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Udupi, 30 March 2014: The first ever Udupi Varado level Small Christian Community (SCC) Convention comprising of representatives from 9 parishes of the Varado-Udupi, Moodubellle, Udyavar, Katapadi, Yermal, Kuntalnagar, Manipal, Perampalli and Kalmady that was held on Sunday, 30 March 2014 from 10 am to 4.30 pm in St. Mary’s English Medium High School, Kannarpady, Udupi had enthusiastic participation as 618 members participated actively in the day-long proceedings.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following the registration and breakfast, parishioners representing the nine parishes proceeded in procession carrying banners of their respective parishes to the  open air covered  hall. Rev. Fr. Fred Mascarenhas  held the Holy Bible atop and followed the procession along with other priests. On entering the hall, he placed the Bible reverently on the decorated stand. Thereafter, paying respect to the Holy Bible, he read out a passage and explained the meaning of the passage.
 
The animators of different parishes recited the prayer of the faithful.  The students from Udyavar Parish presented the prayer dance.
 
During the  formal inauguration function of the SCC Convention, Rev. Fr. Lawrence D’Almeida, parish priest of Katapady and Director of SCC Udupi Varado welcomed the dignitaries on the dais and the representatives.  Rev. Fr. Fred Mascaarenhas, Dean of Udupi Varado, Rev. Fr. Herald Pereira, Secretary of the SCC, Karnataka Region who was the resource person for the  Convention and Mrs. Eugene Machado Convener of the SCC Udupi Varado were on the dais.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The workshop was conducted by Rev. Fr. Herald Pereira with the help of the lay resource person, Mr. Vincent D’Costa from Kinnigoli parish. In the beginning Rev. Fr. Herald Pereira made the gathering to sing few hymns set to popular tunes. He also prompted the gathering to do action songs.  A review of the conventional Seven Steps Method of conducting the SCC at the ward level was reviewed  and doubts were cleared.
 
Highlighting the purpose of the SCC, Fr. Herald said that, the Church is not a ‘one man show’ but a participatory church with the clergy and laity.  With the aim of ‘one for everyone, and everyone for one’ a robust and active Ward Community can be built. Mr. Vincent D’Costa with examples from his own experiences in his Ward  pointed out how with clever handling of issues and problems all members of the Ward can be brought into the fold of SCC.
 
Rev. Fr. Herald Pereira explained the new proposed method of conducting SCC meetings at the Ward level known as “Bible Mirror Steps” which is a slight modification of the Seven Steps Method.  However, he stressed on the fact that the “Bible Mirror Method” can be implemented only after a proper training of animators.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
The entire congregation was divided into 25 groups and group discussions were conducted on the aspects of possible problems faced by the ward SCC and what kind of solutions can be devised to meet these problems. The group discussions went on for half an hour under the guidance of priests and coordinators of each group.
 
At the end, coordinators from five groups were called upon the stage to make their presentation.  Meanwhile, Rev. Fr. Alphonse D’Lima, parish priest of Gangolli and SCC Director of the Udupi Diocese joined the Convention. In his message, Rev. Fr. Alphonse D’Lima said that one  should not be entangled only with religious exercises such as attending the mass, etc, but participate actively in many good things in the society and community. There is a lot of scope to carry on the message of Christ to the other people through the good work of the faithful.
 
Rev. Fr. Fred Mascarenhas presented mementos to Rev. Fr. Herald Pereira and Mr. Vincent D’Costa in appreciation of conducting the morning session of the  Convention in an excellent manner which had enthusiastic participation from all the participants.

Following the end of the morning session, lunch was served  to the members. Incidentally, the Food Committee of Udupi Parish had prepared the breakfast, lunch and evening snacks and tea with the help of volunteers, thus manifesting the SCC in action.
 
The post lunch session was the presentation of skits of 12 minutes duration by eight out of nine parishes.  Each parish was given a theme on which they were required to make the presentation. The presentation was quite interesting, some of the amateur actors manifesting their acting talents and script writers putting in their best efforts to highlight the theme given to them.
 
After the end of the presentation by all the eight parishes, as a token of appreciation, Rev. Fr. Fred Mascarenhas presented mementos to the animators of these eight parishes.
 
It was decided that, next year the SCC Annual Convention will be held at the Katapady Church. Formally, the banner was handed over by Rev. Fr. Fred Mascarenhas to the parish priest and two representatives of the Katapady Parish.
 
In his valedictory address, Rev. Fr. Fred Mascarenhas said that he was extremely pleased in the way the the Udupi Varado level SCC  Convention was conducted. He thaked all the parish priests within the Varado for encouraging their respective parishioners to participate in the Convention.  He placed on record the efforts taken by Rev. Fr. Lawrence D’Almeida, The Uudpi Varado SCC Director, Mrs. Eugene Machado, the Convener, Rev. Fr. Alphonse D’Lima, Director of the Udupi Diocese SCC and Mr. Alphonse D’Costa, the MC  in making the Convention a great success.
 
The formal vote of thanks was given by Mrs. Eugene Machado. The entire programme right from morning till evening was very well anchored by Alphonse D’Costa. The time management was excellent and the afternoon session practically ended at 4.15pm followed by snacks and tea.