Libis Community BEC delegates with Coordinator Tiny Perfecto attend the Jubilee for BECs at the Cubao Diocese in Lantana, Cubao last August 27, 2016
Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs), also called basic Christian communities, or, small Christian communities, is a Christian movement. Some contend that the movement has its origin and inspiration from liberation theology in Latin America. The communities are considered as a new way of “being the Church”— the Church at the grassroots, in the neighborhood and villages. The earliest communities emerged in Brazil and in the Philippines in the late 1960s and later spread to Africa, Asia and in recent times in Australia and North America.
BECs are formally defined as small communities of Christians, usually of families who gather together around the Word of God and the Eucharist. These communities are untied to their pastors or parish priests but are ministered to regularly by lay leaders. The members know each other by name and share not only the Word of God and the Eucharist but also their concerns both material and spiritual. They have a strong sense of belongingness and of responsibility for one another.
The Basic Ecclesial Communities is headed by Eileen de Leon
To a lesser degree, the gated villages of the parish could be loosely considered as BECs, or groupings of BECs. The vision is that over the long term, the villages of Greenmeadows 1, Greenmeadows 3, Acropolis, White Plains, Corinthian Gardens, Corinthian Hills, Arcadia, and the households of Enclave, Ivory Court, White Plains Terraces will be Basic Ecclesial Communities in the full definition of BECs.
Efforts are already underway by the Greenmeadows 1 coordinators to move their village to full BEC status.
