On Friday, July 28, 2023, in the Parish Hall Room, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Cathedral, Chattogram hosted a full-day training for the newly elected 65 Small Christian Community (SCC) Leaders.
In 2015, the Cathedral Parish in Chattogram was divided into twelve neighborhood communities commonly known as “Parish Ward Communities.” Each neighborhood was named for a Catholic Saint. A seven-member committee is responsible for maintaining the community in the neighborhood. Presidents of the communities become members of the Parish Pastoral Council automatically.
Recent elections were held in every community. The parish team deemed it essential to
provide fundamental training to newly elected community leaders. Consequently, it organized this all-day training program.
The training was inaugurated with a prayer service, which was followed by greeting remarks from the parish priest, Rev. Regan Clement D’Costa, and a senior diocesan priest, Rev. Gordon Dias. The leaders then introduce themselves to everyone present.
What and why are SCCs, the seven-step Gospel sharing method, privilege, and responsibilities of community leaders were the primary topics of the day-long training. Archdiocesan pastoral coordinator Mr. Manik Willver D Costa was the trainer for the day who has several training in the country and abroad on Small Christian Communities. Numerous issues pertaining to the concentration of the parish pastoral council were raised spontaneously by the participating leaders in the open discussions. The program concluded with a vote of gratitude from the vice-chairman of the pastoral council, Mr. Alex Serrao, and the parish priest, Rev. Regan Clement D’Costa.
