Something of great ecclesial significance has been happening in our midst over the last six years in the Catholic parish of St. Thomas More, on the outskirts of Melbourne in Belgrave, Victoria. It is here that two great renewal initiatives of our time - the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) for the formation of new Catholics, and the development of Small Church Communities (SCC) - have linked up, and are working together. Here, in a very authentic way, the initiation of catechumens really is taking place, step by step, in the midst of the community of the faithful. This crucial development has also been activated in other parts of the world, mainly in the U.S.A, at first in the early 1980's, and then much more from the mid-1990's onwards. In taking this course, the leaders of the Belgrave parish have been influenced not only by what is happening overseas but also by problems encountered in their own pastoral experience. This development will continue to be a major thrust in the years ahead.

The Project Linkup core group comprises Jim and Ursula Cranswick, Annette Hanigan and Irene Wilson. Whilst profiles will be posted at a later date, it is pertinent to say that in the course of parish ministry all have had personal experience with the development of Small Church Communities and commitment to the implementation and development of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) or Catechumenate.

Most parishes have adopted the Catechumenate as their model of adult initiation since Vatican II. Sadly however, the enthusiastic activating of the RCIA, which is taken from the experience of the early church communities, has often been impaired in our own time by the loss of neophytes.

The RCIA experience, while individually effective, has often failed to provide a sense of deep and ongoing community. This is a reality that people try to avoid mentioning, and is what Jim Dunning, founder and leader of the North American Forum for the Catechumenate, called "the revolving door syndrome" (See Paul O'Bryan's article).

As a result he arranged a national consultation with the North American Forum of SCCs, and thus began an integration between RCIA and SCCs. Since then, conversations have been taking place amongst leading SCC organisations and the North American Forum for the Catechumenate.