There are many different ways to begin incorporating the whole community vision into your parish. Below are some practical suggestions that might be considered when implementing this vision.
Faith Sharing | Households of Faith |
Gatherings
Service and Outreach
Question of the Week
An excellent way to introduce or further the process of faith sharing in your parish is through the use of a Question of the Week. This is a faith-sharing question that is developed using the Lectionary readings for the Sunday liturgy and offered as a reflection for all the generations in the parish community.Faith Sharing Interest Groups
- Introduce the Question of the Week as a reflection at the end of the homily.
- Insert the question into the parish bulletin in order that it might be utilized in all the households of the parish.
- Begin all meetings by using this question. It can also be used for weekly reflection in religious education, youth ministry, and school settings.
- Consider developing the question for two different age levels, one for the youth and adults and one for children.
In addition to the faith sharing that can happen during catechetical sessions, meetings, and ministry gatherings, some parishes are forming faith-sharing groups based on interests.
- Gather people according to interests such as biking, movies, book reading, volleyball, and so on.
- Encourage these groups to begin each gathering with a simple faith sharing process—perhaps utilizing the Question of the Week.
Household Meetings
A simple way a parish can move toward the Whole Community Catechesis vision is by occasionally changing parent meetings to family or household meetings.Workshops
- Invite children, siblings, grandparents, and anyone from the parish who is interested.
- Develop opportunities for those gathered to discuss and share their faith together. Avoid making the gatherings purely informational.
- Enjoy the fact that many people leave such gatherings claiming it was the first time they had ever discussed a religious topic with their child or household and how wonderful it was to be assisted in doing that.
Many parishes are rethinking how they approach workshop and class offerings and are creating new opportunities in which they can support households of faith.
- Offer adult-centered workshops that support households by showing how faith is actively a part of everyday life.
- Consider interactive workshops such as:
- Prayer for the Busy Person
- Secrets of Christian Cooking
- The Art of Christian Discipline
- Budgeting and Socially Conscious Investing
- Include other topics that meet the needs and concerns of the households of faith in your parish.
- Infuse these engaging workshops with catechetical insights and opportunities for faith sharing.
Catechetical Assemblies
In addition to regular, age-level catechetical sessions, many parishes are experimenting with catechetical assemblies—sometimes called parish faith gatherings—in which all generations come together for a catechetical session.Retreats
- Gather participants intergenerationally around tables.
- Choose one or two "lead" or "master" catechists who have the particular gifts necessary to lead these assemblies.
- Infuse these assemblies with moments of experiential prayer and ritual, engaging catechetical talks, music, media, activities, and opportunities for faith sharing.
- Decide whether you will keep everyone together or will move them into age-level groups for the catechetical part of the assembly.
Many parishes throughout the country are renewing a focus on retreats as an important avenue for building faith in the whole community.
- Offer retreats at different times and with different structures to accommodate a variety of schedules.
- Utilize a format that includes all generations together or groups them by age level for input and activity.
Thanksgiving Food Bank
Parishes throughout the country are using Thanksgiving as a time to focus on the food needs of the economically poor in the community.Sponsor a Diversity Forum
- Collect food items and distribute them to local food shelters.
- Host a Thanksgiving meal for the poor and invite them into a gym or parish hall for hot food and drink.
- Distribute clothing that has been collected from parishioners to those who attend the meal.
Most parish communities continue to become increasingly diverse. Recognizing this diversity is essential to a whole community vision.
- Celebrate the diverse gifts of your community by sponsoring a diversity forum or fair.
- Include opportunities for the diverse peoples in your community to teach, exhibit, demonstrate, and inform others about who they are.
- Consider surveying the community in order to fully understand the diversity present.
