Faith Formation &
Whole Community Catechesis
“…the Church does not have an educational program…
The Church is the plan.” – Maria Harris
Whole community catechesis and lifelong faith formation
is an approach to parish or school 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 what happens
in the religious education classroom.
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.
Here at Sacred Heart Parish we are committed to providing faith formation for all ages and stages of life. To learn more about our faith formation programs use the drop-down menu above.
