News

Faith education spreading across generations

GOOD NEWS: Dan Sacotte plays Constantine proclaiming Christianity as the new religion during discussions of changes in the Mass at St. Mary of the Angels Parish intergenerational religious education program. (Rick Evans photo)

By Joanne Flemming
Compass Correspondent

When was the last time you, as an adult, learned something about your Catholic faith? Was it from last Sunday's homily? Or from an adult Bible study at your parish?

Or did your religious education end with the last CCD class you attended as a high school senior?

Because in many cases that last question can be answered "yes," parishes across the Green Bay Diocese are recognizing that a person's faith education needs to be a lifelong process, said Andrea Sabor, diocesan consultant for religious education in kindergarten through sixth grade.

To aid this process, parishes are using or beginning to use "an intergenerational approach" to religious education involving everyone in the parish, from pre-schoolers to grandparents, she said.

This approach has several names: "life-long learning," "whole community catechesis" or "whole parish catechesis."

About 20 parishes in the diocese are using a model called Generations of Faith developed by John Roberto for the Center for Ministry Development, Sabor said, and other parishes have their own approaches to intergenerational learning.

St. Mary of the Angels Parish in Green Bay has had an intergenerational program for 13 years. St. Patrick Parish in Menasha and St. Thomas More Parish in Appleton are among those beginning it this year.

Sabor said this approach follows the liturgical rather than the school year and is tied to special events in the parish planned as a team by parish staff. Each may consist of an optional meal followed by a large group gathering. After the gathering, the participants attend breakout sessions by age groups: young children with parents, teens, youth, adults. The event concludes with a second large gathering - Mass, a prayer service, or just a time to share what was learned in the small groups.

Participants also take home materials, such as articles for further reading and discussion or objects made during the breakouts, such as Advent wreathes so they can remember what they learned and connect it to their daily lives, she said.

Here's a look at what's happening in some of the parishes:

St. Mary of the Angels - Mary Sedlacek, religious education coordinator, said the parish intergenerational program grew out of the Family Nights held four times a year before 1990. Parents attended these sessions with their children, then began asking why all religious education classes couldn't be like those nights.

As a result, the parish moved "to faith formation where parents are the main contributors to a child's faith," Sedlacek said.

Children and adults meet weekly in hour-long sessions for 25 weeks. Each session opens with prayer, the gospel for the coming Sunday and the main lesson. Then they break into groups of 4-5 families for activities. The hour closes with a return to the large group.

Families who wanted to continue with a traditional religious education program were given the option of attending those at Ss. Peter and Paul Parish. People from Ss. Peter and Paul were invited to participate in St. Mary of the Angels' new program.

St. Mary, De Pere, and St. Paul, Wrightstown - Marge Frase, St. Paul's religious education director, worked with the intergenerational program at St. Mary, De Pere, before moving to Wrightstown.

She said Fr. Jack Harper began it six years ago. Events were held twice a month and began with a meal. Afterwards, children in grades 3-10 attended religious education classes. Adults had a speaker. A Mass ended the evening.

On alternate weeks, activities, such as hayrides or bowling, were held for the different grades. First and second graders had religion classes on Sunday mornings.

During the first week of August, grades 3-8 attended a full week of school where they were "immersed" in studies of their faith.

Frase said St. Paul will possibly hold its first intergenerational event around Easter.

"What I see today is that families are overloaded. They are going in different directions. To do something like this keeps the family together. They're praying; they are sharing their faith together," she concluded.

St. Bernard, Appleton - Jane Angha, faith formation and youth ministry director, said St. Bernard was one of the pilot parishes nationally for Generations of Faith last year. She learned about the program as a program director for Young Neighbors in Action, which is also run by the Center for Ministry Development.

The parish will hold eight events this school year. Next year it plans to drop its traditional religious education program and "go full immersion" with Generations of Faith, she said.

St. Patrick, Menasha - Barbara Mauthe, faith formation director, said her parish has already held two intergenerational events this year and plans four more in early 2004 - at the end of February and March, the beginning of May and the end of June. It has cut back on the number of religious education classes.

St. Thomas More, Appleton - Sr. Mary Rose Menting, adult education director, said St. Thomas More began its intergenerational programming the first week of November with two evening and one Saturday morning session. Other events are planned for January and March.

The parishes listed some challenges in implementing intergenerational programs:

• Public relations. The whole parish needs to be educated about the new approach, said Frase. Angha concurred. She explained that at St. Bernard, this process started with the staff, then extended to parish committees and lastly the whole parish.

• Everyone in the parish needs to be invited to participate. Invitations can be personal or by phone, said Angha. "Don't let anyone fall through the cracks," Sedlacek pointed out.

• "When they are there, (the program) had better be worth their time, better be meaningful, and they have to have been welcomed. All these things are really crucial," Angha added.

• Timing appears to be the major issue. Because parishes recognize that adults lead busy lives, they try to design the events to accommodate busy schedules, said Sabor.

The events may be held on weekday nights or Saturday mornings. St. Bernard held their two fall events after late Sunday morning Masses because that was what parishioners preferred. In evaluations afterwards, Angha said, she found the groups with the highest participation were young families and senior citizens.

St. Patrick held theirs late Sunday afternoon. "It was hard to decide where to put them so they would work for families and other people in the community," Mauthe said.

When a meal is included, that means there is one occasion when a parent doesn't have to cook, Sabor said. Frase said children told her these meals were often the only time in a week when they ate with their parents. Parishes may also provide childcare.

"We really want adults to feel confident and competent as Catholic Christians," she concluded. "We need to know our faith. We also need to pass it on to other people and to be able to live our lives a little bit better because we do it."

"You never graduate from your faith," said Sedlacek. "It's a continual process."