Adult Faith Formation Does Not Take Off for the Summer

barbeque

Summer provides us with the perfect time to forge ahead with plans for more robust adult faith formation in the year ahead. At Christ the King Parish, my home parish, we are taking advantage of the summer to lay the foundations for our best year ever in adult faith formation.

Building on the success of our small faith groups during Lent, we are now inviting a number of parishioners to consider/discern serving on an adult faith formation team to oversee and animate ongoing efforts. We are inviting 20–30 parishioners to a July BBQ to learn more about our plans for an adult faith formation team. The evening will be informal, and attending does not equal a commitment. Rather, we will enjoy one another’s company, have some good food, enjoy the summer weather, have a conversation about adult faith formation, lay out expectations, and invite people to discern. The team will then begin meeting in August to lay out plans for another four-week session of small faith groups in October, focusing on mercy as we near the end of the Year of Mercy.

Meanwhile, the entire parish staff, along with me and the parishioner heading up the AFF team, will spend a day away in August identifying goals for adult faith formation following the six tasks of catechesis. We hope to come up with a list of adult faith formation possibilities to provide the AFF team, whose job it will be to prioritize and shape these into actual opportunities for the parish in the coming year.

We pray that our efforts continue to bear fruit! I’ll let you know what kind of a response we get for our discernment BBQ.

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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