Faith Formation

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  • It takes a parish to initiate

    by Debbie Walsh

    You have likely heard the ancient African Proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” As an active member of a parish leadership team, I have come to a deep and profound appreciation of how “it takes a parish to initiate.” From the… read more

  • Plan for year-round adult faith formation

    by Sylvia Devillers

    In the popular culture of American Catholicism, most parishes close down in the summer and don’t resume activities until school starts in the fall. No children, no meetings, no faith formation. Liturgies continue, but otherwise the parish campus … read more

  • Forming adults for changes in the liturgy

    by Sylvia Devillers

    The way we pray the liturgy is about to change, and with these changes will undoubtedly come questions, comments, complaints, and approvals from the people in the pews. Many parishes have spent a lot of time and energy preparing for these changes. Dioceses… read more

  • Help parishioners discover their gifts

    by Bobby Vidal

    Not long ago, I was conducting a discernment interview with a 65-year-old woman. In a discernment interview, a trained interviewer helps a person look objectively at the ways God has used them. The interviewer assists the person by pointing out different… read more

  • Growing faith in today’s parish

    by Michael Wofford

    The U.S. bishops are calling for strong, complete, and systematic catechesis for all parish and diocesan community members (see Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us: A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the United States). Our parish, realizing … read more

  • Best practices for supporting adults’ faith

    by Michael P. Horan

    Catechesis finds new energy whenever adults are placed in the scene. Let’s take a look at several pastoral scenes from parishes and schools around the United States where adult faith formation is linked to the formation of children and youth. … read more

  • How can we connect better with Jesus?

    by Catherine Minkiewicz

    A pastor I once worked with, Father Joe Colligan, never forgot a name. When he met new folks after Mass, he was always extending a handshake, intently asking their names and where they were from. Then he would turn to a parishioner and introduce the … read more

  • Six Missionary Insights for Adult Formation

    by Anthony Gittins

    Here are a handful of things that I have learned from my cross-cultural ministry, whether in West Africa and parts of the Pacific, or in Southern England and Uptown Chicago. 1. Learn to listen. This is a fundamental sign of respect. Jesus criticized those … read more

  • Getting in Touch With Your “Inner Missionary”

    by Anthony Gittins

    Mission work and your own ministry of adult faith formation have much in common because they both spring from the same source: our Christian life. “Mission experience” is not primarily the exotic but what is essentially Christian. To be Christian… read more

  • Building adult formation: layer by layer

    by Joanne Sanders

    Stop for a moment and consider the many different audiences who are there to receive your message. There are some topics that will appeal to certain age groups and others that different groups could be encouraged to attend. Young FamiliesYoung families … read more