"We, as the Catholic Bishops of the United States , call the Church in our country to a renewed commitment to adult faith formation, positioning it at the heart of our catechetical vision and practice."

"Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us"
A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the United States
National Conference of Catholic Bishops, November 17, 1999.

Our Mission

The Adult Faith Formation Team is dedicated to the vision and practice of lifelong learning in faith. This is in accordance with the Church’s call to give primacy within the catechetical and religious education ministry to the faith formation of adults. The team’s primary focus will be to develop educational and spiritual programs that respond to the needs and concerns of the adult members of our parish community. The team seeks always to be open to growth and to new possibilities that provide a suitable environment for adult learning.

Goals for Adult Faith Formation

• To enable adults to connect their own faith stories with our Story in Scripture and Tradition in order to grow in their relationship with God
• To enable adults to connect their own faith stories with the faith stories of others in order to build a community grounded in Faith
• To enable single, married and divorced parents to recognize and celebrate their role as primary educators in Faith for their children
• To provide non-Catholic adults and non-practicing Catholic adults experiences and catechesis to connect with the Roman Catholic tradition.

Adult Faith Formation is at the heart of our catechetical vision and practice. It is situated not at the periphery of the Church's educational mission, but at its center. (Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us: A Pastoral Plan For Adult Faith Formation. In The United States- (UCCB)). It is the central task and chief form of all catechesis, and the axis around which revolves the catechesis of childhood, adolescence as well as that of old age. It is essential to who we are and what we do as Church.

The Parish Adult Faith Formation cultivates and nurtures a variety of spiritual development attitudes, relationships and opportunities to involve adults in the life of Christ. These aim to bring adults to Christian maturity and collaboration in the mission of the Church to transform the world in communion with the Lord.

What is the Parish doing for adult faith formation? Considering catechesis beyond the instructional model we have at least a dozen catechetical opportunities:

• Reflection, Prayer and Study of scriptures
• Study of the Catholic Catechism
• Prayer experiences and retreats
• Scripture study (solitary or in a group)
• Sunday liturgy
• Ministry workshops
• Christian fellowship groups
• Service opportunities
• Small faith communities
• Intergenerational/family catechesis
• Print or video/DVD libraries
• Take-home catechesis (monthly inserts like Catholic Update, bulletins, family pages, etc.)
• RCIA
• Lecture series, such as those presented by the Parochial Minister
• Hosting the School of Faith
• Other Parish and Diocese education opportuniuties

We can easily add to the list by thinking about the ministries of our Parish. The point is, the Parish needs to identify, publicize and celebrate what is already being done in adult catechesis. And then we need to do more deliberate planning to use all available opportunities and expand them in the future.