Faith Formation at Holy Spirit Catholic Church is Whole Community Catechesis We call it - ECHO - Enriching Church and Home Opportunities (for faith)   ECHO is an umbrella term for our parish whole community catechesis faith endeavor.  Its mission is Enriching Church and Home Opportunities (ECHO) for the life long faith formation by connecting faith with real life…and that means there is something for everyone!  The General Directory for Catechesis (#’s 85 & 86) tells us that catechesis is: Promoting knowledge of the faith, which is what we call religious education; liturgical education, leading a true liturgical life; moral formation, learning the Way based on conversion to Jesus Christ; teaching to pray, which requires apprenticeship; education for community life, including the ecumenical dimension development of households of faith; preparation to work in the vineyard as an active minister in an interfaith setting.

Each of us is called to this multi-faceted life-long faith formation.  Challenging, isn’t it?  How can you and your household grow in faith this year?  The goal of whole community catechesis is to have all ages engaged in some type of formational learning about their faith.  (All Children Pre-K – Grade 6 should be enrolled in religious formation/education at either St. Joseph School or with ECHO.)  Participate in one or all of the ECHO events offered!  Within ECHO there are opportunities for all ages:

 

ECHO ASSEMBLIES

• Event-centered intergenerational occasion that includes a meal and a catechetical component.  Great food, fine fellowship and lots of fun!  Ideally, all parishioners should attend ECHO Assemblies.  There are 6 ECHO Assemblies per year.

 

ECHO CENTERS

• Conveniently scheduled walk-through displays that focus on a specific catechetical topic.  Appropriate for all ages, Very informative!  Displayed after weekend Masses as scheduled.

 

ECHO STATIONS

• Age appropriate classroom sessions for primary grades 1-6 held between Masses on the third and fourth weekends of the month, as scheduled.  Children preparing for Sacraments are required to be enrolled in ECHO High and Senior High ministries are also available.  Be certain to pass on the faith!

 

ECHO ACTIVITIES

• Resources available to reinforce catechetical themes in your household of faith (the DOMESTIC CHURCH.)   Watch for the new ECHO calendar for 2012-13 dates.

 

The ECHO Steering Committee:

…Is an appointed committee dedicated to implementing and sustaining whole community catechesis in the parish in accordance with our parish mission statement:

We are a welcoming community

Called to live our faith by

Celebrating sacraments and prayers,

Proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ,

Seeding life-long faith formation,

Sharing our time, talents, and treasures, and

Reaching in compassionate service to others.

 

Please pray for members of the ECHO Steering Committee, that they might provide quality educational and formational experiences that are enlightening, meaningful and relevant to our parishioners:

Members: Anna Alexander, Lou Anderson, Diane Ewan, Ginny French, Nancy Irons, Dana and Mark Love, David and Lori Lewis, Doug Neiman, Gerry Otto, Sylvia Risher, Karen Scipioni, Sherry Vincent, Martha Winn, Lourdes Zeron

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Q.   WHERE DID THE IDEA FOR WHOLE COMMUNITY CATECHESIS COME FROM?

The whole movement toward an approach to catechesis, which involves the entire parish community, community, comes from four main sources.  First, catechetical leaders in the church have given careful consideration to the way Jesus taught, as the General Directory for Catechesis (GDC) suggests.  Second, catechetical leaders have all reflected seriously on the teachings of Vatican II for more than forty years. Third, the direction provided by the GDC itself has been nothing other than revolutionary. And fourth, there is an emerging consensus in the catechetical community that the present way in which we do our ministry, in what’s know as the “schoolhouse” framework, just isn’t working as well as we’d like it to.

 

Faith must be lived in everyday life. It must be part and parcel of people’s decisions, their hopes and dreams, their business and political activity, their contribution to the materially poor, their family life and their supper table.  The goal of whole community catechesis is focused at the point where people actually live their lives.  It seeks to deepen and enrich people’s faith so that the church is wherever they are.  The church is, indeed, the people of God living in their own homes and neighborhoods, attending their workplaces and schools, engaging in commerce in shopping malls, downtown, and corner stores, gathering in bars, clubs restaurants, and fast food joints.  The challenge is to live your life while living your faith.

COPY PERMISSION GRANTED Copyright 2004.  All rights reserved.   Twenty-Third Publications,

800-321-0411

 

Q.   WHAT IS WHOLE COMMUNITY CATECHESIS?

Whole community catechesis is an approach to parish religious education through which youth and adults as well as children are invited to participate in faith formation programs throughout the year.  The entire community thus becomes the focus of all we do in catechesis.

 

In whole community catechesis, what happens in the Sunday assembly for Mass is closely connected to religious education religious education.

           The liturgy of the Word from Sunday is the starting point.

           Catechesis or faith formation must flow from that Word

           and each learner is invited to “break open the Word,”

           to share their faith about what they believe.

Also in whole community catechesis,

          Parents play a vital role

          alongside all the other members of the community.

Catechesis is not just for children!

          It’s for everyone.

Every Catholic is invited to know and love the Church,

         To walk with Christ in his or her daily life,

         and to gather faithfully together on Sunday for the parish Mass.

 

Added to that, whole community catechesis

        Places great emphasis on developing households of faith.

It’s certainly true for a child,

        But also true for everyone,

        that no matter how effective

        our experience of faith might be at the parish level,

        what really counts is how we live that faith

        in our everyday lives at home!

If our homes are not places where the faith is shared and lived,

       Then the work of catechesis is like sowing seed on rocky ground.

COPY PERMISSION GRANTED Copyright 2004.  All rights reserved.   Twenty-Third Publications,

800-321-0411

 

Q.   WHAT IS FAITH SHARING?

Whole community catechesis is firmly based on experiential learning (learning through experiences which lead to faith sharing.)  First, there is faith sharing that flows from the Liturgy of the Word in the Sunday assembly for Mass.  That sharing is explicitly about how God’s movement in one’s life is experienced.  The second sort of faith sharing flows from another, similar inspiration; the everyday experiences of being human and knowing God.  Thinking back over the moments of your life as it unfolded in the last day or two, who or what made a difference in your life?  Does some specific action or event come to mind?  By naming these persons and events, we make ourselves ready to see God in them.  But if we ignore them and just keep rushing through life without these sacred pauses to reflect, we miss noticing God’s hand in our lives.  When persons experience faith in action through experiential learning processes, they experience the person of Jesus and sharing is an automatic response.  When this sharing occurs with others, a natural form of catechesis, or instruction in faith, occurs.

COPY PERMISSION GRANTED Copyright 2004.  All rights reserved.   Twenty-Third Publications,

800-321-0411

 

Q.   HOW DOES FAITH SHARING HAPPEN?

Bringing the whole community together for faith formation can be fun and energizing, while producing remarkable insights into and encouragement toward a lived faith.  This can be accomplished with and intergenerational catechetical gathering (a gathering of all ages where faith and religious education is shared.)  The energy of an intergenerational catechetical gathering is much like a family coming home at the end of the day to enjoy dinner together, with each person sharing parts of his or her day's experience with the others at the table.  Being together, sharing joys and challenges through the lens of faith, and growing together in discipleship builds both community and our life in Christ.  It simply wouldn't be the same without the children or the teens or the adults.  We're at our best when we're together.

 

Q.   HOW IS GOD'S GRACE RELATED TO WHOLE COMMUNITY CATECHESIS?

Grace is God's self-communication to us.  God tells us about God's self in our innermost being, revealing who we are in the same process. And helping us become all we're created to be.  This revealing God also communicates with us through the life of the Church, its ministers and leaders, its teachers and healers, its sacraments, symbols and rites.  Grace is experienced as a divine, loving energy or power.  What is truly miraculous is that grace is offered to every human being.  Grace is received and celebrated in community with each other, which is why we assemble for Eucharist, for catechesis, and for justice and peace.  We assemble in order to see more clearly, to hear better and to work harder for God's reign on earth.  Whole community catechesis is so important because God's action in our lives often goes without being acknowledged or seen or heard or felt or celebrated or understood.  Yet, God's love is present throughout the community.  Everyone needs to see this light and live by it.

 

Q.   HOW DOES FAITH SHARING CHANGE US?

A.           Whole community catechesis borrows heavily from the catechumenate, an ancient and wise method of helping folds learn what is means to follow Christ.  This does not mean that catechesis has to be an exact replica of the RCIA.  That really wouldn't be feasible since we'd have to dismiss everyone after the homily each weekend.  In breaking open the Word, those in catechesis pause to consider the readings of Scripture from the Sunday assemble.  They reread them, pray over them and share their faith about them.  By sharing their faith openly this way, they experience a turning of their hearts, a conversion to Christ.  This conversion leads to a desire to understand Christ and their faith more deeply and to allow their lives to be touched more profoundly.  This desire to understand their faith and make it part of their lives is what leads to a desire for catechesis.

 

Q.   WHO OR WHAT IS THE BASIS OF FAITH SHARING?

Whole Community Catechesis is based on how Jesus taught others and how he lived his life.  Christ himself lived and worked with his own companions.  Faith sharing marked his spiritual life.  He shared his own faith in a loving God, His own belief in forgiveness, his own trust in the divine hand, his own need for friendship assurance and a shared life.  Contrary to popular Western belief, Jesus was not a loner.  Rather, he revealed to us God who is love, love in the first person:  intimacy, companionship and community.  The "community of God" the Trinity, is the clearest revelation that we need each other.  We need companions for the journey, others whose hearts we know and whose voices we trust.

 

Q.   HOW MIGHT I BEGIN TO SHARE MY FAITH?

The question of the Week in the Sunday Bulletin is a great way for you to share your faith.  You can talk about it in the car on the way home from the Sunday assembly, at supper on Sunday evening, when you get together with friends or family for dinner, on the phone with a close friend or whenever it is best for you.  A great way to share your faith would be to start off all the Church meetings by opening with this -- reread the Sunday gospel and then do faith sharing based on the Question of the Week.  You will soon come to realize that is a very important way to exercise your faith, teach others, learn from others, and grow close to God and others that you are sharing with.  It is amazing how such a simple concept is so powerful in action!

 

Watch for information concerning Holy

Spirit's implementation of the Diocesan

Program, Arise Together with Christ…

 

Q.   WHAT IS THE GOAL OF FAITH FORMATION?

Discipleship is the goal of all faith formation.  Guided by this goal, faith formation seeks to inform, form and transform individuals, families and the entire community in the Catholic faith.  This threefold aim includes nurturing people's minds and hearts with the wisdom of the Catholic faith so that who they are and how they live are deeply influenced by what they "know" (inform), shaping people's identity and lifestyle through Christian discipleship (form), and empowering people to live their faith so that the word is transformed by the Christian vision (transform).

 

Q.   WHY ARE WE CHANGING THE LANGUAGE?  WHY CAN'T WE CONTINUE CALLING IT CCD OR RELIGIOUS ED OR RELIGION CLASS (OR FAITH FOR FORMATION?)

At Vatican II, it was important for the bishops of the world, along with the pope, to refer to the Church using new language. In order for the reform envisioned by Pope John XXIII to become a reality, we needed a new way of speaking about the Church.  So, the bishops began to refer to the Church under a new name: the people of God. They knew that if the Church was called that, soon it would become that, and they were right.  The pope and bishops knew that language affects our perception of reality and, in turn, our actions: if we call something by a new but true name it becomes that thing!

 

The same is true for whole community catechesis.  How we name what we do is very important.  We will become what we call ourselves. If we continue calling our programs schools of religion, or religious education programs, or religion class, most people will see them as mainly for children.  However if we call what we do by a new name, whole community catechesis, people will soon see it a part and parcel of being Catholic.  We don't want to put new wine into old wineskins, after all.  As Dick Reichert said in the National Conference of Catechetical Leadership (Update No. 7): "the real challenge...is to create a radical new paradigm of catechesis….It cannot simply be a process of going back to the past or making surface modifications of the present models."  In other words it isn't sufficient… to ship the furniture in our present method so classrooms look different.  We need a radical new paradigm in order to achieve the goals of the General Directory for Catechesis.

COPY PERMISSION GRANTED Copyright 2004.  All rights reserved.   Twenty-Third Publications,

800-321-0411

 

Q.   HOW DOES WHOLE COMMUNITY CATECHESIS WORK?

A congregation of learners creates a culture of learning. In such a congregation, every activity of Church life, meetings, worship, service, and community events is viewed as an opportunity for learning.  Catechesis is seamlessly integrated with liturgy, justice and service, prayer and spirituality.  Catechesis prepares people for active, conscious, meaningful participation in liturgy and in the Church year. It helps them reflect on the meaning and significance of their participation on their lives as Catholics.  Catechesis prepares people for the work of justice and acts of service, and helps individuals reflect on the connection between their actions and their faith.  This approach leads to a deepening of Catholic commitment and increased Catholic practice.  It contributes to the creation of a strong sense of community and develops a community's capacity to be self-renewing.

COPY PERMISSION GRANTED Copyright 2004.  All rights reserved.   Twenty-Third Publications,

800-321-0411