Alaska parish rethinks, breaks faith formation mold

CatholicAnchor.org

Why do young children wait with eager anticipation for vacation Bible school, but often drag their feet when it’s time to head to faith formation class?

This was the question that Father Leo Walsh and his parish staff at St. Benedict Church in Anchorage puzzled over earlier this year.

The parish responded to that question with an innovative idea, one they hope will inspire children to love and learn more about their Catholic faith.

“We wanted to create a program where learning about the faith is a joy and not drudgery,” Father Walsh said. The hope is that youngsters won’t feel trapped in just another routine classroom setting like they experienced all week at school, he said.

To achieve its goal, the parish launched “Super Sundays,” which strives to make youth faith formation enjoyable and lively, while drawing parents out of their cars in the parking lot and into classes of their own.

Bob McMorrow, the parish’s director of evangelization and catechesis, said that he knows from his own large family that kids sometimes balk at going to religion class. Being a dad, he had a few ideas about how to change attitudes.

First, classes begin on Sunday afternoon in the nearby Lumen Christi High School gymnasium where kids can arrive early to play in a bounce house. Then, a light show and video create a festive atmosphere. The creative use of technology, videos and prizes is all part of creating an inviting event.

“We asked, ‘what works in kid culture?’” McMorrow told the Catholic Anchor. “We’ve all been to places like Chuck E. Cheese where kids get tickets and are thrilled to trade them in for trinkets.”

At St. Benedict’s, kids are getting tickets too, for learning prayers and other achievements, and when they accumulate enough, they can trade them in for items like Catholic videos, rosaries, books, or prayer cards.

McMorrow said St. Benedict’s staff also realized that the church at large does a poor job of forming parents in their faith. How to offer something that would bring them into class during their kids’ faith formation time?

Although the parish has long offered adult catechesis, it seemed like the Sunday afternoon faith formation time was optimal for encouraging attendance.

“Whenever we call someone to ministry, it’s incumbent on us to give people the skills to do the ministry effectively,” Father Walsh said. “When a couple brings a child to baptism, they’re accepting the responsibility to raise that child in the church. We’ve just called them to ministry as the first catechists of that child, and we need to give them the skills to be that.”

The first half hour of Sunday faith formation is catechesis for the whole family — children and parents. Then, everyone breaks into separate classes, parents included.

Dr. Bob Schihl, who leads the parish’s adult faith formation, is part of a three-person team that offers adult classes in six-week increments.

One of Schihl’s classes, for example, is “Everything you’ve wanted to know about Mary, but were afraid to ask,” and explains the church’s dogmas that pertain to the Virgin Mary. Ed Wassell offers classes on apologetics, “Defending the Church Catechesis,” and Julie Kentch presents a series on saints called “Meet the Family: Saints in the Catholic tradition.”

Parents are not required to attend, and are free to switch classes and come when they can. But Schihl said they’ve been pleased to have an average of 45 parents attending the Sunday afternoon sessions. And prizes aren’t confined to kids — there are door prizes offered to parents attending as well, including items like a $10 coupon for an ice cream shop.

Another area the parish saw as needing improvement was the training of catechists.

As a result, St. Benedict’s is developing a certification program of its own for catechists. Beginning with the safe environment training, classroom management classes and theology, the program utilizes national and local speakers when available, and issues credits for ongoing education.

“I tell catechists, I’ve been teaching church history for years,” McMorrow said. “But if I’m not continually reading, learning new things and enriching my knowledge, I’m not as effective a teacher as I could be.”

Father Walsh said part of Super Sundays’ success stems from a parish-wide survey done last year focusing on what families wanted from catechesis. Beyond Super Sundays, he said, the parish offers other opportunities for growth in community, including an upcoming parish mission, parish pilgrimages like the one planned next year to Rome and Assisi, and frequent guest speakers.