New strategies to help build sound BECs

Feb 09, 2018

KL Archdiocese
Msgr Mitchel Anthony, the Ecclesiastical Assistant of the Archdiocesan Basic Ecclesial Communities Animating Team (ABECAT) in his welcome message at the 1st Archdiocesan BECCOT Assembly in 2017 congratulated those assembled for their commitment and dedication towards the growth of our BECs. “You have taken the first step into our Archdiocesan’s BEC Five Year Plan: 2017-2021, in Inculcating a Sense of Belonging in our people, Enhancing Related Skills in our Coordinators while Meeting the Various Needs of BECs today.”

The ABECAT team was designed and formed to build relationships while nurturing the Coordinators of BECAT, BECCOT and BECs. They are to look into the needs of communities through ongoing formations, activities and programmes organised throughout 2017 to 2021.

The variety of people we deal with daily challenges us to be flexible and adaptive in our relationship building strategies. Constant pressure and stress makes us easily irritable and tired and it becomes extremely hard to stay calm and thoughtful.

We begin to have less control over ourselves and our lives resulting in poor relationships with others. Now, the time has come for us to learn the ropes of managing and working with others. It is not a skill for management p r a c t i c e s only but for all involved in community building. BECs have become a victim of coordinators with poor demonstration for people building skills. We at the Archdiocesan BEC Animating Team (ABECAT) with the guidance of Msgr Mitchel Anthony have coined strategies for building sound BECs with training and enhancement sessions on EMOTIONAL SKILLS. It goes beyond ‘gut feelings’ as effective skills and expertise are needed to build and enhance our community living.

We must address the warning signs of poor EMOTIONAL SKILLS seen in our community today. Coordinators, core teams and messengers must be equipped with these basic skills to nurture and build sound relationships. The continuous and irregular changes around us result in poor relationships calling for immediate attention in addressing the lack of “people skills” in our BECs. Developing the essential people skills through EMOTIONAL SKILLS will bolster harmony and peace for the troubled hearts seeking support in our monthly gatherings.

“One of the best lessons you can learn in life is to master how to remain calm.”