Michael and Ursula Calin and their daughters visit the registration table for religious education programming Sept. 13 at St. Ambrose Parish in Grosse Pointe Park. St. Ambrose is on eof a growing number of archdiocesan parishes that offer catechism programs for the whole family.Larry Peplin | Special to The Michigan Catholic
Metro Detroit — Catechism: It’s not just for kids anymore.
As parishes around the country celebrate Catechetical Sunday this weekend and prepare for Pope Francis’ visit to the World Meeting of Families, a growing trend is emerging as parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Detroit kick off catechesis programs that emphasize faith-building not just for youngsters, but for the whole family.
Traditionally, children in religious education programs attend weekly classes throughout the school year with their peers and a catechist. Now, many parishes also offer programs that allow parents — and sometimes the whole family — to be part of the learning process.
At St. Ambrose Parish in Grosse Pointe Park, religious education classes are held on Sunday mornings for children in preschool through ninth grade. Regularly, parents meet at the same time for their own faith discussions on varied topics.
“For the parents, sometimes we use current events as a jumping off point and we’ll bring in a speaker to talk with us about the issue,” said Betty Haley, director of religious education at St. Ambrose. “Other times we’ll work through a pope’s encyclical so we can all understand it together.”
The program is offered between the parish’s two Sunday Masses, allowing families to attend Mass together before or after the program.
“Sunday is the Lord’s Day,” Haley said. “It’s fitting that the families come together not only to worship, but also to learn together.”
Sacramental preparation at St. Ambrose is entirely family-based: reconciliation, first Communion and confirmation candidates and their parents delve into the sacrament together.
“What we see happening is that parents start to reignite their own faith and their own love for the sacrament,” Haley said. “Therefore, when the child receives the Eucharist for the first time or gets confirmed, it’s truly a celebration for the whole family.”
St. Ambrose parishioner Elizabeth Puleo-Tague has three children in the religious education program and is also a catechist. She believes the family-based religious education program at her parish is a good model for faith formation.
“It’s a cooperative learning environment where we all grow together as apostles of Christ,” she said. “When we learn together as a church community, and then talk about it as a family at home, there’s excitement in it.”
Puleo-Tague believes the program strengthens the family unit.
“At the end of the day, it’s not so much what we say to our kids, but what we do,” she said. “Today everyone is so busy, and families are not practicing their faith together anymore. The way we do things at St. Ambrose brings us back together. It’s true that the family that prays together, stays together.”
Elizabeth Puleo-Tague and her children talk with St. Ambrose director of religious education Betty Haley at a religious education kick-off Sept. 13.Larry Peplin | Special to The Michigan Catholic
At Our Lady of Refuge Parish in Orchard Lake, families may choose a Monday evening religious education program for their children or a monthly Saturday family program. Those who choose the family-based option meet on Saturday afternoon for faith formation, ending with Mass.
Maureen Seifert attends the Saturday program with her seventh-grade daughter.
“Families that choose it really love it,” Seifert said. “You feel more connected to your kids by learning together and then doing homework together between sessions. Even during the weeks we didn’t have class, my daughter would still ask questions and be thinking about what we learned.”
Some religious education programs are open not only to families with school-age children, but to everyone in the parish. Prince of Peace Parish in West Bloomfield uses the “Growing in Faith Together” (GIFT) program, which meets three to four Saturdays per school year. Parishioners without children are invited to attend, as well families with young children ages 3 and under who need babysitting during the program. Each GIFT session begins with a meal, followed by break-out sessions for individual age groups to discuss a central theme. Families then come together for more learning, sometimes with a speaker or a video that applies to the lesson.
Melissa Botsford has an eighth-grade son in the program and has been a catechist for six years.
“It’s a really dynamic program and people respond to it,” Botsford said. “I notice that parents feel a sense of involvement with their children’s faith formation. GIFT also develops deeper relationships within the parish, too, because families get to know each other.”
Sr. Kathleen Matz, CDP, associate director of evangelization and catechesis for the Archdiocese of Detroit, said family is the center of the Church.
“The mission of our Office of Evangelization and Catechesis is to evangelize and catechize others so that they may become strong disciples and powerful witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” Sr. Matz said. “It is key to know the person of Jesus Christ. The family, or the domestic Church, is the best place for this relationship to happen and to grow.”
