There are over 160,000 Small Christian Communities (SCCs) in the nine countries of Eastern Africa. SCCs are a New Model of Church and a New Way of Being Church in Africa today. Small Christian Communities are not a movement in the Catholic Church, but the “Church on the Move.” A SCC is a small neighborhood, parish-based group in an urban or rural area in Eastern Africa that is a pastoral model of church that transforms the parish into a communion of communities and an instrument of evangelization. There are also school-based SCCs connected to educational institutions including seminaries, houses of religious formation, universities (both student groups and alumni/alumnae groups), high school boarding schools and training centers.
Father Joseph G. Healey, MM is an American Maryknoll missionary priest who lives in Nairobi, Kenya. Presently he teaches a full semester core course on “Small Christian Communities (SCCs) as a New Model of Church in Africa Today” at Tangaza University College (CUEA) and Don Bosco Salesian Theological College and a SCCs Seminar on “Small Christian Communities (SCCs) in Africa Today” at Hekima College (CUEA) in Nairobi, Kenya. He facilitates SCC Workshops and animates SCCs in Eastern Africa. He is an ordinary member of the St. Kizito Small Christian Community in the Waruku Section of St. Austin’s Parish in Nairobi Archdiocese.
Father Healey has written many books and articles on SCCs including:
Building the Church as Family of God: Evaluation of Small Christian Communities in Eastern Africa, Eldoret: AMECEA Gaba Publications – CUEA Press Double Spearhead Nos. 199-200 (Print Version 2012 and 1st Reprint 2014). 163 pages. The Online Digital Version regularly updated from the 2012 print version is available as a free online Ebook containing 1518 pages as of 21 December, 2023 on the Small Christian Communities Global Collaborative Website at: https://smallchristiancommunities.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Build_new.pdf
Additional material on the website including features such as Archives, Book Reviews, Calendar of Events, Ebooks, FAQ, Links to other SCCs Websites, Photo Gallery, SCC Polls, SCCs Resources (including Radio Programs), SCCs Stories Database, Search Engine, Videos (also on YouTube) and Presentations, Vision and What’s New can be found on the Small Christian Communities Global Collaborative Website and “Facebook Page” www.smallchristiancommunities.org
