NCF is a parish-based Lay Ministry dedicated to forming better disciples of the Lord. It is a fruit of the parish participation in the Why Catholic / ¿Porqué Ser Católico? parish renewal program. We learn about and grow our faith in home-based Small Christian Community groups.
Our groups are as diverse as our parish and open to all who seek to be closer to God. We meet regularly during the school year in our homes or at Nativity to share our faith-stories, engage in faith-learning and enkindle a living faith. All are welcome!
Groups are generally small and meet either in the homes or at Nativity. The NCF meetings start in September and go through May with plenty of time allowed around the holidays. We meet every three weeks to share our stories, learn about our faith, and encourage each other on our journeys.
No, we ask only that you commit to the first set of sessions between September and December (5 meetings). We believe once you have the Small Christian Community experience you’ll be hooked, but you have to attend a series of meetings to really get the feel for it. If you find it is not your cup of tea, you do not have to return in January.
No, everyone is welcome! Ideally people should be forming groups in their own parishes, but since this is not always possible, we will welcome anyone who wishes to sign up. This is a Catholic lay ministry. Each group has at least one Catholic leader and most members are practicing Catholics, but if anyone wants to join a group, all we require is a mind open to the Truth.
The groups will begin to meet in early September, completing the initial cycle of meetings in early December. Meetings resume in January and end in early May.
We have groups already formed who were part of Why Catholic / ¿Porqué Ser Cathólico? program at Nativity. These groups are open to new members. We will also have new groups starting at Nativity Parish after the Adult Formation Classes on Monday as well as on Wednesday evenings at the Parish Office.
Please see the registration page for actual days/times available.
For those people that wish to start their own group, we require that:
- The group must be between 5 and 15 people.
- You provide your own group leader (we will train him/her).
- You provide your own hospitality house (i.e at least one or two houses where you can meet over the entire season of service—Sept to May).
Email us at ncf@nativityhollywood.org and we will get you started.
You will be contacted by a member of the team and offered whatever training you need. If you have never led a group before, we can show you how it is done and provide additional resources so you feel comfortable in your role as facilitator. It may seem difficult, but it is just a matter of following the lesson provided and making sure the discussion stays more or less on point.
No. We have people who offer their home for Hospitality but do not want to lead a group and vice versa. We will pair people up so each group has a leader and a home. If no hospitality homes are available, the group can meet at Nativity.
Unlikely! Once the group is formed and people feel comfortable with each other, you will have other members volunteer their homes. Not everyone can host a group, but many people can accommodate a small group in their home, so it should not be hard to get at least one other group-member to alternate weeks with you.
The duration varies from group to group, but generally meetings run about an hour and a half with perhaps another half hour at the end for refreshments and conversation.
The group leaders all choose a teaching or other resource from the parish sponsored site, FORMED at the beginning of each NCF season for all the groups to use. These beautifully produced and unapologetically orthodox video presentations offer us a seemingly endless variety of good Catholic content for our meetings.
If you are not registered for this free parish resource, please follow this link.
It is not unusual for something to come up and make it impossible for someone to attend a meeting. The key is to communicate with the group leader so s/he knows that you will not make it. Since we meet every three weeks, we have some flexibility in scheduling.
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