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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2008 /  Adult faith formation opportunities surround us

by Sr. Janet Schaeffler, Special to The Michigan Catholic
Published June 6, 2008

Ideas and possibilities for adult faith formation abound in various ways at our parish sites, in neighborhood homes, in places of work. Which of these do you have time to try?

 As people ask for a time to share faith and continue to grow in their awareness of our Catholic heritage, invite them to form a group that meets once a week, gathering for coffee and a social. As they begin then with prayer, use the Scripture readings of the day from the Lectionary, reflecting on them and offering their prayers, their general intercessions. They then discuss the life of the person whose biography begins each chapter of the "United States Catholic Catechism for Adults" (they would read the chapter before gathering). As they reflect on the person's story, the Church's story, and their story, some of the questions that could guide their discussion might be:

Where do you think the challenges are in the person's life, and how do those challenges compare/relate to the challenges in your life?

How did the person respond? Does that give you any ideas, suggestions for the responses you make in your life?

What questions, feelings, thoughts do you have after reading this chapter about our faith?

  Gather a group of people to meet over lunch once a month, creating a space where, through discussion, they can become more aware of global realities, realities that will touch our futures, those of our children, our planet, and all people. The resource to use: "50 Facts that Should Change the World 2.0" (November 2007 edition) by Jessica Williams. This simple but powerful book is a compilation of fifty facts about that state of the world today. Sources are provided for each fact, which is followed by a short essay that fills in details. Though some of the facts are funny, most are shocking, and all could be the basis for discussion.

 Once a year Conversation Café and GlobalMindShift join together to sponsor Conversation Week throughout the world. We know that "adults learn best through conversations about things that matter" (Jane Regan in "Toward an Adult Church: A Vision of Faith Formation"). Use/adopt these ideas in your adult faith formation programming by: planning to take part in next year's world-wide Conversation Week; be sure that each of your adult gatherings has time for a "Conversation Café"; plan your own Conversation Cafés around significant questions for your faith community.

A few of the many questions suggested for the 2007 Conversation Week:

What we can do to reduce or eliminate violence in the world?

How can intangibles like values and beliefs tangibly contribute to solving the problems of our times?

What makes life meaningful?

What will it take to achieve world peace? Not just end war, but wage peace? What would a peace army look like, and what would it do?

How do we shift from "me" to "we" on both the local and global levels?

What do you stand for, truly stand for?

What helps you have energy and hope in these times?

If indeed most of us want peace, why don't we have it?

 Scripture Alive All Week Long. Many parishes use the Adult Faith Formation Question of the Week  in which all households, all groups meeting at the parish during the week reflect/discuss the same question flowing from Sunday's Scripture readings. Another method to stay focused on the Scripture readings is to suggest a different question for each day of the week. These questions could be based on the Scriptures just heard or on the readings for the up-coming Sunday, enabling people to begin preparing themselves to hear the Word proclaimed. Prepare a handout with the reading broken into seven segments, followed by a reflection question, bringing it into focus for today's life. As you begin this process, it might be best to have this on a Prayer Reflection Sheet and personally hand it to each parishioner. After people have become familiar with it, it could be in the bulletin, in a very prominent place. (These reflection sheets might provide the opportunity for some people to come together and pray with the Scriptures once a week, reflecting on what the readings mean in their lives.)

Sr. Janet Schaeffler, OP, is the archdiocesan associate director for adult faith formation for the Office for Faith Formation/Catechetics.