Stories from the Field Archives - Page 30 of 61

Adult Faith Formation: Creating a “Greenhouse Effect” in the Diocese of Joliet

Recently, I had the privilege of spending a day with a 50–60 catechetical leaders in the Diocese of Joliet, IL, exploring adult faith formation. Here is the title and description of my topic: A Change of Climate: How to Create a Parish “Greenhouse Effect” that Fosters the Growth of Adult Faith Formation Adult faith formation is not accomplished via a program or an event or even a series of events. Rather, it is stimulated by […]

Growing in Wisdom: Discernment for Young People

Denise Gorss

We know little about the life of Jesus as he grew up, but the one story we have of him as an adolescent can form the basis of a session on family and mission. Using Finding God, Grade 7, Chapter 9, my group will talk about how Jesus grew in age, wisdom, and grace—and what difference it makes to the life of a contemporary junior-high student. We’ll begin by studying the story of the 12-year-old […]

More About Families Living Faith at St. Jude, New Lenox

Joe Paprocki

Last week, I told you about the innovative faith formation program, Families Living Faith, at St. Jude Parish in New Lenox, IL. Today, I’d like to provide a few more details, background, and observations about this unique approach that takes seriously the role of parents as their child’s first catechist. “Getting there” was not easy and required a great deal of planning. listening, and trial and error over a number of years. The parish first attempted to move […]

Reaching Parents on the Margins of Parish Life

Julianne Stanz

A catechist friend of mine recently commented that there was a general attitude among parents. She called it the “drag-drive-drop” mentality: parents dragged their children into the car, drove them to the faith formation center, and dropped them off at class! While not true in every parish, the question of how we reach parents who are disengaged or disinterested in their children’s faith formation is becoming an increasingly difficult task for us all. There are […]

Parents Come First at St. Jude in New Lenox, IL

Joe Paprocki

I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with the faith formation staff at St. Jude Parish in New Lenox, IL, to get some insights into their Families Living Faith program: an approach to faith formation that takes seriously the Church’s call to make adult catechesis primary. The St. Jude faith formation program has about 1200 children. In their Families Living Faith program, children in grades 1–6 and their families come together for an […]

Adaptive Finding God Is Here

Joe Paprocki

Parents of children with special needs desire with all their hearts to help their children enter fully into the faith experience, prepare for the sacraments, and live their lives as participating members of the Catholic Church. Loyola Press is proud to help make this a reality by providing the Adaptive Finding God Program! Adaptive Finding God (grades 1-8) is the foremost program of its kind, offering faith formation for children with special needs, and is […]

Themes for the Classroom

Barb Gilman

With each new class of students I teach, I always have the same classroom theme. Having a theme has been a worthwhile and unifying activity. I have adapted this theme from a speech given by Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ, in 1973. Fr. Arrupe’s speech was called Men for Others. Our theme is Third Graders for Others. My class works to help others in our world, community, classroom, and home. We have many opportunities to practice this theme. […]

What Can We Do? Action Steps for Moments of Return

Becky Eldredge

Moments of return for Catholic young adults are moments that hold the potential for evangelization and outreach. Below are practical strategies for strengthening important moments in young adults’ lives. Welcome and Celebrate Young Adults From the minute a young adult stands in front of us at our parishes we should be celebrating the fact that she is there. After watching numerous friends get married, baptize their children, and begin religious education of those children, I […]

We’re Doing This Apprenticeship Thing All Wrong!

Joe Paprocki

One of the most exciting and challenging ideas that the General Directory for Catechesis brought us is the concept of apprenticeship. This comprehensive formation includes more than instruction: it is an apprenticeship of the entire Christian life. (67) The whole idea, of course, is that those seeking to enter more fully into discipleship are to be mentored into the Christian way of life. This is the basis of our Catholic practice of providing sponsors for […]

St. Faustina and other saints in the classroom

Holy Patrons for the New Year

Barb Gilman

A few years back, I read about a tradition that St. Faustina had with the sisters of her convent. On New Year’s Day, they would gather to pick a holy patron for the new year. Here is an excerpt from her diary, Divine Mercy in My Soul. There is a custom among us of drawing by lot, on New Year’s Day, special Patrons for ourselves for the whole year. In the morning, during meditation, there […]