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Specific
suggestions for using Growing
Faith
with
parents who have children in catechesis....
This
group in the parish may be the most fertile group in which to use Growing
Faith. They are at that time of their lives where they
want to pass their faith on to their children.
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For
this reason, they enroll their kids in religious education classes
or in the parish school.
But
remember, nearly half of parents with children of this age do not
participate very fully in the life of the parish. The reasons for
this vary from household to household.
What
this group is experiencing in their faith
-
For
some, they are active in the parish and excited about their faith.
They may have made a recent retreat or encountered Christ on a deep
level.
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For
some, their faith has simply gone cold during their young adult
years. They know it’s important but they haven’t been part of
religious formation for many years. They feel unsure and possibly,
unwelcome.
-
For
others, they are living in a marriage situation which the church
does not condone or that they believe the church does not condone:
remarriage without annulment, in a same-gender union, with a partner
but without marriage, as a single parent, in a household where more
than one religious faith is present, in the aftermath of abortion,
in the aftermath of divorce even if no second marriage occurred, or
others.
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For
all of them, they attach some level of value to religion and
religious upbringing. That’s why they have enrolled their children
in the school or catechesis process in the parish.
The
Gathering
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The
best way to invite these households into growing their faith is to
invite them to “sponsor” their own child for catechesis, even if
only one parent is Catholic.
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You
can organize assemblies or gatherings (see the Handbook for Success in Whole Community
Catechesis for
more on this). Growing Faith is designed for use in such public settings
and creates an enjoyable and entertaining way to explore faith.
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Each
booklet comes with a 12 slide PowerPoint presentation to aid in
large group use and a complete session plan, which is presented in
Part Three of this Guide.
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But
we must also be open to and supportive of parents and guardians who
wish to use Growing Faith privately at home.
The
Welcome
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For
all the reasons mentioned above, let your welcome be large and
genuine for these parents and guardians. Invite grandparents and
other family members to be part of the process as well.
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If
we wish to see folks clear up their relationship with the church,
the best way to get them started on that journey is this one.
The
Process
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If
you are gathering for intergenerational assemblies, the session
plans for each Growing Faith booklet will work perfectly. They can be
found in Part Three of the Facilitator’s
Guide
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If
you are gathering parents separately from children during regular
catechesis sessions, again those session plans will serve you well.
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The
best way for parents to learn is to study what their children are
studying. Growing Faith is designed for this. When the children are
studying Creation and Revelation, for example, the parents should be
too.
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In
some settings, this will mean one Growing
Faith booklet for each lesson in the children’s book. For
others, it may mean following one of the Growing Faith courses suggested in this material.
Afterward
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We
know that if a child learns his or her “religion lesson”
perfectly in the school or parish religious education class, but
goes home to a place where the faith is not cherished or understood,
that child’s faith will not grow to maturity.
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For
this reason, bringing parents and guardians into the learning circle
as a child grows is not optional. It is essential.
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Urge
parents and guardians to take home the Growing Faith booklets. Urge them to read and re-read them. You may wish to give
them copies of the index presented at the back of the Facilitator’s
Guide. Along with their Bible, Growing Faith should
occupy a central place in their homes.
back
to list of groups
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