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May 19, 2005
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Greetings and welcome
to Faith Formation Update,
a free monthly e-newsletter for catechetical leaders with a focus
on parish catechesis beyond textbooks and classrooms. I'm Judith
Dunlap. In each issue I offer a brief starter
and my "Every Family" column.
My co-worker and fellow religious educator Joan
McKamey offers video resources and ideas in her "Seen
and Heard" column. Our co-worker Chuck Blankenship suggests other faith formation resources for adults from St. Anthony Messenger Press in his column, "Sowing Sampler." Finally, we encourage YOU to share views and
program ideas about this month's topic on our online bulletin
board, "Faith Formation Forum."
Blessings on your work!
—Judith
Dunlap p.s. You're receiving
this either because you signed up, or because you're a loyal customer
of St. Anthony Messenger Press. We will never send you unwanted
e-mail. There is an unsubscribe link at the bottom of this page.
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Our parish recently took an adult faith formation survey to see what interested folks. One of the suggested activities we offered was a book club. We were delighted with the number of people who were interested but even more delighted to find two librarians who wrote that they were interested in running it. How easy is that?
We decided summertime might be a good time to begin meeting. When I talked to the women about what sorts of books they thought might be interesting, they suggested something “not too theological” to begin with.
I suggested looking for a book that was also available as an audiobook. I know I enjoy listening to an audiobook when I’m working in the garden or traveling on long or not-so-long car trips. I made sure both volunteers got a copy of the St. Anthony Messenger Press catalog. Finding and recording top-selling Catholic books has become one of the priorities of our Electronic Media department.
One of my suggestions for the first book club gathering was The Seven Secrets of Successful Catholics by Paul Wilkes. It is not a new book—it was published in 1998 by Paulist Press—but it is an easy, brief read. I also think it has a catchy title with a broad enough topic to attract readers and listeners.
Each chapter offers further reflection, suggested action steps, a prayer and questions for discussion, which is important for a book club. (Click here for a sample of the audiobook taken from the chapter, “Successful Catholics: Rely on their conscience and good judgment—but never alone.”)
Book clubs are self-starting and need little, if any, time from a busy catechetical leader. Consider talking to a few avid readers in your parish. You might be lucky enough to find a couple of librarians willing to help out.
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Vacation Bible school was always one of my favorite programs to facilitate. The atmosphere is so relaxed and easygoing. Things like crafts and music are staples. Every corner you turn, you can hear someone humming the tunes learned that day. And when it’s time to go, youngsters clutch their matchstick crosses or homemade rosaries like prized possessions. The children are actually enthusiastic learning about Jesus. It is an ideal opportunity to do some family evangelizing.
If your parish has a summer Bible school, your plans are probably well underway. Hopefully, the program you are using has some at-home activities. If it doesn’t, it is still not too late to come up with your own. Keep them simple and doable. And think of a clever way to make sure the activities gets home.
Whether you are writing your own parent material or using resources provided, make sure the parents are offered an opportunity to share their own faith with their children. There are three elements to at-home activities that offer parents this chance to get involved and grow in their own faith. They are: story, ritual and personal witness. Try to see that all three are incorporated into your take-home material. The Leader’s Guide of the family series God Is Calling talks about the importance of all three. (Click here to read about the importance of story, ritual and personal witness.)
Print the activity on one side of a sheet of paper. Begin and end with a simple ritual: the Sign of the Cross and perhaps a Glory Be. Summarize or give the biblical citation for that day’s Scripture reading. Ask parents to read the story again to their children. Finally, include a few easy questions that give both parents and children a chance to talk about how they feel, what they believe or how they live out the reading.
One way of making sure the materials get home is to put them in homemade baskets. Have the children make simple baskets on the first day of class (have older children make two so they can share with the little ones). Roll up each day’s home activity separately, tie it with a colored piece of yarn and tag it with the day of the week it is to be used. Also, include a paper that lets the adults know what the basket activities are about. Stress the importance parents play in the faith life of their children. And make sure they understand that the activities will only take about 20 minutes of their time. Roll up the instructions and put a tag on it that says, “Open me first.”
We know all of the parents won’t take the time to do the activities, but even if only a few do, you’ve accomplished something. Good luck and enjoy the fun of vacation Bible school.
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I spent a week among the rural poor in Appalachia when I was a young adult. It was an experience that opened my eyes to other people’s realities and opened my heart to other people’s pain. I had grown up in a poor farm family, but the poverty I encountered in the hills and hollers of Kentucky went so much deeper. There I saw a poverty of opportunity, something this young idealist had yet to encounter in our “land of opportunity.” I was heartened by the sense of community and connection to the earth, home and family I found among the Appalachian people. I so enjoyed their music and laughter.
Many teens give a lot, get a lot and grow a lot on mission trips sponsored by their parish youth groups, religious education programs or high schools. My niece Brittany will be participating in one this summer. She thinks that “painting houses and stuff like that” sounds like fun. And it will be as she shares in these activities with members of her parish youth group. I trust that she will also find an inner joy from helping people in need.
Many of us learn best by doing. Teens learn best about service and its role in Christian discipleship by experiencing it and then processing the experience. Getting our hands dirty can make all the difference when it comes to moving knowledge from our heads to our hearts.
A few years ago we sent a video crew along on a weeklong mission trip with members of the youth group from St. Francis of Assisi parish near Dayton, Ohio. These teens went with good intentions but came back so much richer than when they left. Click here to view a sample from the story segment of the video Sealed With God’s Spirit: Teen Discipleship (RealMedia | Windows Media). In it you’ll see an excerpt of the story about the youth group mission trip to inner-city Chicago. Other segments on this program include a young adult who witnesses to his commitment to Christian service, a youth minister answering teens’ questions about service and the work of the Spirit in their lives, and a music video “We Can Make a Difference.”
Use this program when teens are preparing for a mission trip, as they prepare to celebrate Confirmation, as part of a total youth ministry program—anytime young people are considering the topic of Christian discipleship.
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Author and journalist Paul Wilkes has been a Catholic all his life. While researching and writing his book Excellent Catholic Parishes: The Guide to Best Places and Practices, he became acutely aware of the difference that a good understanding of discipleship made in the daily life of active, involved Catholics. From that awareness emerged New Beginnings: A New Way of Living as a Catholic, a three-part, three-session course that takes Catholics on a life-changing journey from Church membership to discipleship. After spending one session exploring what it means to be part of a parish, New Beginnings leads participants through a session exploring how they can deepen and enrich their personal spirituality. Finally, in the third session, participants are helped to discover their own unique value and talents and to apply those talents in the parish and community. New Beginnings is an excellent program to help you energize your parishioners (especially new parishioners and newly initiated Catholics) to get more deeply involved in parish life.
Now Mr. Wilkes is offering an exciting follow-up to the New Beginnings curriculum: New Beginnings: My Opportunity for Giving. In this exciting new program, Wilkes focuses on “stewardship as your parish has never experienced it before.” In his own down-to-earth and low-key style, he helps you lead your parishioners through a prayerful, reflective and life-changing consideration of how they might become better stewards of their time, their talents and their treasures. This unique three-week curriculum will help parishioners begin to understand and experience stewardship as a way of life. Hundreds of parishes have seen the results of helping parishioners better experience discipleship with New Beginnings. Now you can take the next step—explore New Beginnings: My Opportunity for Giving.
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Share your ideas on adult faith formation at our online bulletin board. Our editors will screen and post your thoughts, and you can learn from others' ideas. Submit your ideas by clicking here. |
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