I had the pleasure of chatting with a co-worker here at Loyola Press, Julie Berggren, about her role as a Minister of Care at her parish, St. Francis Xavier in Wilmette, and the ongoing formation that the ministers of care are involved in there. First a little background: SFX Parish has between 80-100 Ministers of Care who visit and bring Holy Communion to the sick and homebound, in hospitals and in homes and nursing homes. […]
I met this morning with Maryellen, the staff liason for Adult Faith Formation at St. Barnabas, for our first meeting to begin laying out a vision for what we hope to accomplish in AFF this year. We both agreed that the place to begin is NOT with a program but with a VISION and a PLAN! With that in mind, we are looking to meet with the Faith Formation Commission of the Parish Pastoral Council […]
Today I had the pleasure of meeting with the staff at St. Barnabas Parish in Chicago where I will be assisting in adult faith formation! They were very warm and welcoming and we enjoyed spending about an hour together during which time I introduced myself to them and articulated my goals for working with them on adult catechesis and reporting on my blog. We then engaged in some give and take as they asked some […]
I had a wonderful experience this past weekend with many good folks from the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey! On Friday, I enjoyed lunch with the staff of the diocesan catechetical office, Fr. Douglas Freer (Vicar for Catholic Education, Director of the Ministry of Catechesis and Evangelization), Jill Kerekes (Associate Director for Parish and School Catechesis), and Matthew Poole (Coordinator for Adult Faith Formation and New Evangelization). It was great to take the time to […]
I recently received this comment from Jared Anderson about something creative and outstanding he is doing with his Confirmation program: The way that we incorporate Mission into our Confirmation program is that I require the candidates to do 4 month long Apprenticeships in an already existing Parish Ministry. There are 12 ministries (including myself as Director of Confirmation and Youth Ministries) that provide an adult mentor to provide ministry-specific formation and opportunities to get their […]
Memorial Day, of course, signals the official start of summer. As we look forward to the coming summer months, we find that we have many plans: trips, to-do lists, a little down-time. I suggest you grow that list to include some ideas for what you plan to do to enhance your spiritual life, advance your ministry, and grow closer to God. Tell us what you plan to do this summer to renew your faith!
In ministerial circles, it is not uncommon to hear the phrase “Faith is caught, not taught.”The point of the phrase is that faith is something that involves more than just transmitting information. With that in mind, it might be helpful to know just what makes a message go “viral” – what makes a message “contagious.” Seeking answers, I recently read a very good book: Contagious: Why Things Catch On by Jonah Berger (Simon & Schuster) […]
When I was a mere “babe” in the catechetical ministry (early 1980s), I was introduced to the notion of the catechetical process. At the time, those 2 words could not be spoken without also mentioning the name of Dr. Thomas Groome and his groundbreaking work, Christian Religious Education: Sharing Our Story and Vision . At the heart of Groome’s approach is an unmistakable connection between lived experience and the faith Tradition of the Catholic Church. […]
I had a great time at the MAC (Mid Atlantic Congress) conference in Baltimore this past week and enjoyed numerous opportunities to meet and talk to so many wonderful people. Thanks to all the people who worked so hard to make this conference such a success, especially the Association of Catholic Publishers. For me, the highlights were: getting a chance to listen to Fr. Jim Martin, SJ, once again and to chat with him […]
Last week, I posted a link to my recently published article, 7 Steps to a More Robust Liturgy, in Ministry and Liturgy Magazine. I received an excellent response from Jeffrey Pinyan, author of Praying the Mass. The reason I consider it excellent is not because he agrees with everything I said (in fact, he disagrees with me on a variety of points) but because he furthers the discussion, contributes to it with well-thought-out ideas, and […]
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