PARISH BULLETIN: Religious Education
Lifelong Faith Formation at Work in Your Parish
Cecelia P. Regan |  Summer 2009

Parishes can be helped to see the value of lifelong faith formation and also helped with the nuts and bolts of putting it in place.

In the last issue of CHURCH, I wrote about lifelong catechesis in the context of evangelizing families and preparing them to celebrate first Communion. My mind is spinning with the possibilities for lifelong faith formation beyond sacramental moments, and to validate what my research and instincts are telling me, I can say that I have seen faith coming alive in parishes because of this inclusive model.

Let me explain. Since beginning my ministry as a diocesan director for catechesis, I have been on the road meeting parish catechetical leaders and their staffs. I have no agenda except to listen and ask two questions: (1) What is the best experience of catechesis in your parish? (2) What is your biggest challenge? Not surprisingly, there are amazing encounters with the Lord happening within these communities. There also seems to be a common thread when it comes to challenges: Why don’t more of our families attend Mass?

I don’t pretend to have the answer to this question (I wish I did…), but it is also my experience that forcing parishioners to come to Mass doesn’t work, either. By forcing, I mean taking attendance at Mass via Sunday envelopes, clergy signing bulletins as proof of attendance, sign-in sheets in the narthex, gospel reflections written based on the homily, etc. Shouldn’t people want to celebrate Eucharist because it is the expression of their faith? Why do some parishes see the need to enforce such rules and regulations to receive sacraments and take on the privilege of godparenting? I understand that these demands are well intentioned, however misdirected. I understand that family life is so complex that church is sometimes not a priority and that society does not support faith. I also know in my heart and through personal experience that church is calm in the storm, a moment of rest in the Lord, and an opportunity to be the best family we can be. Here’s the bottom line: culture and society have changed. Is your parish feeding your people and giving them what they need to connect faith and life?

In our parish listening sessions I hear the frustrations of parish catechetical leaders, I see how overworked they are and I feel their sense that they lack support. They know that, for many, the school model of religious education does not result in a lived faith. (“It isn’t working!”) The old systems of religious education are not effective and they are dying a slow, painful death.

The three-legged stool

Recently I attended a workshop facilitated by Daniel S. Mulhall, former assistant secretary for catechesis and inculturation for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) currently working as the director of consultant services for RCL Benziger. Dan helps catechetical leaders examine how our culture has changed and suggests that, for many parishes, the ways of doing catechesis do not relate to that new reality. Dan uses the model of a three-legged stool to explain the current state of catechesis. Imagine the seat of the stool as instruction in the faith. The seat is supported by three legs: family, parish community, and society.

Sixty years ago, those legs were strong support for the instructional seat because faith formation was taking place in the home, in the parish, and was reinforced by the values of society. Today, those legs of support no longer exist because formation is not taking place in the home, there is limited experience of community in the parish, and society is ruled by technology and individualism, not values. I am grateful to Dan for allowing me to share his analogy, because it helped me understand my experience in the parish and why people are not coming to Eucharist. Once we recognize that our “legs” are weak, how do we build new ones to deepen the faith life of our people? Let me say first that these realities do not mean the end of instruction in our faith. New models of lifelong faith formation must inform, form, and transform. Perhaps you will need to continue your school model and offer additional formational opportunities for all generations to share faith together.

The Pastor’s Vision Is Essential

Having ministered in parishes all my adult life and worshipped in vibrant communities, I have witnessed firsthand the stress, heavy responsibilities, and anxiety that many pastors experience. Some are overworked and underappreciated. I don‘t wish to add to their burdens, but re-envisioning the ways to do religious formation is vital to the life and future of the parish. The pastor must be the leader in exploring and implementing new models. “The pastor has the primary responsibility to ensure that the catechetical needs, goals and priorities of the parish are identified, articulated and met” (National Directory for Catechesis). His vision is essential to renewing the catechetical process! That doesn’t mean he has to do all the work, but he must be the guiding force.

The U.S. bishops, aware of these cultural changes, have asked us to look at the challenges and adjust our models of faith formation to meet the needs of our people and the culture. Lifelong faith formation is what our bishops are calling for in the documents Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us (1999) and the National Directory for Catechesis (2005). I must stress the importance of reading and absorbing these documents as foundational to the process of evangelization and catechesis in your parish. They are very accessible, easy to read, and clear in their understanding of current culture and our church. Best of all, they offer practical suggestions for moving forward. And, they tell us that we already have the best model in place—the rite of Christian initiation of adults.

A Way to Begin

Here in my diocese, we are trying to introduce pastors and parish staffs to alternative models of catechesis by giving them opportunities to learn about the documents and hear from parishes that are catechizing their entire communities. What fruits can be expected from an inclusive model? What needs to be done to prepare your community? Where will you get the staff, the resources, the space, the time, the energy, the vision, the buy-in from the parishioners? There are a million questions. So we developed diocese-wide events to help our parishes imagine new ways of catechizing the whole parish.

This plan could be easily adapted for a single parish or for collaboration among neighboring parishes. If possible, engage presenters from within your diocese who have hands-on experience. We offered five events over four months that helped lay the foundation and stimulate conversation. We invited pastors, other clergy, parish life coordinators, parish staffs, and key members of the parishes’ catechetical communities to our events. For those wanting more, we plan to provide systematic training and support in the months ahead. Here’s a summary of five workshops that laid the groundwork to help parishes embrace a broader vision of catechesis.

• Topic 1: Why Are Our Bishops Promoting Lifelong Faith Formation?
  This workshop unpacks the documents Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us and the National Directory for Catechesis as the basis and rationale for adult faith formation. The bishops have given us this foundation to help us understand that lifelong learning is vital to the future of our church; why it is important for adults to be the central axis of catechesis in the parish; and what it takes to make this happen in our local communities.
  
  
• Topic 2: A Pastor’s Perspective on Lifelong Faith Formation
  In this workshop, one of our local pastors will give his personal observations on what differences lifelong faith formation have made to his parish community. It’s not something that happened overnight, and it took much preparation and planning. But the rewards have been great. Clergy, in particular, are invited to bring their questions.
  
  
• Topic 3: Whole Community Catechesis—What’s It All About?
  Whole Community Catechesis is defined in many ways. The presenter will identify four main areas—faith sharing, households of faith, large-group gatherings, and service and outreach—that parish leaders can develop to renew and revitalize their faith communities. The bishops suggest many models of faith formation to meet the needs of parishioners, no matter what their age or stage in life.
  
  
• Topic 4: Come and See: Lifelong Learning in Action
  A local parish invited us to participate in one of its lifelong learning experiences during the month of March. The faith topic was “Holy Week.” Parish staffs were welcome to stay for a short “debriefing” after the event.
  
  
• Topic 5: The “Mechanics” of Lifelong Faith Formation in a Parish
  After all this learning and experiencing, what do you need to offer actual lifelong learning events? How do you prepare a parish? How do you find volunteers and train your facilitators? How do you plan and organize the events? How do you systematize what needs to be learned? How do you register families? How do children fit into the plan? Bring your questions.

From talking to pastors and parish catechetical leaders, I know that the fruits of lifelong faith formation in a parish are many: increased participation in Eucharist, adults who live and articulate their faith and are able to pass it on to their children, renewed community life, service, and work for social justice. I urge you to take the documents seriously, to contact a nearby parish that has implemented lifelong faith formation to explore the possibilities, and to ask for diocesan training and support. With formation and information at the center of all your catechetical efforts, lifelong catechesis will transform your parish!

Cecelia P. Regan is the director of the Office for Catechesis in the diocese of Metuchen, N.J. Previously, she served as the director of religious education at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Old Bridge, N.J. where she ministered for twenty years.