common. We're all children of God and we share similar fundamental beliefs. Family values are primary to the Africans and we take heart in their good examples of simple faith and trust in God."

    Rather than the ‘old' idea of twinning where the rich Americans just help poor Third World people financially, SCC twinning shares mutual pastoral experiences. "We are all both sending and receiving churches," remarks Maryknoll Father Joseph Healey, who has spread the vision of SCC twinning around the world. "What is really ‘new' is that the small Christian community twinning program reaches the parish to involve Christians at the very local, grassroots level, thereby enriching the world church," says Healey, a missioner in Tanzania.

    "After the recent Littleton High School tragedy just down the road from our Oilers neighborhood, Sister Rita from St. Maria Goreth Community immediately wrote asking about the safety of our children," says Barbara Howard. "It was reminiscent of our fear for the safety of our Tanzanian friends last year when the U.S. Embassy was bombed in Dar Es Salaam." Both communities now have faraway neighbors to pray for them and be concerned about their welfare. The rich images and experiences of friends halfway around the globe create an awareness and appreciation of the universality of our church and our world that otherwise would be difficult to grasp.

    While reflecting on the deaths in Littleton, it occurs to us that basic human aspirations are the same worldwide: the need to share the sanctity of life; a desire to protect our families with a safe living environment; hopes and dreams for one's children. So rather than erecting barriers, we can offer our small Christian communities to promote harmony, acceptance and forgiveness.

    NOTE: Small Christian Communities in Wyoming, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida and Australia have "twinned" with African communities. SCCs in Hong Kong and Scotland are ready to join the program. To find a twin, your SCC should contact Buena Vista, a national network that fosters Small Christian Communities, at 303-426-6622 or, by e-mail, at sccbuenavista@CompuServe.com, or call the Office of Small Christian Communities at the Archdiocese of Hartford, 860-872-8255.

    The free four-page paper version of "World Parish" is available by writing:

    WORLD PARISH
    P.O. Box 308
    Maryknoll, NY 10545



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