A new model for ministry
<p>For several years, our parish staff studied models of catechesis that could improve our faith formation efforts. We dialogued with the various groups within the parish, and we...
View ArticleFive basic appreciative inquiry questions
<p><strong>1. Beginnings</strong><br />To start, I’d like to learn about your beginnings in our parish / organization / ministry / community.<br /><br />a....
View ArticleHosting a guest speaker
<p><strong>Communicating</strong><br />Once, when waiting to speak at a large suburban parish, I discovered a flier on a bulletin board that said I was going to present a...
View ArticleEffective formation
<p class="Style"><strong>Establish your structures</strong></p> <p class="Style">“Structures” are all those ways in which time, space, and resources...
View ArticleGrowing faith in today’s parish
<p>The U.S. bishops are calling for strong, complete, and systematic catechesis for all parish and diocesan community members (see <em>Our Hearts Were Burning</em> <em>Within...
View ArticleBest practices for supporting adults’ faith
<p>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...
View ArticleHow can we connect better with Jesus?
<p>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...
View ArticleSix Missionary Insights for Adult Formation
<p>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.</p>...
View ArticleGetting in Touch With Your “Inner Missionary”
<p>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...
View ArticleBuilding adult formation: layer by layer
<p>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...
View ArticleSeven secrets to adult faith formation
<p><em>1. Be a contextualist. </em>Every parish is different. Every context is different no matter what the setting. Spend time getting to know the people in your parish. Talk to...
View Article12 ways in which the parish is the curriculum
<p>Where do we find the curriculum for adult faith formation? The parish is the curriculum! The whole life of the parish is the course of study, the course to be run. Here are some ways in which...
View ArticleHelp parishioners discover their gifts
<p>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...
View ArticleForming adults for changes in the liturgy
<p>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.</p> <p>Many...
View ArticlePlan for year-round adult faith formation
<p>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...
View ArticleIt takes a parish to initiate
<p>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...
View ArticleCatholic identity
<p>Jesus promised the Samaritan woman at the well that he would give "living waters" that constantly spring up "unto eternal life:' We must ever return to these deep waters to invigorate our...
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