Our Philosophy for Materials
When people meet the real Jesus in Scripture, lives change, hearts heal, and the grace and power of our baptism is unleashed to make us “ambassadors for Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:20)
When people meet the real Jesus in Scripture, lives change, hearts heal, and the grace and power of our baptism is unleashed to make us “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20).
Well-formed and trained lay leaders who’ve learned to facilitate dynamic Scripture discussions can serve as an instrument of the Holy Spirit revealing the person of Jesus.
The questions in the EC small group discussion guides help people learn how to “chew on” the Word. From this group “prayer of consideration,”[1] something emerges that only possible when “two or three are gathered” in his name (Matthew 18:20). One person says something that prompts a thought another in the group wouldn’t have considered on their own. The Holy Spirit uses these many opportunities to reveal God’s love for each person while guiding hearts and minds to a deeper understanding of Jesus’ words and deeds.
Probing discussion of Scripture and prayer teach active, intelligent engagement with the gospel revelation. Application questions prompt people to ask how to respond personally to whatever the Holy Spirit puts on their hearts. “What is God calling me to do because of this?” This is ongoing conversion. It’s how disciples are made.
Weekly spiritual exercises and encouragement to participate in the sacraments help small group participants “bring home” and make incarnate the ideas and inspirations they experienced. This follow-up strengthens believers’ connection to Christ and gives the Spirit opportunity to construct a more profoundly Christian interior life. Each guidebook builds toward encouraging life-changing actions that can help disciples seek and fulfill their role in the Church.
[1] Joseph Tetlow, S.J., 19th Annotation, The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola
-
Encounter Jesus - Evangelistic Discussion Guide Series
Designed for those seeking to understand Jesus and the Church, Encounter Jesus books are popular with people at all levels of faith. Groups or individuals benefit from the questions on Scriptures that help them meet Jesus in a fresh way, the “Encounter Christ this Week” activities, and the prayers.
-
Amazed and Afraid
Amazed and Afraid is designed to help anyone—those who attend church regularly and those who have never met Jesus before in any meaningful way—to dive into the Gospels and begin a regular pattern of prayer. Each of the six sessions features a scene about Jesus and his followers, followed by a series of questions, meant to help participants begin to reflect more deeply about their relationship with Jesus.
Preview Purchase -
Believe
6-week Small Group Scripture Discussion Guide
Believe focuses on episodes when Jesus changed people’s lives. The questions that follow are designed to spark discussion and allow each person to consider how the story applies to his or her own life.
Preview Purchase -
Signs and Wonders
6-week Small Group Scripture Discussion Guide
If we want to know who Jesus is, then we have to discover what his friends said and wrote about him. We can find detailed accounts of Jesus’ life-including the signs and wonders he performed-in the Gospels. They show us what Jesus cared about, how he treated people, and what he thought was most important in life. What better way to explore who Jesus is, or deepen the relationship we already have with him, than to reflect on these accounts?
Preview Purchase
-
-
Follow Jesus - Establishing Discussion Guide Series
We want to become students (disciples) of Jesus after we encounter his love. Books in the Follow Jesus series help participants grow in discipleship by establishing them in the heart and habits of a follower of the Lord.
-
Nextstep Volume 1
We all experience it: a profound gap in our lives and in our world. There is a gap between what the world is and what we wish, or hope, or believe it could be. There is also a tension within ourselves. Try as we might, our efforts to fix this gap and this tension on our own inevitably fail.
The good news is that we are not on our own. Through Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the many gifts in the Church, God loves us, heals us, rescues us, and transforms us. But he doesn’t stop there: he sends us—equipped and not alone—to spread the good news all around us.
Nextstep is a multimedia experience of stories, witnesses, and teachings guiding you step-by-step into a closer relationship with Jesus through balanced, practical, and inspiring reflections.
Visit ecnextstep.com to find out more about the online aspect of Nextstep!
Preview Purchase -
Nextstep Volume 2
In Nexstep, Volume 2, you are invited to continue your journey of growing in discipleship, delving more deeply into the freedom and victory that Jesus provides over “every burden and sin that clings to us “ (Hebrews 12:1). You will also discover how the seven sacraments immerse us in the life of Christ and little by little transform us into His likeness.
Visit ecnextstep.com to find out more about the online aspect of Nextstep!
Preview Purchase -
With Jesus to the Cross: Leader Guide, Lent Year B
7-week Small Group Scripture Discussion Guide on the Catholic Lectionary
Enrich your experience of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus through reflection on the Sunday Lent and Easter Scriptures. Questions on the words and actions of Jesus and his followers, and the Old Testament stories prefiguring or predicting his mission, open our eyes to God’s ways in the world and in our hearts.
Preview Purchase -
With Jesus to the Cross: User Guide, Lent Year B
This affordable booklet is designed specifically for small group participants. Leaders should purchase the Leader Guide.
Preview Purchase -
The Way Part 1 (Leader Guide)
6-Week Small Group Scripture Discussion Guide
Revised in 2019!
As Catholic disciples of Jesus, we mature to the extent that we allow the heart and habits of Jesus and his people to become ever more our own. The Way invites individuals and groups to reflect upon the heart and habits of discipleship with Scripture, discussion questions, and prompts for spiritual exercises.
In Part 1, we reflect on the call to know God as friend, savior, and source of all life through Jesus Christ. In six sessions, we discuss how to nurture this friendship in prayer and in Scripture.
Preview Purchase -
The Way Part 1 (User Guide)
This affordable booklet is designed specifically for small group participants. Leaders should purchase the Leader Guide.
Preview Purchase -
The Way Part 2 (Leader Guide)
In this second volume of The Way, we continue to reflect on our call to know and follow Jesus, particularly through the Eucharist, ongoing conversion (including the Sacrament of Reconciliation), the community of faith, and our call to mission.
Preview Purchase -
The Way Part 2 (User Guide)
The user guide is meant for group study and may be used by small group participants. Leaders should purchase the Leader/Individual Guide.
Preview Purchase -
Conformed to Christ
6-Week Small Group Scripture Discussion Guide
When we want to grow in our relationship with Jesus, we become his students. Questions on St. Paul’s letters to the early Christians help groups and individuals consider all the topics crucial to discipleship in everyday life: love, temptation, virtue, suffering, the Spirit, and the Church.
Preview Purchase
-
-
One-on-One - Establishing Series
Disciples are made one person at a time. Books in our One-on-One series help someone share with another how to walk closely with Christ. The Catholic Church calls this an “apprenticeship” and “initiatory catechesis.” The one who seeks Jesus learns how to find him through witness, prayer experiences, and knowledge of the spiritual practices and attitudes of a Catholic disciple.
-
Exploring the God Question (Leader)
3-week Discussion Guide
A tool to engage with those who do not believe in God, these easily used conversation sessions consider the great questions humans have asked since the beginning; how we know/experience anything; the role of relationship to knowing; and the traditional arguments for and against God.
Preview Purchase -
Exploring the God Question (Participant)
3-week Discussion Guide
A tool to engage with those who do not believe in God, these easily used conversation sessions consider the great questions humans have asked since the beginning; how we know/experience anything; the role of relationship to knowing; and the traditional arguments for and against God.
Preview Purchase -
The Way of a Disciple (Leader)
9-week Discussion Guide for Peer Discipleship Mentoring
An apprenticeship plan with the Scriptures and Church teaching to support it, Way of a Disciple provides questions to consider together when helping another explore the implications of Jesus in his or her own life. The Leader version includes advice and resources for the discipleship mentor.
Preview Purchase -
The Way of a Disciple (Participant)
9-week Discussion Guide for Peer Discipleship Mentoring
A deliberate apprenticeship plan with the Scriptures and Church teaching to support it, Way of a Disciple provides thought provoking questions to help another explore the implications for his or her own life of what Jesus said and did.
Preview Purchase
-
-
Libros en Español (Spanish Books)
These are the same books listed above translated into Spanish.
-
Con Jesus a la Cruz: Líder, Año B
Con Jesús a la cruz facilita el estudio de las lecturas de la Misa dominical del tiempo de Cuaresma. Reúnete semanalmente con un grupo pequeño para dialogar sobre ellas, o medita en las preguntas por tu propia cuenta. Esta guía incluye todo lo que necesitas para dirigir un grupo pequeño o hacer el estudio individualmente.
La Iglesia nos enseña que Dios nos habla a través de su palabra: “En los sagrados libros el Padre que está en los cielos se dirige con amor a sus hijos y habla con ellos” (Dei Verbum, 21). ¡Prepárate para escuchar al Señor en este tiempo de Cuaresma y experimentar plenamente la alegría de la resurrección en esta Pascua!
Preview Purchase -
Con Jesus a la Cruz: Guía del Usuario, Año B
Diseñada para los participantes de grupos pequeños, Con Jesús a la cruz facilita el estudio de las lecturas de la Misa dominical del tiempo de Cuaresma. La Iglesia nos enseña que Dios nos habla a través de su palabra: “En los sagrados libros el Padre que está en los cielos se dirige con amor a sus hijos y habla con ellos” (Dei Verbum, 21). ¡Prepárate para escuchar al Señor en este tiempo de Cuaresma y experimentar plenamente la alegría de la resurrección en esta Pascua!
La guía del usuario está diseñada para los participantes de los grupos pequeños.
Preview Purchase -
Cree: Una Guía Católica Para Grupos Pequeños
¿Qué significa “creer”?
En diferentes momentos de la vida, las grandes preguntas se nos imponen. “¿A dónde voy?” “¿Qué estoy buscando en la vida?” “¿Por qué estoy aquí?” Aquí in ¡Cree!, vamos a explorar lo que significa “creer” y la promesa que “Si crees, verás la gloria de Dios.” (Juan 11:40.) A usted le toca hacer el viaje por su cuenta. Arriésguese. Usted puede comprometar con un grupo pequeño de su iglesia o rece solo a través de este libro. Descubra por usted mismo lo que significa creer.
Preview Purchase -
Asombrado y Asustado: Descubra el Poder de Jesús
No acepte las ideas de nadie sobre quién es Jesús. Las historias y preguntas de este libro le ayudarán a conocer a Jesús usted mismo, ya sea solo o con un grupo pequeño de discusión en su iglesia. Verá lo que Jesús hizo, escuchará lo que dijo, y conocerá a los fascinantes personajes que eligieron seguirlo. Si usted es alguien que nunca ha conocido a Jesús de manera significativa o alguien que asiste a la iglesia con regularidad, leer y discutir estas historias de Jesús y sus discípulos lo ayudará a tomar su propia decisión sobre quién es él y qué significa eso para usted.
Preview Purchase -
Signos y Prodigios: Encuentro con Jesús de Nazaret
Las enseñanzas y milagros de Jesús han sido una fuente inagotable de fascinación para innumerables personas —creyentes y no creyentes por igual— desde que Él caminó por la tierra. Las seis sesiones en Signos y Prodigios incluyen algunos de los episodios más dramáticos en los Evangelios: Jesús caminando sobre el agua, sanando a los enfermos, convirtiendo el agua en vino, e incluso resucitando a una niña de entre los muertos. Las preguntas que siguen a cada historia están diseñadas para estimular la discusión en pequeños grupos o para proporcionar alimento para el pensamiento de los lectores individuales.Creada por The Evangelical Catholic para estudiantes universitarios y parroquias, esta guía ayudará a cada persona a entender, por primera vez o de una manera más profunda, quién fue Jesús y por qué tantos eligen seguirlo.
Preview Purchase -
El Camino Parte 1 (Líder/Individuo)
Como discípulos católicos de Jesús, maduramos en la medida en que permitamos que el corazón y los hábitos de Jesús y de su pueblo sean cada vez más los nuestros.
El Camino invita a las personas individualmente y en grupos a reflexionar sobre el corazón y los hábitos del discipulado con la Biblia, con preguntas de diálogo y con instrucciones para realizar ejercicios espirituales. La Parte 1 exploró la amistad con Jesús, la oración personal y la devoción a la Escritura, mientras que la Parte 2 profundiza en la Eucaristía, la comunidad, la conversión continua y la misión.
Preview Purchase -
El Camino Parte 1 (Guía del Participante del Grupo Pequeño)
Guía del Participante del Grupo Pequeño
Preview Purchase -
El Camino Parte 2 (Líder/Individuo)
Como discípulos católicos de Jesús, maduramos en la medida en que permitamos que el corazón y los hábitos de Jesús y de su pueblo sean cada vez más los nuestros.
El Camino invita a las personas individualmente y en grupos a reflexionar sobre el corazón y los hábitos del discipulado con la Biblia, con preguntas de diálogo y con instrucciones para realizar ejercicios espirituales. La Parte 1 exploró la amistad con Jesús, la oración personal y la devoción a la Escritura, mientras que la Parte 2 profundiza en la Eucaristía, la comunidad, la conversión continua y la misión.
Preview Purchase -
El Camino Parte 2 (Guía del Participante del Grupo Pequeño)
Guía del Participante del Grupo Pequeño
Preview Purchase
-
