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Whole Community and Family Catechesis

Whole Community Catechesis

Family Catechesis

Training Opportunity

Whole Community

Whole community or intergenerational catechesis is sometimes defined as follows:

"Whole community catechesis is an approach to parish or school religious education through which youth and adults as well as children are invited to participate in faith formation programs throughout the year. The entire community thus becomes the focus of all we do in catechesis.

In whole community catechesis, what happens in the Sunday Assembly for Mass is tightly connected to what happens in the religious education classroom. The liturgy of the Word from Sunday is the starting point. Catechesis or religious instruction must flow from that Word and each student is invited to “break open the Word,” to share their faith about what they believe.

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Also in whole community catechesis, parents play a vital role alongside all the other members of the community. Catechesis is not just for children! It’s for everyone. Every Catholic is invited to know and love the church, to walk with Christ in his or her daily life, and to gather faithfully together on Sunday for the parish Mass.

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Added to that, whole community catechesis places great emphasis on developing households of faith. It’s certainly true for a child, but it’s also true for everyone, that no matter how effective our experience of faith might be at the parish, what really counts is how we live that in our every day lives at home! If our homes are not places where the faith is shared and lived, then the work of catechesis is like sowing seed on rocky ground." 

This definition comes from Harcourt Religion Publishers and you can find out more about whole community by accessing their web site. 

Other websites that offer resources on Whole Community or Intergenerational Catechesis:

1. RCL/ Benziger

2. Center for Ministry Development - Generations of Faith.  Generations of Faith is an innovative approach to parish faith formation that involves all generations in learning and growing together through their experience and participation in church life. Funded through a grant from the Lilly Endowment, the Generations of Faith Project helps parishes develop lifelong, intergenerational, Church-based faith formation that is focused on the educative power of the church community: the feasts and seasons of the Church Year, sacraments and liturgy, prayer and spirituality, justice and service, proclamation of the Word, and community life. The Generations of Faith approach promotes participation of all ages and generations in the shared experiences of church life (events) as a focus for learning. The Generations approach utilizes a catechetical process of preparing all ages and all generations for meaningful participation in church events through a variety of learning programs, engaging them in church events, and guiding them in reflecting and applying the significance and meaning of the events for their lives as Catholics. The Generations approach weaves home and parish in a comprehensive model of faith formation for all ages and generations.

3. Sadlier - We Believe Series and in Spanish, Creemos

4. Twenty-Third Publications offers many resources on Whole Community Catechesis

5. Harcourt Religion - Lifelong Catechesis

6. 7 Principles Flowing from the GDC (ppt) - based on  presentations on Whole Community Catechesis offered by Mr. Bill Huebsch in various venues.

7. Background and History of Whole Community Catechesis (ppt) by Mr. Bill Huebsch

8. Whole Community Catechesis in Plain English, Bill Huebsch

9. Handbook for Success in Whole Community Catechesis, Bill Huebsch

10. Here Comes Everybody:  Whole Community Catechesis in the Parish, Leisa Anslinger

11. Increase Our Faith: Parish Prayer Services for Whole Community Catechesis, David Haas

12. A Pastor's Guide to Whole Community Catechesis, Bill Huebsch

13. Heritage of Faith: A Framework for Whole Community Catechesis, Jo McClure Rotunno

 

Family Catechesis

Parents have the mission of educating their children to pray and discover their vocation as children of God.  (Catechism of the Catholic Church 2224 - 2226)  The effort in family catechesis is to help parents bring practical faith experiences into everyday life at home, to celebrate rituals, mark rites of passage (celebrating the arrival of a new baby or special visitors, leaving home, etc) creating prayer spaces and blessing rituals. There is an excellent article in Spirituality Today by Neil and Lynn Parent that speaks to the vocation of parents as the "first preachers of the Word" to their children.

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You can find resources for Family Catechesis from:

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1. RCL/Benziger
2. The Diocese of Pittsburgh
3. National Association of Family Life Ministers (NACFLM)
4. St. Anthony Messenger Press, American Catholic.Org
5. Getting Back to Basics: A Parish Plan for Family Catechesis, Karen L. Howard
6. Learning About the Liturgical Seasons: Catechesis for Children and Their Families, Dorothy Kosinski Carola 
7. The Big Book of Family Gatherings for Parish Faith Formation, Judy Elliott Danzer & Flechig Meyers

                                      

    

 

Training Opportunities - Summer 2008

John Roberto and Lifelong Faith Associates Present:  Living Well:  Christian Practices for Everyday Life Faith Formation in Christian Practices for Everyday Life