Offering Parents a Little HELP

A Well-Built Faith by Joe Paprocki

Recently, the National Community of Catechetical Leaders (NCCL) conducted a survey of more than 300 parish catechetical leaders, asking them to identify the most critical issues in catechesis today. At the top of the survey was “Parent Education and Formation.” Simply put, catechists and catechetical leaders recognize that, if we want to form children in faith, we need also to form their parents!

Of course, this begs the question, “What resource(s) can we use to provide formation for parents?” One popular resource used by many parishes for formation of parents is my book, A Well-Built Faith: A Catholic’s Guide to Knowing and Sharing What We Believe, which guides readers through the four pillars of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: Creed, Sacraments, Morality, and Prayer. A Well-Built Faith has available a free Leader Guide that provides 20 easy-to-use faith formation sessions for adults! (Click on Extras on the Loyola Press Store page for this book to find the guide.)

The first session shows how we can offer parents a little H.E.L.P. when it comes to understanding their faith. These four pillars provide us with all of the H.E.L.P. that we need:

H = We Hold on to our faith, which is summarized in the Creed.
E = We Express our faith in the liturgy and sacraments of the Church.
L = We Live our faith according to Catholic morality.
P = We Pray our faith by maintaining a healthy prayer life.

Each session provides a step-by-step outline for engaging parents, whether in-person, virtually, or hybrid. When purchasing 15 or more copies of A Well-Built Faith, pay only $6 per copy!

Let’s do our best to offer parents a little H.E.L.P. when it comes to learning their faith.

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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