Beginning the Conversation About Adult Faith Formation

Joe Paprocki Adult Faith Formation

teaching adults

As a Church, we’ve been talking about adult faith formation for years and yet, here we are “beginning” the conversation at Christ the King parish. That’s not a knock on the parish—many parishes find themselves in the same boat: yet to realize what it means to make adult faith formation a priority. Thankfully, Fr. Larry Sullivan and his staff are determined to change all that!

Recently, I met with Fr. Larry and the staff at Christ the King to begin the conversation about adult faith formation. I chose to do so by focusing on the Six Dimensions (Tasks) of Catechesis as outlined in Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us: A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the United States.

To assist us in our conversation, I put together a worksheet which basically describes the six dimensions of catechesis and then asks folks participating in the conversation to respond to two questions:

  1. What is our parish doing in this area?
  2. What can/should our parish be doing in this area?

If your parish needs to get this conversation going—with the pastoral staff, the adult faith formation team, or the parish pastoral council—feel free to use this worksheet.

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About Joe Paprocki 2742 Articles
Joe Paprocki, DMin, is National Consultant for Faith Formation at Loyola Press, where, in addition to his traveling/speaking responsibilities, he works on the development team for faith formation curriculum resources including Finding God: Our Response to God’s Gifts and God’s Gift: Reconciliation and Eucharist. Joe has more than 35 years of experience in ministry and has presented keynotes, presentations, and workshops in more than 100 dioceses in North America. Joe is a frequent presenter at national conferences including the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, the Mid-Atlantic Congress, and the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership. He is the author of numerous books, including the best seller The Catechist’s Toolbox, A Church on the Move, Under the Influence of Jesus, and Called to Be Catholic—a bilingual, foundational supplemental program that helps young people know their faith and grow in their relationship with God. Joe is also the series editor for the Effective Catechetical Leader and blogs about his experiences in faith formation at www.catechistsjourney.com.

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2 Comments

  1. This is great Joe. I just took over a new position overseeing Adult Faith Formation for our Archdiocese and the worksheet you provide gives me a great place to start evaluating with my Formation Team how things are currently and where we would like to take them moving forward!

    Reply

    • Congrats on your new position, Eric, and I hope you will keep me/us informed of your progress in adult faith formation!

      Reply

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