♦ Would you like to feel more connected to your faith community? ♦ Are you a single adult, looking for ways to express and share your Catholic faith? ♦ Do you wish you had more time to spend with your family or friends learning about the Catholic faith? ♦ Is your family over-burdened by hectic schedules and frantic driving children from one activity to another? ♦ Could you use some support in helping to get you and your family to Mass more regularly? ♦ Are you struggling with how to keep your teenagers involved with the Church? ♦ Would you like us to serve you dinner once a month, so that you can spend some quality time with your friends and family, and so that you can get to know other parishioners? ♦ Are you a young person wondering where God is in your life? ♦ Are you amore “experienced” Catholic who would like to share your faith experience with those younger than you? If you said YES to any of the above, then Generations of Faith is for you!
Generations of Faith is our new, innovative approach to parish wide faith formation. It offers singles, couples, and families the opportunity to work on faith formation together. Parishioners will gather monthly in intergenerational groups for one 2 1/2-hour session. The goal of these sessions is to provide a conte2xt for participation in and reflection about the event that highlights each month’s theme. Direct instruction, learning materials, reflection opportunities, and home kits will be designed to help everyone better understand events in the life of the Church.
Why Generations of Faith?Adult faith formation, by which people consciously grow in the life of Christ through experience, reflection, prayer, and study, must be the central task in catechetical enterprise,” becoming the “axis around which revolves the catechesis of childhood and adolescence as well as that of old age.”(Our Hearts Were Burning within Us, U.S. Catholic Bishops, 2000)
What is our vision?Embracing the vision of faith formation in Generations of Faithrequires moving away from a school model to a community or “whole Church” paradigm of faith formation.We’ve had some glimpses of how this might work over the past few years with our whole community gatherings; Generations of Faith embraces this concept fully.
The first important aspect of this vision is locating religious education not in the “classroom” but rather in the lived experience of communal parish life and in its families and households. Some of us are old enough to remember a time when such a dynamic needed no programming at all – it simply wasthe way Catholics lived, shared and handed on their faith to each other and to the next generation. The revolution in church and culture that came with the 1960’s turned many things upside down. It’s not unusual to hear older folks complain, “kids just aren’t learning the faith the way they used to” and younger parents ask, “just what are my children supposed to be learning in CCD?” And we all wonder and ask, “Is religious education working?”
The second familiar dynamic that Generations of Faith brings to mind is the critical importance of parents and extended families in the work of their children’s religious education. Catholic children learn more about their faith at home (by example or default) than in the classroom. Faith is one of those things that is more easily “caught” than “taught.”
We believe thatGenerations of Faith will help parishioners to engage in more meaningful participation in church liturgies and events. We hope to encourage everyone to reflect on the significance of these events and to apply Catholic teachings to daily life. We envision strengthened Catholic individuals, families, and community as the outcome of this program.
How is it structured? You’ll register for one of three monthly sessions (you’ll go to the same session each month with your entire household).Each session will include: A prepared meal -to alleviate the stress of food preparation, the parish will provide a meal so that families and individuals can relax, eat together, and socialize with other parishioners. Opening Experience -an introduction to the theme presented in an intergenerational setting. This may include prayer, a speaker, activities, or discussion. Learning Sessions -breakout sessions will allow different age groups to receive instruction geared towards preparing for the monthly event in a developmentally appropriate way. Whole Group sharing -everyone will come back together to share what they have learned. Home kits will be distributed with instructions.Each household will then continue learning and sharing their faith throughout the month at home.
Registration and schedules for this year’s Generations of Faith are available in the Formation Office.You will notice that there are no fees!Register early to be sure to get the session which works best for you.Seating is limited, so preferences will be assigned on a first-come, first served basis.
We are excited about the possibilities that Generations of Faith offers. If you have any questions or would like to find out more about Generations of Faith, and/or ways to become involved, members please contact the parish offices, and we’ll be glad to help answer your questions.