Whole Community Catechesis at St. Patrick Catholic Community. (The third in a
series of articles about a new approach to religious education or lifelong faith formation).
- How is this approach different from the “schoolhouse”
framework to which we are accustomed?
- Well, first of all, for us Catholics, nothing can happen in the
Church that doesn’t have its origin in the Sunday Mass.
For us, the liturgy is the “source and summit” of
our faith. It’s what makes us truly Catholic. So we
must say that a real connection to the Sunday
liturgy is missing in most parish religious
education programs that operate on the school
model.
- How does Generations of Faith meet the criteria of
whole community catechesis?
- Generations of Faith approach to faith formation is guided by a
set of key principles and practices.
- Event-Centered.
Lifelong faith formation for all ages and generations is developed around
the events of our shared life as Church: the Church year, sacraments and
liturgy, prayer and spirituality, justice and service, community life, and
proclamation of the Word.
- Lifelong and Cyclic: the curriculum is formed around the natural rhythm
and pattern of the faith community’s life as experienced throughout the
year. The events of the church life form a spiral curriculum that immerses
people more deeply each year into the faith of the Church.
- Emergent. The beliefs and practices for living as a Catholic today
emerge from the life, events, and practices of the faith community. The
beliefs and practices for living the Catholic faith are embedded in the
events of the church life. The content emerges out of the event.
- Alignment: The lifelong faith formation curriculum provides common
events and themes that are experienced and explored by all ages and all
generations in the faith community. The key in event-centered learning is
that the whole parish is focused – preparing for the same event with the
same theological focus.
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- Prepare – Engage – Reflect – Apply: The Generations of Faith
learning process prepares all ages and all generations for meaningful
participation in church events, engages all ages and generations in the
events, and assists people to reflect on the significance and meaning of
the event and apply the learning to their lives as Catholics. This is the
same process used in the RCIA.
- Home Faith Formation: Empowering and equipping individuals and families
to live their faith at home and in the world is constitutive of this
approach to faith formation. More on this next week.
Please Mark Your Calendars:
- Registration for all religious education programs, youth through adult,
begins on August 22 after all Masses, and continues through September 3.
- Orientations for Sacrament Preparation programs and School of Faith programs September 11 and 12.
- Four Parish Events to prepare for: Feast of St. Francis on October 1-4, Our Lady of Guadalupe on
December 3, 4, & 12, Lenten Seder Meal February 26 & March 5, Pentecost, Trinity Sunday, Corpus
Christi preparation May 6 and 7.
- Scripture Study begins the week of September 12.
- Family Festivals on Sundays after the 9:00 AM Mass September 26, October 24, November 21, January 30,
February 27 & April 24.
- RCIA, Re-Membering Church and Children’s Catechumenate Tuesday evenings beginning
September 14.
For further information about the many faith formation preparation programs under the
umbrella of Whole Community Catechesis contact Jackie Mallory at (813) 839-5337 Ext. 131, email
jmallory@stpatricktampa.org,
or Kerry Mayo at Ext. 143,
kmayo@stpatricktampa.org.
Check the Calendar on the Religious Education page for dates and times of the Religious
Education Programs. |
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