Enhancing Participation in Parish Adult Faith Formation

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

Why Don’t They Come? Enhancing Participation in Parish Adult Faith Formation

A TREATISE

Submitted to the Faculty of the

School of Theology and Religious Studies

Of The Catholic University of America

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree

Doctor of Ministry

Rose A. Marden

Washington, D.C.

2014

Why Don’t They Come? Enhancing Participation in Parish Adult Faith Formation

Rose A. Marden, D. Min.

Director: Rev. Raymond Studzinski, OSB, Ph.D.

Despite Church teachings indicating that adult faith formation should be at the center of a parish’s catechetical ministry, this is not the practice in the Archdiocese of San Antonio. In parishes where an effort is made to offer adult faith formation programs, relatively few adults participate. The researcher wanted to know why this was the case. The researcher gathered three focus groups, one at each of three similar parishes, and asked the participants why they thought people did not come to adult faith formation offerings in their parish. The researcher recorded the conversations, had them transcribed, and then analyzed them for themes that might answer the question of why so few people attend adult faith formation events. She discovered that a fear of not being welcomed and the busyness of contemporary life were the main reasons the participants offered. Other significant findings included the need for better marketing and use of technology, a need to carefully consider content and the use of adult methodology, cultural influences, supportive pastoral leadership, and issues of motivation and conversion. The project demonstrated the need for good pastoral planning that looks at the real spiritual hungers of the people in the parish, and the need to evangelize with highly intentional welcoming events. The researcher discovered the importance of having pastoral leadership that shares and communicates a vision of parish life in which the idea of the Church’s central identity as evangelizer is recognized, articulated, and lived out.

This treatise by Rose A. Marden fulfills the treatise requirement for the doctoral degree in Ministry approved by Rev. Raymond Studzinski, O.S.B., Ph.D., and by Sr. Margaret Schreiber, O.P., D.Min., STD., Reader.

______Rev. Raymond Studzinski, O.S.B., Ph.D., Director

______Sr. Margaret Schreiber, O.P., D. Min., S.T.D., Reader

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES ...... vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS...... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...... viii CHAPTER ONE: PASTORAL ANALYSIS ...... 1 The Problem ...... 1 Purpose...... 6 Research Questions ...... 6 Research Approach ...... 7 Anticipated Outcomes ...... 7 Researcher Assumptions ...... 8 Researcher Perspectives ...... 8 Definitions ...... 10 Evangelization ...... 10 Catechesis ...... 10 The Question ...... 11 CHAPTER TWO: BIBLICAL WITNESS AND HISTORICAL PRACTICE ...... 12 Biblical Witness ...... 12 Early Church Practice ...... 14 Decline of the Catechumenate ...... 16 Seventh to Sixteenth Centuries ...... 17 Catechisms ...... 18 Children and Content ...... 22 Catechesis in America ...... 23 European Immigration ...... 24 Higher Education in the Americas ...... 25 Parochial Schools ...... 26 Renewal ...... 29 Vatican II and the Return to a Focus on Adult Faith Formation ...... 31 CHAPTER THREE: THE CONTEXT FOR ADULT FAITH FORMATION ...... 37 iii

Faith ...... 38 Faith Formation ...... 40 Terminology ...... 40 Evangelization ...... 43 Formation as Holistic and Transformative ...... 44 Content and Relationship ...... 48 Adult Learning ...... 49 Human and Spiritual Development ...... 50 Andragogy ...... 54 Learning as Transformation ...... 55 Motivation ...... 57 Cultural Context ...... 64 A Shift in Thinking ...... 65 Emerging Adults ...... 68 Branding ...... 71 Art and Music ...... 72 An Adult Church ...... 73 Summary ...... 75 CHAPTER FOUR: IMPLEMENTING THE PROJECT ...... 77 Focus Groups ...... 77 Week One ...... 79 Week Two ...... 83 Week Three ...... 86 Commonalities Among the Groups ...... 91 Seven Themes ...... 94 Evaluations ...... 98 Overarching Findings ...... 98 Conclusion ...... 102 APPENDIX A: CONSENT FORM ...... 104 APPENDIX B: EVALUATION FORM ...... 105

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 106

LIST OF TABLES

Table One Attendance in AFF Programs in the Archdiocese of San Antonio ……………5

Table Two What types of Adult Faith Formation happen in this parish? (Week one) …. 90

Table Three Discussion on why programs were successful or not (Week One) …………. 91

Table Four What obstacles prevent greater AFF participation? (Week Two) ……………92

Table Five What obstacles to better AFF can we remove? What can we do to enhance the participation in AFF? (Week Three) ……….93

Table Six Table 6: Combined Ratings of the Focus Groups ……………………….… 104

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AFF Adult Faith Formation CCC Catechism of the Catholic Church GCD General Catechetical Directory GDC General Directory for Catechesis OHWB Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us

vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am most grateful to my husband, Dr. Harry E. Marden, Jr., our daughter, Elizabeth, and our son, John, for their long and helpful support during the process of this project. In addition, my colleagues at Oblate School of Theology have been most supportive, especially Fr. Bryan

Silva, O.M.I., Psy. D., and Sr. Linda Gibler, O.P., Ph.D., and the entire “Inklings” group.

viii

CHAPTER ONE: PASTORAL ANALYSIS

The Problem

Adult faith formation (AFF) is an essential ministry of the church. While it has always been a part of Catholic tradition to promote understanding of the faith, since the Second Vatican

Council there has been a renewed emphasis on the importance of AFF. In 1979 in Catechesi

Tradendae John Paul II stated,

I cannot fail to emphasize now one of the most constant concerns of the synod fathers, a concern imposed with vigor and urgency by present experiences throughout the world: I am referring to the central problem of the catechesis of adults. This is the principal form of catechesis, because it is addressed to persons who have the greatest responsibilities and the capacity to live the Christian message in its fully developed form. The Christian community cannot carry out a permanent catechesis without the direct and skilled participation of adults, whether as receivers or as promoters of catechetical activity. The world, in which the young are called to live and to give witness to the faith which catechesis seeks to deepen and strengthen, is governed by adults. The faith of these adults too should continually be enlightened, stimulated and renewed, so that it may pervade the temporal realities in their charge.1

Subsequent ecclesial documents have echoed this teaching. The General Directory for

Catechesis,2 a document published by the Vatican Office of the Clergy, devotes a section to this important activity. Likewise, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), in the

1 John Paul II, Catechesi Tradendae, no. 43 http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_exhortations/ documents/hf_jp-ii_exh_16101979_catechesi-tradendae_en.html . Accessed March 18, 2014.

2 Congregation for the Clergy, General Directory for Catechesis (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1997). Hereafter referred to as GDC. 1

National Directory for Catechesis,3 emphasized the importance of AFF and expanded the understanding of the teaching of AFF, discussing the varying needs of different ages of adults.

In 1999 the USCCB published Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us: A Pastoral Plan for

Adult Faith Formation in the United States,4 a document to assist dioceses and parishes in promoting AFF. While much work still needs to be done before AFF is at the center of the catechetical enterprise as envisioned by John Paul II, a study by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) in 2003 indicated that at least a significant number of parishes were more aware of the importance of AFF than perhaps had been the understanding or practice in recent centuries.5 In this study, 23% of the then 19,090 Catholic parishes in the United States responded to the survey. Among the findings, three in four parishes indicated they sponsored lectures, presentations, workshops, or classes on Bible or Scripture. The responses from this

CARA study are encouraging; however it is important to remember that only 23% of the parishes contacted responded. One might wonder what is happening in the 77% of U. S. Catholic parishes that did not respond. Did they choose not to respond because they had little or no AFF happening in their parish?

3 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, National Directory for Catechesis (Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2005). Hereafter referred to as the NDC.

4 National Conference of Catholic Bishops, Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us: A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the United States (Washington, DC: National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1999). Hereafter, OHWB.

5 Mark M. Gray, Ph.D. and Mary L. Gautier, Ph.D., Adult Faith Formation in U.S. Parishes (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, 2003), 2.

In 2006 the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership commissioned a study on best practices in AFF.6 Diocesan catechetical leaders were asked to name parishes with vibrant and effective faith formation. Parish leaders in those parishes were then asked to describe their most effective AFF in the parish. The goals of the study were a) to name and describe some of the successful approaches and strategies in parishes, b) to establish benchmark practices, c) to create an empirically based ongoing clearing house of ideas, d) to influence publishers regarding

AFF materials, and to learn what parish leaders consider to be good AFF practices in their parishes.7 The study produced information on

 adult learning environments  evaluating programs  methods of promotion of AFF programs  how to assess the needs in a parish  what motivates adults to come  key elements of successful programs and strategies.8

In the study, the researchers found that the top two factors that motivate adults were their interest in the topic and their desire to learn. The top two factors in creating successful programs were listening to the needs of adults and the presence of an AFF team in the parish. This study offers a number of recommendations for enhancing AFF in the parish.9

6 David Riley and Jack McBride, Best Practices in Adult Faith Formation: A National Study (Washington DC: The National Conference for Catechetical Leadership, 2006).

7 Ibid., 8-9.

8 Ibid., 22-27.

9 Ibid., 18-28.

The CARA study indicated regional differences in AFF offerings, so the researcher of this project decided to look at AFF in the archdiocese of San Antonio. A recent analysis of statistics on AFF in the archdiocese of San Antonio showed that this ministry is unfortunately absent in many parishes. Each year the Archdiocesan Catechetical Center requests reports from the faith formation staff of each parish regarding the number of people enrolled in catechetical sessions, as well as any other type of intentional faith formation activities happening in the parish. Of the 134 urban parishes in the Archdiocese of San Antonio, only 46 reported offering

AFF in 2012. In many cases the attendance was in the single digits. Also, in many of these parishes RCIA was the only form of AFF offered. It seemed to be a “catch-all” program for adults in many parishes, whether they needed formation for Confirmation, were returning to an active practice of their faith, or were interested in being baptized or coming into full Communion with the Catholic Church. When the number of attendees in these parishes that offered AFF was compared to the number of possible participants however, it appears that only a small portion of adults in any of the parishes of the Archdiocese of San Antonio are coming to AFF opportunities.

In each of 124 urban parishes less than 75 people attended AFF in 2012. Of those, 27 parishes reported 0 adults attending AFF. In some parishes there was a wide fluctuation in numbers from

0 one year to 175 the next, for example. In some parishes the fluctuation correlated with a change in DRE. Another factor that may have driven numbers up in some parishes is the archdiocesan pastoral plan initiative, Our Future in Faith. The archbishop, in collaboration with a large group of parish leaders, and in consultation with the entire people of the archdiocese, created a pastoral plan that names core values and priorities for the archdiocese. Among the

5 goals of the plan are two that deal with the New Evangelization and the certification of catechists.

The table below indicates the number of participants in AFF in the last three years at the top ten10 parishes in the archdiocese that had the most attendees. While some parishes had several hundred attendees in AFF programs, the percentage of adults attending, relative to the parish population, was very small in all cases. The question this raised for the researcher was,

“When parishes offer AFF opportunities, why do more adults not come?”

Attendance in AFF Programs in the Archdiocese of San Antonio Parish Number of Number of adults Number of adults Number of registered participating in participating in adults families in 2013 AFF in 2010 AFF in 2011 participating in AFF in 2012** A 4200 0 - 720 B 3737 234 453 534 C 750 100 151 504 D 3400 411 161 398 E 2235 109* 0 175 F 3852 125 120 149 G 975 100 100 110 H 1920 7 58 81 I 7123 75 20 80 J 3050 158 48 77 * indicates the total includes RCIA - indicates no information recorded ** latest year for which statistics are available

In looking for answers to this question, the researcher studied literature on AFF, on the ** Indicates all of the AFF participants were listed as part of RCIA. biblical witness of the importance of faith formation, on historical patterns of adults learning

10Parishes with the highest number of participants in AFF.

6 about their faith, on adult education, and on contemporary social trends that may be affecting interest and participation in AFF.

Purpose

The problem is the low level of attendance at AFF opportunities in parishes in the

Archdiocese of San Antonio. The purpose of this project is, in parishes where AFF events are offered, to help parish level catechetical leaders 1) identify the existing AFF that is already happening in the parish; 2) discover why many adults do not participate in AFF activities; and 3) begin to find ways to enhance the AFF that is offered in the parish.

Research Questions

The study asked why AFF events in parishes tend to draw relatively few participants. In doing the study, the researcher asked small groups of parishioners in three parishes questions about AFF in their parish:

Present activity: What AFF is currently happening in this parish? What seems to be working well? Why are these programs successful?

Obstacles: In your experience, what obstacles prevent greater participation?

More Participation: In what ways might we remove some of the obstacles in this parish?

Research Approach

The researcher began by examining the statistics at the Archdiocesan Catechetical Center on participation in AFF events in parishes in the years 2008 through 2012. Then the researcher contacted pastoral leaders in three parishes and explained the project. She asked if she might have permission to direct a focus group on AFF at each parish. In each parish, the pastoral leader was asked to assist the researcher in finding 8-10 parishioners who have some interest in

AFF and would be willing and able to attend a three week focus group study on AFF. Then the researcher scheduled times to meet at each parish. She sent explanatory letters to the parishioners, inviting them to participate. The groups met on three successive weeks, focusing on the questions above. Each week also included a sharing with the parishioners of some of the findings the researcher has learned from a critical review of pertinent literature.

The conversations at each week’s meetings were digitally recorded and transcribed. The researcher then analyzed and coded the transcripts for categories. The researcher shared some of the findings of each parish’s focus group discussion with the participants in the hope that this sharing would lead to some creative responses to enhancing AFF in each parish.

Anticipated Outcomes

The researcher anticipated that each parish would offer some practical insights into the low attendance at AFF events in parishes. In looking at the three parishes, the researcher expected to find some responses that were similar among the parishes and some responses that were unique to each parish. It was also an expectation that by repeating the study in three

8 parishes the researcher would be able to fine-tune the template for the study and be able to offer it to other parishes in the future.

Researcher Assumptions

The researcher began the project with several assumptions. The basic assumption was that interested parishioners and pastoral leaders probably have some insights into why so few adults attend AFF events in parishes. The researcher also assumed that by going to three similar parishes, controlling for size and socio-economic level, that the results would be valid for that type of parish. Additionally, she assumed that by offering each parish the opportunity to gather a group of adults interested in enhancing AFF, and by sharing with them some recent thinking in the literature on AFF, that a fruitful and creative discussion on enhancing AFF would emerge in each parish. With such a small study, the aim was not to find statistical evidence, but to look for trends or lines of thinking that could help AFF leaders to respond to the needs of the adults in the contemporary Church.

Researcher Perspectives

The researcher comes from the perspective of AFF as being central to the faith formation activity in the parish. Through decades of experience, she has observed that when parents and grandparents are knowledgeable and articulate in their faith, the children follow suit. The children’s formal catechesis builds on the family’s foundation: when adults in the home are knowledgeable in the faith, the children grow in their knowledge of the faith. Conversely, when children have had little formation at home, the weekly parish catechetical activity, regardless of

9 how well done, is rarely adequate to the task of forming the child in the faith. A mature adult faith is essential to the well-being of the entire church; it is the goal of all disciples and it is necessary in order to faithfully hand on the faith.

The researcher also embraces the notion of faith formation as embedded in the evangelizing activity of the Church. Pope Paul VI clearly articulated the vision of the Church as evangelizer: “Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity.”11 The General Directory for Catechesis teaches that catechesis is part of the process of evangelization. Evangelization, faith formation, and catechesis are part of a lifelong dynamic process.12 “The faith of adults . . . must be continually enlightened, developed and protected, so that it may acquire that Christian wisdom which gives sense, unity, and hope to the many experiences of personal, social and spiritual life.”13 AFF is therefore, not optional; it is the essential building block of the Church.

In addition, the researcher holds that in qualitative analysis, the researcher must be aware of his or her biases and be open to having these understandings challenged.

11 Paul VI, On Evangelization in the Modern World (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1975), no.14.

12 GDC, no. 47.

13 Ibid., no. 173.

Definitions

Evangelization

In this work, evangelization refers to the overall work of the church in proclaiming the gospel. Referring to Ad Gentes, the GDC sums up the process of evangelization and the constituent elements of faith formation:

The conciliar decree Ad Gentes clarifies well the dynamic of the process of evangelization: Christian witness, dialogue and presence in charity (11-12), the proclamation of the Gospel and the call to conversion (13), the catechumenate and Christian Initiation (14), and the formation of the Christian communities through and by means of the sacraments and their ministers (15-18).14

Forming the faith of the baptized as well as the un-baptized is clearly an enormous and ongoing job. Since the Church “exists in order to evangelize,”15 then all of her activity, in various ways, forms faith.

Catechesis

Specific, planned religious instruction is often referred to as catechesis. “Catechesis is that particular form of the ministry of the word which matures initial conversion to make it into a living, explicit, and fruitful confession of faith.”16 The GDC delineates four general types of adult catechesis: 1) for adults who live their faith and wish to deepen it, 2) for those who have been baptized but need more catechesis in order to live their faith more fully, 3) for non-baptized

14 Ibid., no.43.

15 Paul VI, Evangelization in the Modern World, no.14.

16 GDC, no.82.

11 adults, and 4) for Christians not in full communion with the Catholic Church.17 Unfortunately, teens in many parishes in the United States develop an attitude of “graduating from” formal catechesis after celebrating Confirmation. This attitude has tended to nuance the term catechesis as something for children, or even more narrowly, as instruction in preparation for a sacrament.

In many places in the United States, the term faith formation is used interchangeably with catechesis. In Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us, in the introduction, the bishops use both terms to refer to the activity of helping adults grow in their faith, but they also indicate that faith formation involves faith experiences, reflection, prayer and study.18 “The scope of catechetical content is cognitive, experiential, and behavioral.”19 Adult faith formation, therefore, encompasses much more than “catechetical sessions”, but is considered to be catechesis in its broadest sense.

The Question

This study refers to adult faith formation events in parishes that are part of the overall approach to forming the faith of adults. The events include single lectures, workshops, short courses, retreats, and other programs aimed at adults in the parish. The researcher of this project seeks to understand why, when AFF is offered in a parish, the participation is so often a very small percentage of the adult parish population.

17 Ibid., no.172.

18 OHWB, no.5.

19 Ibid., no. 97.

CHAPTER TWO: BIBLICAL WITNESS AND HISTORICAL PRACTICE

Biblical Witness

While many contemporary adult Catholics don’t seem to see the need for AFF, faith leaders have been offering faith formation for adults since ancient times. Christian faith, rooted in the Jewish tradition, sees examples of God’s pedagogy in God’s self- revelation in salvation history – a revelation that invites men and women into a relationship with God.20 When the Jews wandered in the desert during the exodus, God revealed to them the commandments, the laws of the covenant he made with them. The book of Exodus tells us that “Moses then wrote down all the words of the Lord” (Ex. 24:4, NAB) and then, “taking the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people” (Ex. 24:7) who subsequently accepted the covenant. Knowing, living by, and being called back to the covenant are frequent themes of the Old Testament which are foundational to the ideal identity and functioning of the Jewish people. The prophets repeatedly called to the people to remember and obey the covenant. While exiled in Babylon, and after the exile, Jewish religious leaders, reflecting on their experiences of Exodus, the united kingdom under Solomon and David, the subsequent loss of their land, and finally, their exile into Babylon, came to understand the importance of writing down their stories to be handed on. The poignant story of Ezra reading to the people after Nehemiah has orchestrated the rebuilding of the

Jerusalem wall and gates demonstrates the importance of teaching the faith. Ezra read the law to

20 Second Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, no.2, in The Basic Sixteen Documents of Vatican II: Constitutions, Decrees, Declarations, ed. Austin Flannery, O.P., rev. ed. (Northport, NY: Costello Publishing Co., 1996). 12

13 the “assembly, which consisted of men, women, and those children old enough to understand.”(Neh. 8:2 NAB) Upon hearing Ezra teach, the people began to weep – an indication perhaps at how moved they were to come to a fuller awareness of their own identity and the relationship with God to which they had been called.21 This new awareness led them to celebrate because “they understood the words that had been expounded to them.” (Neh.8:12)

Another example of the ancient valuing of handing on the faith is the Jewish tradition of ritual meals in which the stories of faith were handed on. All the generations in a household renewed their understanding of their faith at these ritual celebrations. Through the centuries, the stories of Abraham, the Passover, Queen Esther, and other important events were handed on in liturgies and in home celebrations. Jesus was reared in such a context – the Jewish life of his

Galilean village supported by synagogue events and home rituals formed his understanding of

God and faith.

Central to Jesus’ ministry was the concept of the Reign of God.22 Jesus conducted his mission of proclaiming the Reign of God by primarily teaching adults. Throughout the Gospels, the evangelists speak of the crowds who gathered to hear Jesus teach and to be healed. When

Peter began his ministry under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, he spoke to adults who responded by being baptized. (Acts 2:14-41) Peter visited households and taught the adult members about Jesus the Christ. Paul did likewise, and even sought out the men of wisdom in the pagan temple to teach them of the wisdom of Christ.23

21 Arthur I. Waskow, Seasons of Our Joy: A Handbook of Jewish Festivals (New York: Bantam Books, 1982), 2.

22 Anne Marie Mongoven, OP. The Prophetic Spirit of Catechesis: How We Share the Fire in Our Hearts (New York: Paulist Press, 2000), 19-20.

23 Examples can be found in Acts 3, 4, 5 and 9, Galatians 2, and Ephesians 3.

As Paul’s ministry grew, he encouraged growth and maturity in the faith: “To me, the least of all believers, was given the grace to preach to the gentiles the unfathomable riches of

Christ and to enlighten all men on the mysterious design which for ages was hidden in God, the

Creator of all.”(Eph.3:8) Indeed, the writing and dissemination of the Gospels, the letters of

Paul, and the other pastoral letters, eventually resulting in the New Testament Canon, indicate the importance the early Church gave to continued teaching and growth in the knowledge of the

Lord and of learning to mature in the Christian life.

Early Church Practice

Evidence from the Didache supports the idea that early disciples were encouraged to know the basics of the faith and to continue to grow in that understanding.24 From the time of the Apostles in the first century, into the fourth century, catechesis was an activity which involved catechizing entire families. Community witness was essential in handing on the faith; participation at liturgy and community witness, as well as some formal instruction for catechumens, helped form the faith of the community. Ordained or recognized leaders supervised the formation of catechumens, yet it was a community event. Formation involved orthopraxis, or right practice: “The Way” was learned by living the life of faith in community.

Christians connected their learnings from liturgy with their daily life also. Various persecutions caused the disciples not only to be secretive; they needed to be assured that those who were

24 Kirsopp Lake, The Apostolic Fathers with an English Translation by Kirsopp Lake. Vol. I (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985), 303-333.

15 joining the movement were well formed in the faith and authentic followers of the Christ. Often, entire households would be baptized after a catechumenate of about three years.25

The process of faith formation and initiation evolved as time went on. In the second and third centuries of the Church, catechesis and initiatory rites of the New Testament communities gradually began to take on a formal shape, yet there was no one set pattern.26 Eventually, two main initiatory patterns, aimed at adults, emerged. These patterns indicate that catechesis “seems to have taken place at least within a prayer context: it may have assumed a more liturgical or quasi-liturgical setting, perhaps that of an actual service of the Word.”27 Formation also involved formation in and for worship and “rested on how well a catechumen had begun to live his or her faith rather than on how much intellectual knowledge about it had been mastered.”28 Catechesis evidently was not limited to instruction or information about the faith, but instead, included

“active formation on the objective level as well, involving prayer, hand-laying, exorcism, fasting, and tasting salt.”29 All of these practices are clearly aimed at the adult members of a family, although children were received into the church with their parents.

25 Aidan Kavanaugh, The Shape of Baptism: The Rite of Christian Initiation (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1991), 56.

26 Ibid., 40.

27 Ibid., 56.

28 Ibid., 58.

29 Ibid., 60.

Decline of the Catechumenate

In the third and fourth centuries, the teaching about the faith happened primarily during the Liturgy of the Word at the Mass. The teachers therefore were bishops and priests. The content of the lessons was doctrine and moral instruction.30 A shift in catechesis accompanied the decline of paganism under Emperor Constantine in the early fourth century. While there had been various periods of persecution in the first three centuries, Constantine the Great granted religious toleration to Christians with the Edict of Milan in 313. As Christianity became more common, fewer adults were in need of initiation, and the classes of catechumens disappeared.31

By the sixth century most initiation rites involved small children and babies. The broad catechesis of learning the Christian way of life “had shrunk to the formal liturgical ‘catechizing’ of the three scrutinies during Lenten weekdays.” 32

From about the fifth century there was a gradual decline in the catechumenate. In many places it had been replaced by the widespread practice of infant baptism, and so where the catechumenate continued to exist it was often reduced to providing help for parents and godparents. The catechumenate as a period of moral and doctrinal preparation preceding the Easter baptismal celebration disappeared. . . . Over the course of a few centuries the whole process of initiation had subtly changed. Almost unnoticed, instruction had shifted from something pre-baptismal to being post-baptismal and was aimed largely at those who had already been baptized.33

30 Liam Kelly, Catechesis Revisited: Handing on Faith Today (New York: Paulist, 2000) 10.

31 Jean-Remy Palanque, “The Dawn of the Middle Ages” in The Twentieth Century Encyclopedia of Catholicism. Vol. 75 (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960), 15-19.

32 Kavanaugh, 67.

33 L. Kelly, 15-16.

Seventh to Sixteenth Centuries

Catechesis, which had been a three year process of formation in and by the community in preparation for celebrating the initiation rites of the church, had become a post-baptismal activity. After the sixth century, education became focused on what minimally needed to be known. This is not a surprising result of the decline of the Roman Empire and the situation of

European civilizations trying to function under the various invasions of the barbarians. In this context, faith formation was reduced to handing on the simplest basics, such as the Creed and the

Lord’s Prayer.34 Unfortunately, this simple understanding of the faith led to some abuses in the way the liturgy was celebrated.

In the eighth century, Charlemagne, who had a great concern for good liturgy, intervened in church affairs with a reform of the liturgy. However, the Carolingian reforms promoted a stiff ritualism which resulted in the faithful becoming more spectators than participants at Mass.

With the Mass prayed in Latin, a language unintelligible to most people, the liturgy lost much of its catechetical power.35

As part of the reform, in the eighth and ninth centuries, many question-and-answer textbooks addressed to the clergy were written. Thus a huge shift in the understanding of the meaning of faith formation took place. Faith formation had begun to move in the direction of being an activity of handing on information about the faith from textbooks. The texts were aimed at adults, with the expectation that the parent would take the information home and teach

34 Milton Gatch, “Basic Christian Education from the Decline of Catechesis to the Rise of the Catechisms,” in A Faithful Church: Issues in the History of Catechesis. Eds. John H. Westerhoff, III and O.C. Edwards (Wilton, CT: Morehouse-Barlow Co., 1981), 90.

35 Palanque, 105-111.

18 the (already baptized) children. By the ninth century, infant baptism was the norm, although there was no institutionalized form of catechesis being required. It was assumed that the teaching and forming in the faith would come from the family. Yet, in medieval families, formation in the Christian faith involved little formal instruction but depended on the community. Most members of the community were Christian, held Christian values, participated in home religious rituals and attended church liturgies. Christians learned about how to live their faith by being immersed in an environment of stained glass windows, religious paintings, religious dramas, holy day festivals, statues, etc. Faith formation was woven into the family and community life.36

Catechisms

In this Christian society, by the mid sixteenth century, there was a rising interest in the reform of education among many leaders in society. The stage was set for something new. One person who had a great influence on Catholic faith formation was Ignatius of Loyola (1491-

1556). After an intense conversion experience he wrote the Spiritual Exercises37 which was not just a book of information, but rather, a book which included a plan of action for helping people follow the Christian way of life. This was directed toward adults.

Martin Luther was one of the many scholars of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries who was concerned about faith formation. He was especially concerned about children and families.

With Johann Gutenberg’s introduction of the printing press in the fifteenth century, the Bible and

36 Kelly, 21.

37 George E. Ganss, The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius: A Translation and Commentary (Chicago: Loyola Press, 1992).

19 books became more widely available, and “handing on the faith was never to be the same.”38

Martin Luther published his Kleiner Katechismus (Small Catechism) in 1529 for laity and children. In it he outlined the process of handing on the faith as involving first, memorization of the formulas in the catechism, and then second, learning the meaning of the text. “Luther’s influence in catechesis cannot be underestimated. By the end of the sixteenth century . . . the whole nature of religious instruction had changed.”39

As part of the response to the Protestant Reformation, Pope Pius V issued the order for a catechism that would serve as a remedy for “the great and pernicious evil” of those who had abandoned the “faith of their fathers.”40 Under the direction of Charles Borromeo, Cardinal

Archbishop of Milan, a source book for parish priests was drawn up and published in 1566. Its title was Catechismus ex decretis Concilii Tredentini ad parochos (The Catechism of the Council of Trent for Parish Priests). The Roman Catechism was the popular name for this work. Unlike earlier written works of Augustine, Alcuin, and Permin of Richenau which began with salvation history as proclaimed in Scriptures, the focus of this work was to define theological doctrines.

The Bible was used as a source for proof-texting theological doctrines. “The contention was that the Bible required authentic interpretation: indiscriminate reading of the Bible in the vernacular was therefore viewed as dangerous.”41

38 Kelly, 21.

39 Ibid., 23.

40 St. Pius V, The Catechism of the Council of Trent for Parish Priests. trans. John A. McHugh, OP, STM, Litt.D. and Charles J. Callan, OP, STM, Litt.D. Fifteenth printing (Rockford, IL: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc. 1982) 4. Hereafter referred to as the Roman Catechism.

41 Mary Charles Bryce, OSB, “Evolution of Catechesis from the Catholic Reformation to the Present” in A Faithful Church: Issues in the History of Catechesis, 209.

The Roman Catechism was not in a question-and–answer format. An apologetic work, the introduction speaks strongly about attacks on the faith. The language of the catechism locates the task of faith formation with the priest, who is to instruct the adult faithful. In light of the events of the Reformation, there was concern for the orthodoxy of teaching. The laity were to be the learners, not the teachers.

For those who intended to corrupt the minds of the faithful, knowing that they could not hold immediate personal intercourse with all, and thus pour into their ears their poisoned doctrines, adopted another plan which enabled them to disseminate error and impiety more easily and extensively.42

The average person seemed to be understood as an empty receptacle into which either good or bad teaching could be poured. This Roman Catechism enabled the priests to “pour” the correct information into the people. It gave explicit expression to a perspective regarding the laity which had been developing over the centuries. The laity had been moved to the margins of catechetical activity; the division between the “teaching church,” the ordained, and the “learning church,” the laity, had been made very clear. Significantly, the catechism called to the priest’s attention the need to keep in mind the “age, capacity, manner, and condition”43 of those whom he instructed, and that he ought to teach with “zeal.”44 To insure uniformity of teaching, the pastor was directed to draw all of his instruction from the catechism.45 While children were to be instructed, the importance of adults being formed correctly by the clergy was the focus here.

42 Roman Catechism, 3-4.

43 Ibid., 7.

44 Ibid., 8.

45 Ibid., 9-10.

In this same period, not all church leaders had such low regard for the laity, however. At the same time that the Roman Catechism was being prepared, Dutch Jesuit theologian Peter

Canisuis published three catechisms for German students. He credited his efforts to the work of

Thomas Aquinas.46 Also, the same Cardinal Borromeo who had been instrumental in creating the

Roman Catechism, promoted what became known as “the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.”

This movement was begun by a priest, Castello de Castellano, in Milan, Italy in 1536. Its purpose was to provide religious education for children, youth, and uneducated adults. Castello gathered lay men and women to conduct the schools in Milan.47 They were held to high standards: the teachers were required to pass examinations before being able to teach, the sessions were short, the groups were small, and the instruction time included prayer.48 Cardinal

Borromeo formalized the Confraternity in the archdiocese of Milan. After Borromeo’s death the

Confraternity spread to Rome where it continued to be a successful avenue for faith formation.

It enjoyed its greatest success in Rome in the late sixteenth century. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the Confraternity movement spread across Europe.

In 1597, the Catholic priest Robert Bellarmine wrote a popular catechism, Dottrina christiana breve (1597) for children and uneducated adults, and he wrote a larger catechism, similar to contemporary teacher’s manuals. Bellarmine’s experience as a catechist gave him the background to design catechisms that could engage the learner, make the content understandable,

46Mark Heath, "Thomistic Theology and Religious Education" in Theologies of Religious Education, ed. Randolph Crump Miller (Birmingham, AL.: Religious Education Press, 1995), 52.

47 Joseph B. Collins, "The Beginnings of CCD in Europe and Its Modern Revival" in Sourcebook for Modern Catechetics, ed. Michael Warren (Winona, MN: Saint Mary's Press, 1983), 147.

48 Kelly, 26-27.

22 and encourage reflection. Bellarmine centered the content of the catechisms around the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. The popularity of this work led to the firm establishment of catechetical instruction in the question-and-answer manner.49

Children and Content

Bishops in many countries had Bellarmine’s work translated into the local language.

They then modified the translation to fit local need.50 With the wide availability of catechisms, catechetical instruction became uniform, was aimed at children, and memorization was of ultimate importance. At the same time, adults continued to learn by listening to sermons, but they now had the responsibility and role of teaching the catechism formulas to their children.

The widespread availability of catechisms helped promote the catechetical emphasis on instruction. The family was definitely the primary educator in the faith, but it is important to note that the focus of catechesis or formation had shifted from being formed in the life of faith to memorizing the content of the faith.

In response to the Protestant catechisms of the sixteenth century, other Catholics followed Bellarmine’s example and began printing catechisms. The popularity of these manuals of instruction set the tone of catechesis for the next four hundred years. The sixteenth century practice of using the catechisms led to the ministry of catechesis being defined as an activity that was associated with a printed manual, directed primarily toward children and youth, and a type

49 Kelly, 27.

50 Heath, 52.

23 of schooling.51 “Gradually, almost imperceptibly, an exaggerated responsibility descended on the catechism, a responsibility it neither could nor should have sustained.” 52 Catechesis became reduced to the activity of learning the correct information about the faith. No longer primarily aimed at adults, adult faith formation receded to the background and the emphasis in faith formation came to be the instruction of children in the faith.

Catechesis in America

The peoples who brought Catholicism to North America functioned from the perspective that all peoples needed to be baptized in order to be saved from eternal damnation.53 The French and Spanish conquerors of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries who made no distinction between the Church and the world, or between religion and life, saw the Native American people as

“savages” who needed to be civilized. The Spanish saw themselves not only as conquerors of the land, but as instruments of God who could bring the Gospel to the whole world.54 Elaborate liturgies which often blended Catholic and native practices helped form the faith of the indigenous peoples.55 French missionaries in what is now the northeastern United States and

Canada met with little success in converting the native peoples. All of these missionary efforts were aimed at adults, since Christianity was a new religion in the Americas.

51 Bryce, 204-205.

52 Ibid., 205.

53 Jay P. Dolan, The American Catholic Experience: A History from Colonial Times to the Present (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1992), 45.

54 Dolan, 16-25.

55 Ibid., 49.

European Immigration

In the seventeenth century, Catholic immigrants began coming to North America from predominantly Catholic countries in Europe, and brought with them a hierarchical understanding and experience of church that included the notion of the clergy as the teachers of the faith, and the laity as the learners. However, a new way of life in the New World led to adaptations in handing on the faith. First, there were few Catholic clergy to serve the immigrant Catholics and there were no Catholic parishes for them to join, so the laity had the responsibility of organizing and teaching. Second, these Catholics lived among Protestant immigrants who held different beliefs and followed different practices. In most colonies, Catholics were the minority in a largely Protestant society, and frequently they had to deal with various degrees of persecution.

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, especially in Maryland, numerous shifts in political power led to times in which Catholics enjoyed more or less freedom to practice their faith. The practice of Catholicism in the early eighteenth century among immigrant populations was largely one of personal prayer, strict discipline, and restrained piety.56

A popular spiritual guide in the eighteenth century was John Gother, a priest who had converted from Protestantism. He published manuals of prayers and instruction which encouraged both personal prayer and the development of one’s personal relationship with God.

This formation was directed mostly to adults. He did not place much emphasis on the sacraments or other external rituals. Another man who greatly influenced the tone of eighteenth century English colonial Catholicism was the English bishop Richard Challoner. He wrote a prayer manual and a catechism. His prayer manual, The Garden of the Soul, like John Gother’s

56 Dolan, 91-93.

Manual of Godly Prayer, stressed personal piety. By the mid eighteenth century, many catechisms were available for the instruction of children. Instruction in the faith was considered a primary responsibility of the priests, yet with the scarcity of priests, if the faith were to be handed on, it was up to the laity to be intentional about doing so. Dolan states that “by the eighteenth century the mother of the family was the accepted teacher” of religious instruction.57

In Europe, the expectation had been that the father would hear the preaching of the priest and come home and instruct his family. Now this task had become a female one:

Not only was the mother of the family the principal instructor in religion, but she was also the chief cook, who saw to it that fast days were observed; the parish devotional societies that developed in the eighteenth century were primarily female in membership.58

Such a responsibility required that the mother have a good understanding of the faith. She needed to be able to effectively communicate the faith.

Higher Education in the Americas

French and Spanish missionaries had brought structured catechesis to the Indians as early as the sixteenth century, but it was not until the nineteenth century that Archbishop John Carroll of Baltimore began to promote the cause of religious instruction for the immigrant peoples.

Long before becoming bishop, Carroll had encouraged and facilitated the development of

Catholic higher education, especially in light of the great shortage of priests in America. The scarcity of clergy and bishops had resulted in much lay leadership at the parish level.

57 Dolan, 94.

58 Ibid., 94.

Up until the nineteenth century, the place of work for most people had been centered in the home. When the factory became the place of work, the home changed to a center of physical, mental, and spiritual nurturance. Women came to be primarily in charge of the home activities of education and moral formation. Faith formation came largely through sermons at infrequent Masses, occasional revivals, and weekly catechism classes. Books, pamphlets, and catechisms were widely circulated among Catholic laity. The practice had now become normative for educated Catholic women to hand on the faith to children.

Waves of foreign immigration in the nineteenth century resulted in a very diverse

Catholic population in America. With larger gathering spaces for people and with more clergy available, the practice of religion loss much of its domestic flavor and became more communal.

Many congregational devotions began to be popular, such as devotions to the Sacred Heart, group rosary recitations, and group novenas. Individual, private devotions continued to exist alongside these congregational devotions.59 Several catechisms were popular, including The

Catholic Christian Instruction by John Challover of London and A Short Abridgement of

Christian Doctrine approved by Bishop John Carroll of Baltimore. Some catechisms were written for the clergy and were a type of encyclopedia of Catholic theology written in an apologetic style. Popular editions for the laity were written in the question-and-answer format.

Parochial Schools

In the early nineteenth century, several ideas led to the development of public common schools. For most people in the nineteenth century, moral formation was tied to religious

59 Dolan, 95.

27 instruction. The teachings and practices in many of the common schools often had strong

Protestant overtones. With strong denominational rivalries, educators were challenged to present a Christian formation that set aside denominational differences.60 “American Protestantism viewed itself as a special missionary force to Christianize the United States and then the world.”61

In addition to the public school movement, Protestants organized several efforts to teach

Christianity to adults. These included revivals, the Sunday School, The American Society, and the American Tract Society. Denominational colleges and Protestant benevolent societies added to the ecology of adult faith formation offerings.62 At this same time, “Catholic educational efforts were almost exclusively directed toward the education of children.”63 In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century there was much debate regarding the activities of

Bible reading, religious instruction, and hymn singing in public schools. Catholics who supported removal of the Protestant activities were attacked; so many Catholics began to establish their own system of independent parochial schools.64

Because of the above concerns, Catholic communities established schools for formal education: the church school for boys and girls of the parish, the female academy, and the men’s college. At the First Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1852 the bishops discussed the importance

60 Joel H. Spring, The American School, 1642-1993, third ed. (New York: McGraw Hill, 1994), 69.

61 John L. Elias, Ed.D, Foundations and Practice of Adult Religious Education, rev. ed. (Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Company, 1993), 130.

62 Ibid.

63 Ibid., 131.

64 Spring, 81-86.

28 of Catholic parochial schools. A committee report from this council defined parochial schools as institutions for Catholics only, which were under the direct supervision of the pastor. They were to be institutions that handed on and safe-guarded the faith and morals of Catholic children.

While many Catholics sent their children to public schools, many others were concerned about the Protestant ideas that their Catholic children would learn in the public institutions. The focus of faith formation in the United States had now become almost entirely on children. Family life continued to support faith formation but catechetical instruction had now been placed primarily in the parochial school. The main method of catechesis was memorization of questions and answers in a catechism. Adult Catholics learned about their faith from the sermon at Mass and from counseling in the confessional. By the mid nineteenth century Catholic reading circles, the

New York City Catholic Library Association, and a few Catholic young men’s societies began to expand the offerings for Catholic adult faith formation.

While the Catholic school system worked well for many years, a side effect of the system was the shift in responsibility for children’s religious education from the home to the school.

“Until the second half of the twentieth century, this shift was gradual and seemed harmless.

Only in the last few decades did we begin to experience the downside of classroom-based catechesis.”65 The focus of faith formation, especially in the minds of most of the faithful, remained on children.

65 Judith Dunlap and Mary Cummins Wlodarski, God is Calling, Leader’s Guide (Cincinnati, OH: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 1997). 5.

Renewal

Mary Charles Bryce, O.S.B., describes signs of renewal in the church during the nineteenth century which ultimately led to renewal in the area of catechesis in the twentieth century. Developments in the areas of theology, liturgy, catechetics, patristic studies, scripture studies and human sciences combined to give new understandings of church, catechesis, and learning theory.66

Gradually the idea of having a standard way of doing religious education in the United

States emerged. Organized efforts to enhance faith formation began to spring up in the twentieth century. Beginning in 1931, in Wichita, Kansas, the National Catholic Rural Life Conference devoted an entire day to the discussion of catechesis by the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine

(CCD). With the support and leadership of Bishop Edwin V. O’Hara (1881-1956) of Portland,

Oregon, the CCD was organized on the national scale and then began in 1935 to hold its own annual meetings. Virgil Michel, a Benedictine monk in Collegeville, Minnesota, was

66 Mary C. Bryce, 223-225. Bryce discusses these elements as key components in the renewal. (1) Renewal in the liturgy: One significant contributor to renewal was the Benedictine monk Prosper Gueranger (1805-1875). His work was greatly influential in promoting interest in the renewal of the liturgy. (2) Mystical Body of Christ: Another idea influencing catechesis emerged in the nineteenth century, especially in Germany. This idea involved the understanding of the Church as both a visible structure, including the community of believers, and as an invisible mystery. This was affirmed by Pius XII in his encyclical Mystici Corporus Christi in 1943, and was then taken up at Vatican II and incorporated into the Dogmatic Constitution in the Church (LG 6). (3) Wholistic formation: Johann M. Sailer (1751-1832) helped in therenewal of pastoral theology. He promoted the notion of the formation of the whole person, not just intellectual formation. Out of this renewal of pastoral theology came the term “catechetics.” “It was used to designate the characteristics, theory, practice, and history of the branch of pastoral theology that deals with catechesis” (Bryce 224). (4) Patristic studies: John Paul Migne (1800-1875) began the movement of “returning to the fathers” – an examination of doctrine and practice of the early church fathers. He believed that, in order for the church to move ahead, all Christians needed to be acquainted with the orthopraxis of the vibrant early communities. (5) Scripture Stories: Professors, priests, and lay catechists such as Johannes B. Hirscher (1788-1826), Bernard Heinrich Overberg (1754-1826), and Bernard Galura (1764-1856), stressed the importance of returning to the narratives of Scripture in presenting Christian truth to children. (6) Human sciences: Advances in the human sciences led to a better understanding of developmental stages in learning. These educational insights began to be applied to the process of catechesis.

30 instrumental in promoting studies of the liturgy. In 1940, a group of people started the Liturgical

Conference which began holding gatherings in various cities around the country. These meetings usually included sessions on the connection between liturgy and catechesis, and on educating about the liturgy.67

In Europe, in the early 1900’s, groups of catechists emerged in Munich and Vienna who wanted to study and improve catechesis. One of these groups, the Munich Society, collaborated with other catechetical groups in Europe and held the first Catechetical Congress in Vienna in

1903. Throughout the century, Catechetical Congress “weeks” continued to be held. Initially the focus of the meetings was on the methods of catechesis, but eventually the focus turned to the concern that “theological formulae isolated from the content of Christian history and experience was grossly inadequate.”68

In 1936, the Austrian Jesuit Josef A. Jungmann (1890-1975) published Die Frohbotschaft und unsere Glaubensverkundigung (The Good News and Our Proclamation of the Faith).

Jungmann spoke of the need for catechists to have a clear understanding of the kerygma, the core of the Christian message. He also discussed the need for catechists to be informed about the relationship of Scripture and liturgy, and of the relationship among liturgy, doctrine, and

Christian life. Prior to Jungmann’s book, catechists had been asking about the how of effective catechesis. Jungmann’s thinking influenced a shift to the what, or content, of catechesis.

67 Bryce, 229-230.

68 Ibid., 227.

His concern and the concern reflected in the kerygmatic movement was that the kerygma, or core of the Christian message – the good news of the mystery of Christ – be at the heart of the catechetical endeavor.69

The work initially met with much criticism and was not available in English until 1962 in an abridged and edited edition titled The Good News of Yesterday and Today. One person who was influential in communicating Jungmann’s insights was fellow Austrian Johannes Hofinger,

S. J. He also emphasized the need to focus on the core message of the Gospel in addition to instruction in church doctrine.

For Hofinger, doctrine never stood alone but was to be integrated with liturgical and biblical catechesis. Reflective of a variety of other catechetical conversations taking place during the 1960’s, Hofinger and those who picked up from the insights of the kerygmatic movement, recognized that catechesis requires a balance among the fourfold presentations of the faith – bible, liturgy, doctrine, and Christian witness.70

The thinking at this point still focused on the catechesis of children, however.

Vatican II and the Return to a Focus on Adult Faith Formation

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) had a huge impact on all aspects of church life.

Two directives coming from Vatican II which were especially significant for faith formation were “(1) the mandate for a general catechetical directory and for national directories, and (2) the re-introduction of the catechumenate.” 71 In 1971 the General Catechetical Directory (GCD) was published. This document stated that the purpose of catechesis is “to make people’s faith

69 Jane Regan, Exploring the Catechism with Michael P. Horan, et. al. (Collegeville, MN: The Order of St. Benedict, Inc., 1995), 15.

70 Ibid., 16.

71 Bryce, 230.

32 become living, conscious, and active.”72 It stated that the whole community had the duty of witnessing and catechizing. It also

cited adult catechesis as normative (#20), reiterated Trent’s insistence on the principle of adaptation (#6,8,13, 34), and, in relation to that principle, urged that national or regional catechetical directories be written which would provide norms and guidelines in accord with local socio-cultural circumstances (#77, 117).73

Various congresses and study groups continued to examine both the method and content of catechesis, especially in light of the renewed understanding of revelation taught at Vatican II.

Revelation was no longer understood as a static body of knowledge to be learned, but as the dynamic, ongoing action of God which was transmitted through the Tradition of the Church. It involves “a growth in insight into the realities and words that are being passed on.”74 Such an understanding allowed for, even called for, both a renewal of methods and a re-examination of the content of catechesis.

In 1971 the Congregation for the Clergy published a catechetical directory in which the importance of adult catechesis is mentioned. Adult catechesis is named as the chief form of catechesis.75 In 1972 the Rite of Christian Initiation (RCIA) was promulgated by Pope Paul VI.

This rite emphasized the importance of the Christian community in the process of catechesis.

The rite brought back the practice of persons being initiated into the community through stages which were marked by liturgical rites. It also emphasized the idea that adult baptism was

72 Sacred Congregation for the Clergy, General Catechetical Directory (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1971) no.17. Hereafter GCD. This is a quote of Second Vatican Council’s document, Christus Dominus, no.14.

73 Bryce, 231.

74 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, #8.

75 GCD, no.20.

33 normative, thus requiring faith formation for adults. In addition, in 1972 the American bishops published a pastoral letter, To Teach as Jesus Did, in which adults are located at the center of parish faith formation practice.76

Following the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October of 1974 – a synod which focused on evangelization – Pope Paul VI promulgated the post-synodal Apostolic

Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi in December of 1975 in which he clearly taught that

“[E]vangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize….”77 This document locates the activity of catechesis within the context of evangelization.78 After the Synod of Bishops meeting in October of 1977 which reflected on catechesis, Pope John Paul II wrote the Apostolic Exhortation On Catechesis in Our

Time in which he reiterates this idea. As quoted in the previous chapter, Pope John Paul II emphasized the absolute necessity of adult catechesis.79

Jane Regan, professor of faith formation at Boston College has noted that “while the earlier documents regularly included reference to the importance of adults, the amount of attention given within a particular document to the issue of adult catechesis has increased significantly over the years.”80 In 1997 the Congregation for the Clergy published the General

76 United States Catholic Conference, To Teach as Jesus Did: A Pastoral Message on Catholic Education (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1972).

77 Paul VI, On Evangelization in the Modern World, no.14.

78 Ibid., #14, 15, 22.

79 John Paul II, On Catechesis in Our Time, (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1979), no. 43.

80 Jane E. Regan. “Principles of Catechesis from Ecclesial Documents” in Empowering Catechetical Leaders, Thomas H. Groome, and Michael J. Corso, eds. (Washington, DC: National Catholic Education Association, 1999), 49.

Directory for Catechesis (GDC). This document begins its chapter on “Catechesis According to

Age” with several pages of discussion of adult catechesis.81 It is emphatic in promoting adult faith formation as a central activity of faith formation in the parish.

In the last several decades, the United States bishops have offered several publications promoting the faith formation of adults. Following the sixth plenary session of bishops in Rome in 1988, the US bishops published Adult Catechesis in the Christian Community82 which offered guidelines and reflections for promoting adult faith formation throughout the world.

Pope John Paul II promulgated a catechism in 1994 (revised in 1997) for all adult

Catholics.83 In 1999, the US bishops published a plan for implementing adult faith formation in dioceses and parishes in the United States called, Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us: A

Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the United States.84 This document gives detailed assistance in promoting adult faith formation events, but also in helping pastoral agents to be aware of the many other ways in which parish life forms faith. At the tenth year anniversary of this publication, a sense of a need for the renewal of the efforts this publication promotes was discussed among catechetical leaders. One example of this was the effort of the National

81 GDC, 165-170.

82 International Council for Catechesis, Adult Catechesis in the Christian Community: Some Principles and Guidelines, with Discussion Guide (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1990). “Preface” and “Discussion Guide” by United States Catholic Conference, Washington, DC, 1992.

83 Catechism of the Catholic Church, Revised in Accordance with the Official Latin Text Promulgated by Pope John Paul II, 2nd ed., (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1997). Hereafter, “CCC”.

84 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us: A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the United States (Washington, DC: USCCB, 1999). The USCCB also published a leader’s guide for this document.

Conference of Catechetical Leadership (NCCL) to reinvigorate promotion of this document.85 In

2006 the US bishops published the Catechism of the Catholic Church: The United States

Catholic Catechism for Adults.86 This text uses contemporary catechetical methodology which includes stories, prayers and pictures in addition to explaining the doctrines of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Also in 2006, Pope Benedict XVI promulgated The Compendium of the

Catechism of the Catholic Church.87 This volume synthesizes the teachings of the larger CCC.

In addition to the efforts of the NCCL to reinvigorate interest in AFF, publishers and organizations such as John Roberto’s Lifelong Faith Formation and Twenty-third Publications’

Pastoral Planning websites are fresh voices with much information to share regarding adult faith formation.88

Pope Benedict XVI named the year 2012 - 2013 The Year of Faith. He and the bishops called for leaders in faith communities to find ways to renew faith. The pope also called a Synod on the New Evangelization (Oct. 7-28, 2012) in which the concern for transmitting the faith was studied. Pope Francis continues to voice the concern for re-evangelization. In his encyclical,

Lumen Fidei (Light of Faith), Francis states,

The transmission of the faith not only brings light to men and women in every place; it travels through time, passing from one generation to another. Because faith is born of an

85 National Conference for Catechetical Leadership, https://nccl.wildapricot.org/Default.aspx?pageId=1455867. Accessed Mar.22, 2014.

86 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, The United States Catholic Catechism for Adults (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2006).

87Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, English translation of the Libreria Editrice Vaticana, promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI, (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, 2006).

88 John Roberto, Lifelong Faith Associates, http://www.lifelongfaith.com/, accessed Dec. 1, 2012. Twenty-third Publications, http://www.pastoralplanning.com /Accessed Mar. 22, 2014.

encounter which takes place in history and lights up our journey through time, it must be passed on in every age.89

And in his apostolic exhortation on evangelization, Pope Francis writes

In fidelity to the example of the Master, it is vitally important for the Church today to go forth and preach the Gospel to all: to all places, on all occasions, without hesitation, reluctance or fear. The joy of the Gospel is for all people: no one can be excluded.90

Clearly, the need to re-evangelize and to form the faith of contemporary Catholics is a high priority in the Church today.

It would seem that the Church has returned to its roots in understanding faith formation in the more holistic way of the New Testament communities. Not only is the church concerned about handing on information about the faith, but it is also stressing the formation of Christians in a way of life, and it is calling for a focus on adult faith formation. The challenge for pastoral ministers is to find ways to engage adults in faith formation.

89 Pope Francis, Lumen Fidei (Light of Faith), 2013, no. 38. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20130629_enciclica-lumen- fidei_en.html / Accessed Aug. 18, 2013.

90 Pope Francis, The Joy of the Gospel (Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 2013), no. 23.

CHAPTER THREE: THE CONTEXT FOR ADULT FAITH FORMATION

In the investigation of reasons why so few adult Catholics participate in adult faith formation opportunities it is important to look at the context in which this formation is being offered. As John Westerhoff III pointed out decades ago, the context in which Americans live no longer explicitly supports a Christian lifestyle.91 Contemporary Catholics are bathed in a stream of secular as well as competing religious ideas and values. Tom Beaudoin describes the formational impact of the secular culture in which we live:

One of the chief insights of twentieth-century sociology, anthropology, and theology is that religious meaning is always negotiated with respect to the mental “furniture” borrowed from one’s cultural environment and in connection with the immediate politics of value at play in one’s social world. Such values can and do arise from, and are reinforced by, somewhat “invisible” forces, such as socioeconomic structures and family histories. Part of the new reality, however, is that they also arise from and are reinforced by more concrete and daily experiences within popular media cultures, such as movies, sporting events, music, television, and the Internet. . . . These popular media culture aspects of daily life provide important elements of the milieu in which God’s grace is appropriated, religious meaning is negotiated, and political work is undertaken.92

Unfolding post-Vatican II theologies and postmodern ways of thinking are among the currents that influence adult Catholics. In additions to these influences, AFF practitioners also need to be aware of newer understandings and practices of adult education such as theories of learning and motivation. Understanding developments in the maturation process of a faith perspective is also helpful to AFF planners. Since faith formation is far more than rote learning of the catechism, it is important to look at an overall understanding of the notion of faith before attempting to find ways to form it.

91 John Westerhoff, III, Will Our Children Have Faith? rev. ed. (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 2000).

92 Tom Beaudoin, “’Virtual’ Catechesis: Religious Formation of the Post- Vatican II Generation,” in Horizons and Hope: The Future of Religious Education. Thomas H. Groome and Harold Daly Horell, eds. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2003), 66-67.

Faith

Faith begins with the divine initiative and involves a response on the part of the person.

Yet it is one of those experienced and observed realities that can be hard to describe or define.

As a reality that participates in mystery, it is truly beyond simple explanation. In the Bible, faith is often understood as an act of the mind assenting to what God has revealed. In the Old

Testament (OT) this assent frequently has a future orientation because of the promises God makes. Faith involves trust, belief, and fidelity.93 In the New Testament (NT) faith is related to believing in the salvific significance of the life, death and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the

Christ. “In the NT, to believe in Christ or to ‘have faith’ in him means for the Christian to encounter God through Jesus his son.”94

In patristic times the focus shifted from the act of faith to the content of the faith.95 For the early church fathers Christian faith was understood as “a reasonable free act of commitment and acknowledgement” that was also “a gift of divine illumination.”96 This notion of divine initiative in the act of faith was affirmed and first officially taught at the Second Council of

93 C. H. Pickar, “Faith in the Bible” in New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., vol.5. Berard Marthaler, OFM Conv., PhD., ed., et al. (Farmington Hills, MI: the Gale Group, Inc., 2002) 589-90.

94 Ibid., 591.

95 A. R. Jonsen, “Faith: Patristic Tradition and Teaching in the Early Church,” in New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., vol.5, 593-95.

96 Ibid., 594.

Orange in 52997 and has been the continuous teaching of the Church, including being found in the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation of Vatican II.98

St. Augustine is quoted as saying this about faith: “Yet even to believe is in fact nothing other than to think with assent.”99 He also recognized the dynamic aspect of faith: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, oh God.”100 Faith is a complex realty. “The term faith can refer to what one believes, or the power by which one believes, or the state of soul that belief creates.”101

Faith takes its starting point from God, not reason; nevertheless, reason plays an important role in the ongoing quest to understand God more deeply, to more carefully interpret biblical and scriptural texts, and to adequately respond to the challenges that affect everyday life from a faith-based perspective.102

Faith has many aspects: it is a gift; it is a free response; it has a holistic quality; it includes the acceptance of teachings; it fosters the cultivation of a personal relationship with God and the community, and relates to the life of the community.103 This all-encompassing faith is described by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI with a quote from Thomas Aquinas: “Faith is a habitus, that is,

97 A. R. Jonsen., 594-95.

98 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, no. 5 in Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, study edition, Austin Flannery, O.P., general editor (Northport, NY: Costello Publishing Company, 1986.

99 St. Augustine of Hippo, “On the Predestination of Saints” in The Fathers of the Church: A New Translation, Thomas P. Jalton, et. al., eds. (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1992), vol.86, 222.

100 Augustine of Hippo, The Confessions of Saint Augustine, trans. Bouverie Pusey (New York: Book-of-the- Month Club, 1991) Book 1, Ch. 1, par. 1.

101 Jonathan Z. Smith, ed. Harper Collins Dictionary of Religion (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1995),355.

102 Rosemary R. Carbine, “Faith” in An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies, Orlando Espín and James Nickoloff, eds. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2007) 444.

103 Ibid., 443-45.

40 a stable disposition of the spirit, through which eternal life takes root in us and reason is led to consent to what it does not see.”104

The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation teaches that faith is first, a response to an invitation to a relationship with the living God.105 Faith also has content. It involves belief, not only in various concepts but beyond knowing some thing, faith involves knowing the messenger – the Lord. Men and women respond to the one who brings the message, thus there is a personal knowing that is part of a relationship.106 Faith can be “understood as the deep and personal knowledge of God’s love.”107

Faith Formation

Terminology

In the discussion of AFF it is important to be aware of the overlapping meanings of the terms catechesis, religious education and faith formation. Depending on the time and the author, any of these terms may mean the same thing – helping a person to come into a closer relationship with Jesus, the Lord. But some authors give these terms very different meanings. The term

“religious education” came into usage in the United States among liberal Protestants in the early twentieth century. Eventually it came to be used primarily by Catholics in the United States. In

104 Pope Benedict XVI, Spe Salvi (Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 2007) no. 7. Reference to St. Thomas Aquinas’ explanation of “faith” in his Summa Theologiae, II – II ae, q. 4, a.1.

105 Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, no. 8 in Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents, study edition, Austin Flannery, O.P., ed. (Northport, NY: Costello Publishing Company,1986).

106 Craig Dykstra, Growing in the Life of Faith: Education and Christian Principles, 2nd ed. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005), 20-21.

107 Ibid., 39.

41 contemporary parlance, it refers to educating people in faith. Not all religious educators, or catechists, like the term, however. Much of the discussion around the changes in terminology reflects the changing understandings of the activities of faith formation. Rev. Robert Hater, commenting on the shift in terminology from “religious education” (used primarily in parishes) to “catechesis” (used frequently in Church documents) in the 1970’s said, “I propose that, in pastoral ministry, religious educators move away from the language of ‘religious education’ – total or otherwise – and incorporate the developments and positive insights of the past decade within the context of ‘catechesis.’”108 For some, the term “religious education” is too heavily related to a school model of faith formation109 while for others, such as Thomas Groome, education, and therefore “religious education,” is a very broad term.

As long as we realize that education is much broader than schooling, that good education needs to be a wholistic approach to the total person – cognitive, affective, and behavioral – then naming our activity as education provides us a rich tradition with an enormous body of literature and research.110

Michael Warren, on the other hand, sees “catechesis” as the broader term, extending back historically to the beginnings of Christianity and having a global location.111 One Protestant author noted that as late as the turn of the twenty-first century, confusion about the meaning of the term, “religious education,” continues to be a problem.

108 Robert Hater, Religious Education and Catechesis: A Shift in Focus (National Conference of Diocesan Directors of Religious Education – CCD, Washington, DC: 1981), 2.

109 John Westerhoff, III, Will Our Children Have Faith? rev. ed. (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing, 2000).

110 Thomas H. Groome, Christian Religious Education: Sharing Our Story and Vision (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publisher, 1980), 23.

111 Michael Warren, “Catechesis: An Enriching Category for Religious Education,” Religious Education vol.76, no. 2 (Mar. Apr. 1981), 119.

Despite numerous attempts to define the field, religious education continues to have a critical problem with its identity. Even the authorities in the field – those who write the books, journal articles, and denominational handbooks – seem quite unable to satisfactorily answer the question of “what is religious education.”112

An example of this in a Catholic document is in Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us in which the terms catechesis and faith formation are used interchangeably, while religious education is not used.113 The bishops are well aware of the fluidity of the terminology and comment on this in the “Afterward” of the document. They state that more study and reflection needs to happen before the terminology becomes standardized.114

In a recent publication, John Roberto, who works with both Catholic and Protestant communities, uses the term “faith formation” to refer to all the formal and informal ways a faith community teaches and hands on its faith.115 He observes that all that is and is not done in a parish has the potential to catechize. Yet Tom Beaudoin refers to catechesis as “intentional religious formation and education self-consciously associated with and sponsored by representatives of the Christian tradition.”116

In this study, the researcher follows the bishops in OHWB in using the language of faith formation and catechesis interchangeably, while primarily using the language of faith formation in the broad context of formal and informal ways in which people learn about and embody their

112 Harold W. Burgess, Models of Religious Education; Theory and Practice in Historical and Contemporary Perspective (Nappanee, IN: Evangel Publishing House, 2001), 18.

113 OHWB, no. 5.

114 Ibid., “Afterward,” 85-86.

115 John Roberto, Faith Formation 2020: Designing the Future of Faith Formation (Naugatuck, CT: Lifelong Faith Associates, 2010),1.

116 Beaudoin, “‘Virtual’ Catechesis,” 67.

43 faith, and the term catechesis for some specific programs of faith formation. When quoting experts, the researcher uses the language preference of that person.

Evangelization

Recognizing the dynamic, immanent and transcendent aspects of faith, one can see some of the challenges involved in naming, describing, planning, and doing faith formation. Faith formation involves many aspects of faith. The General Directory for Catechesis (GDC), following Pope John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation, On Catechesis in Our Time,117 and in unity with Pope Paul VI’s apostolic exhortation, On Evangelization in the Modern World,118 locates catechesis within the context of evangelization.119 Evangelization, at the heart of the Church’s self-identity, is a rich and complex reality.120 Faith formation, or catechesis, is a “moment” in this on-going evangelization.121 When faith formation is seen as an activity in the broad context of evangelization, the multi-dimensional nature of faith formation is obvious. Faith formation, or catechesis, is a ministry of the word that unfolds gradually. In accord with the teaching of the

Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, the GDC instructs catechists to take note of the stages by which the church is built up:

a) Christian witness, dialogue and presence in charity b) the proclamation of the Gospel and the call to conversion c) the catechumenate and Christian initiation

117 Pope John Paul II, On Catechesis in Our Time.

118 Pope Paul VI, On Evangelization in the Modern World.

119 Congregation for the Clergy, General Directory for Catechesis (Washington, DC: United States Catholic Conference, 1998). Hereafter referred to as the GDC.

120 On Evangelization in the Modern World, no.14.

121 GDC, no. 49.

d) the formation of the Christian communities through and by means of the sacraments and their ministers122

Formation as Holistic and Transformative

Thomas Groome discusses the dynamic nature of faith as believing, trusting and doing.

This understanding led him to develop a holistic approach to catechesis called shared praxis in which the whole person of the learner is engaged.123 Leon McKenzie situates religious education in the context of human meaning-making. “Religious education [is] a process that enables persons 1) to acquire meaning, 2) to explore and expand meaning, and 3) to express meaning in a productive manner.”124

Jane Regan relates faith to meaning-making also: “To be human is to engage in the process of finding the patterns and forms and relationships that give unity and significance to one’s life.”125 Regan refers to the work of Robert Kegan, H. Richard Niebuhr, Paul Tillich,

David Tracy, James Fowler, and others when indicating the “unfinished” sense of self men and women frequently experience (especially when a disorienting event has taken place), and how these experiences move the person toward the transcendent.126 In the process of trying to understand and make sense of life, persons grow in knowledge of the world and of themselves as

122 Ibid., no. 47. Reference is made to The Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity from the Second Vatican Council, no. 11-18.

123 Groome, 184-232. In his later work he refers to this approach as “life to faith to life.” See Thomas Groome, Will There Be Faith? A New Vision for Educating and Growing Disciples (New York: Harper One, 2011), 261-337.

124 Leon McKenzie, “The Purposes and Scope of Adult Religious Education,” in Handbook of Adult Religious Education, Nancy to Foltz, ed. (Birmingham, AL: Religious Education Press, 1986), 10.

125 Jane Regan, Toward an Adult Church: A Vision of Faith Formation (Chicago: Loyola Press, 2002), 32.

126 Ibid., 39-42

45 meaning-makers. Faith, therefore, is “a constitutive knowing in which the active meaning- making subject as well as the world is being constructed, shaped. 127

McKenzie states that faith formation begins with helping the child or catechumen to build a framework of meaning in the Christian context. This provides order and stability in the life of the learner and helps the person develop his or her own identity, a Christian identity. “One’s existential stance toward reality is founded on a particular tradition and continuity with the past.”128 Throughout the life of the adult then, faith formation involves meaning frameworks being expanded. 129 For McKenzie, it is most important for adults and adolescents to reflect on their faith tradition in light of their life experiences so that their religious commitment is “truly personal and more than a mere submission to religious convention.”130 Nancy Foltz also promotes a holistic understanding of faith which requires a broadened understanding of adult religious education: “The task of adult religious education is that of integration, of bringing into harmony what we think, feel, act and live.”131

Jack Mezirow, an expert in the field of adult education, states that the education of adults involves the acquisition of a meaning framework, exploring and expanding the framework, and learning how to express meaning.132 Mezirow also speaks of the transformative nature of education. The adult has a framework which is changed by new learning.

127 Ibid., 46.

128 McKenzie, “The Purposes and Scope,” 11.

129 Ibid., 11-12.

130 Ibid., 12.

131 Nancy T. Foltz, “the Future of Adult Religious Education,” in Handbook of Adult Religious Education, Nancy to Foltz, ed. (Birmingham, AL: Religious Education Press, 1986) 233.

132 McKenzie, 11-13.

We make meaning of our experience through acquired frames of reference – sets or orienting assumptions and expectations with cognitive, affective, and conative dimensions – that shape, delimit, and sometimes distort our understanding. We transform our frames of reference by becoming critically reflective of our assumptions to make them more dependable when the beliefs and understandings they generate become problematic.133 Thus faith formation has the potential to change meaning frameworks and affect the entire person.

Peter Jarvis, renowned adult educator, emphasizes the idea that in any kind of learning, a person is always in the process of becoming. Learning is

the combination of processes throughout a lifetime whereby the whole person – body (genetic, physical and biological) and mind (knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, emotions, meanings, beliefs and senses) – experiences social situations, the content of which is then transformed cognitively, emotively, and integrated into the individual person’s biography resting in a continually changing (or more experienced) person.134

Jarvis sees all learning as transformative for the learner, thus faith formation also has the potential to be transformative. Clearly faith formation is engaging with a dynamic and important reality in the life of the believer.

Thomas Groome speaks of religious education as something that not only teaches the content of the faith, but that it is a process that forms, informs and transforms.135 “Christian faith as embodied in human existence calls for at least three activities: believing, trusting and

133 Jack Mezirow, “Transformative Learning Theory” in Transformative Learning in Practice: Insights from Community, Workplace, and Higher Education, Jack Mezirow and Edward W. Taylor, eds. (San Francisco: Jossey- Bass, 2009), 29-30.

134 Peter Jarvis, Adult Education and Lifelong Learning: Theory and Practice, 4th ed. (New York: Routledge, 2010), 39.

135 Thomas H. Groome, “The Purposes of Christian Catechesis” in Empowering Catechetical Leaders, Thomas H. Groome and Michael J. Corso, eds. (Washington, DC: National Catholic Education Association, 1999), 22.

47 doing.”136 It is this doing of faith – this giving glory to God and proclaiming the Reign of God – that requires all adults to continuously mature in their faith. “Only by becoming an adult in the faith is one able to fulfill his or her duties toward others, as is required by the vocation given to each at baptism.”137

Faith formation, or growth in faith, has often been described using journey language, with the metaphor of a person moving toward a destination. Faith growth has also been compared to the growth of an organic structure.138 Religious educator Craig Dykstra states that while these may be helpful images, neither of the metaphors give full appreciation to the role of the Holy

Spirit in promoting the life of faith in the person.139 When faith is “understood as the deep and personal knowledge of God’s love,”140 then growth or development in faith can be understood as the transformation that occurs in a person as they participate ever more deeply in the life God offers. 141

136 Thomas H. Groome, Christian Religious Education: Sharing Our Story and Vision (San Francisco: Jossey- Bass, 1999), 77.

137 International Council for Catechesis, Adult Catechesis in the Christian Community, no.21 in The Catechetical Documents: A Parish Resource, Martin Connell, ed. (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1996).

138 Craig Dykstra, Growing in the Life of Faith: Education and Christian Practices, 2nd ed. (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2005), 35.

139 Ibid., 38.

140 Ibid., 39.

141 Ibid., 40.

Content and Relationship

At the center of faith formation for the Christian is a person, the person of Jesus Christ.142

Indeed, the goal of faith formation is relational: to help a person to have an ever more intimate relationship with God in Christ.

The definitive aim of catechesis is to put people not only in touch but in communion, in intimacy with Jesus Christ; only he can lead us to the love of the Father in the Spirit and make us share in the life of the Holy Trinity.143

To accomplish such a task requires far more than learning propositions. McKenzie invites us to see beyond a “religion as a subject” model of faith formation and look at a much wider picture:

Regarding the religious education of adults, the community of learners is the kerygma. The social process is the proclamation. The context is the communication. We do not acquire meaning, explore and expand meaning structures, and learn how to express meaning primarily on the basis of the study of religious abstractions (although such studies are important and influential), but rather on the basis of lived experiences in a community of shared values. The primary dimension of religious education is delineated by the New Testament concept of koinonia: fellowship.144

The USCCB succinctly states this same concept: the parish is the curriculum. Learning about the faith happens both through formal programs and through being a part of various activities of parish life. For intentional programs to be successful, the quality of the “total fabric of parish life” must be considered.145

Adult faith formation involves the intimate relationship between Jesus and the adult learner. Since the focus is on relationship and meaning-making, “one of the distinct features of adult religious education is that the center of attention is not curriculum but the learners

142 John Paul II, On Catechesis in Our Time, no.5.

143 Ibid.

144 McKenzie, The Purposes and Scope, 15.

145 USCCB, OHWB, no. 118.

49 themselves.”146 Religious educator Marie Gillen emphasizes that the relational aspect of faith formation requires experiential formation:

The objective is not a set of dictums to be merely transmitted. . . . The simple transmission of facts rarely prompts people to apply religious concepts to their own lives or to have a personal relationship with God, because the connection of facts to everyday experience somehow falls between the cracks and is lost.147

Adult Learning

During the course of the twentieth century, educators gave increasing attention to the process of adult learning. The concept of lifelong learning was promoted from the early 1900’s by John Dewey.148 In the 1920’s, Edward C. Lindeman “laid the foundation for a systematic theory about adult learning.”149 Numerous experts and researchers published new insights about learning theory throughout the twentieth century.150 Examples are Carl Jung, who saw the need for adult religious education especially in the second half of life, and Erik Erikson who developed a theory of human development that included different needs in each stage.151

Malcolm Knowles extracted principles from Lindeman’s work and examined Carl Rogers’

146 Nancy Foltz, “Basic Principles of Adult Religious Education” in Handbook of Adult Religious Education (Birmingham, AL: Religious Education Press, 1986), 31.

147 Marie Gillen, “Learning from the Significant Events of the Decade” in Adult Religious Education: A Journey of Faith, eds. Marie A Gillen and Maurice C. Taylor (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1995), 20.

148 John Dewey, Experience and Education (New York: MacMillan, 1938).

149 Malcolm Knowles, et.al., The Adult Learner: The Definitive Classic in Adult Education and Human Resource Development , 6th ed. (Burlington, MA: Elsevier, 2005), 37.

150 For a list of “propounders” and “interpreters” of education theory, see Malcolm Knowles, et. al., The Adult Learner, 19-20.

151 John Elias, The Foundations and Practice of Adult Religious Education, rev. ed. (Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing, Co., 1993), 3.

50 contributions to education.152 Since 1949, with the publication of Harry Overstreet’s The Mature

Mind,153numerous educators have worked to create an integrated view of the adult learner that takes into account the social sciences, human development theories, and learning theories.154

Human and Spiritual Development

Throughout the twentieth century numerous scholars in the fields of psychology, sociology, education, and others, researched human behavior and motivation. From this work came multiple theories about the needs and urges that drive human behavior. Jean Piaget, who initiated the study of human development, proposed that humans go through predictable stages of growth in perception, understanding and reasoning.155 Maslow argued that humans function from a hierarchy of needs, requiring the most basic to be met before the higher order functions were engaged.156 Lawrence Kohlberg studied stages of moral development among males, 157 to which

Carol Gilligan responded with studies of moral development in females.158 Erik Erikson focused on studying the life cycle of the self, in which subsequent stages of self-development were found

152 Knowles, et. al., 49.

153 Harry Overstreet, The Mature Mind (New York: W. W. Norton, 1949).

154 Knowles, et. al., 58.

155 Jean Piaget and Bärbel Inhelder, The Psychology of the Child (New York: Basic Books, 1969).

156 Abraham Maslow, Motivation and Personality, 3rd. ed. rev. Robert Frager, et. al. (New York: Harper Row, 1987). 157 Lawrence Kohlberg, “Stages of Development as a Basis for Education,” in Moral Development, Moral Education, and Kohlberg: Basic Issues in Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, and Education, ed. Brenda Munsey (Birmingham, AL: Religious Education Press, 15-100.

158 Carol Gilligan, In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982).

51 to have different foci.159 Robert Kegan offered a non-hierarchical understanding of human development that follows a spiral of movement from dependence to independence and back.160

These researchers and many others all agree that there is movement, change, and/or growth in human thinking. This work sheds light on the changing spiritual needs of men and women also.

Spiritual Growth

Experience teaches us that faith, a living entity, grows. As a person ages, he or she faces new challenges and concerns. Many of these challenges are in the area of faith, or meaning- making. In looking at this growth or development of faith, David Richo suggests a pattern similar to the learning pattern described by Mezirow:161 a disorienting dilemma in which a person first finds himself or herself contained in a familiar set of beliefs and values, then he or she is moved to question those beliefs in response to a life experience, and third, he or she comes back to belief but with a new perspective.162

James Fowler has spent decades researching and writing about faith development. For him, “faith is a generic feature of the human struggle to find and maintain meaning” which “may or may not find religious expression.”163 It includes “the interrelated dimensions human

159 Erik Erickson, Life Cycle Completed (New York: W.W. Norton, 1982).

160 Robert Kegan, The Evolving Self: Problem and Process in Human Development (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1982).

161 Jack Mezirow and Victoria Marsick, Education for Perspective Transformation: Women’s Re-entry Programs in Community Colleges (New York: Columbia University Center for Adult Education, Teachers College, 1978).

162 David Richo, How to Be an Adult in Faith and Spirituality (New York: Paulist Press, 2011),17.

163 James W. Fowler, Stages of Faith: The Psychology of human Development and the Quest for Meaning (San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1981), 91.

52 knowing, valuing, committing and acting.”164 In looking at faith as something that is not necessarily religious, Fowler echoes Paul Tillich’s assertion that faith is about the things in our lives that are of ultimate concern.165 Fowler asserts that

Our real worship, our true devotion, directs itself toward the objects of our ultimate concern. That ultimate concern may center finally in our own ego or its extensions – work, prestige, and recognition, power and influence, wealth. One’s ultimate concern may be invested in family, university, nation or church. . . . Faith as a state of being ultimately concerned may not find its expressions in institutional or cultic religious forms.166

In Fowler’s understanding of faith, there are patterns of faith that are related to the needs of the stages of human development. He observed patterns of thinking about and relating to God that progressively change as humans mature. He also recognized that not all adults advance to the latter stages.167

While there has been much critique of these and other theories of human and faith development, being aware of the changing needs of aging humans can be very helpful for the

AFF planner. Clearly, the spiritual needs of all ages of adults need to be considered. Designing and offering programs that specifically focus on the challenges of a given stage may increase adult participation in AFF. As Edge and Life Teen168offer, respectively, holistic faith formation for young adolescents and high school teens, so should parishes offer faith formation programs of liturgy, song, catechesis and fellowship that address the deepest hungers of adult development.

164 Ibid., 92.

165 Paul Tillich, Dynamics of Faith (New York: Harper and Row, 1957).

166 Fowler, 4.

167 Ibid., 91-116.

168 Edge and Life Teen are Catholic multi-media youth ministry programs for parishes. http://catholicyouthministry.com/ about/. Accessed Mar. 22, 2014.

A Systems Approach

Given that there are so many elements operating in the process of faith formation in the parish, employing a family systems type approach to parish life may help rejuvenate not only faith formation in the parish but parish life in general.169 In family systems theory “each family member is influenced not only by the presence of others in their immediate family but also by intergenerational patterns that are transmitted, largely unconsciously, as family norms.”170

Edwin H. Friedman, a clinical psychologist and Jewish rabbi, had the insight to apply family systems thinking to congregational life.171 When looking at any type of behavior he insists that the larger context must always be considered: “When one part of that organism [family] is treated in isolation from its interconnections with another, as though the problem were solely its own, fundamental change is not likely.”172

In a similar vein, Ronald W. Richardson, a pastoral counselor, has applied the family systems theory to congregational life.

In the systems model, there is recognition of the connections between people. It says that people can only be understood fully within the context of their relationships. No one lives or acts in isolation, and we are all affected by each other’s behavior.173

169 Examples of this systems approach to parish leadership can be found in Friedman and Richardson: Edwin H. Friedman, Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue (New York: The Guilford Press, 1985); Ronald W. Richardson, Creating a Healthier Church: Family Systems Theory, Leadership, and Congregational Life (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1996).

170 Felicity B. Kelcourse, “Theories of Human Development” in Human Development and faith: Life-cycle stages of Body, Mind and Soul, Felicity B. Kelcourse, ed. (St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2004), 49.

171 Friedman.

172 Ibid., 20.

173 Richardson.

Systems thinking can help parish leadership to see the connections among all of the activities in the parish and to be intentional about seeing these activities through a catechetical lens. AFF practitioners need to set up environments in which men and women can encounter the Holy

Spirit as they seek to meet their deepest desires.

Andragogy

In the 1970s and 1980s in the field of education, there was much questioning and rethinking about the nature of teaching and learning. By 1970, Malcolm Knowles put many of the insights together in a learning theory he called, “andragogy.” Initially he saw this as a method in opposition to pedagogy (the methodology of teaching children). The key elements of an andragogical model of teaching include a) the adult’s need to know, b) the learner’s self-concept, c) the role of the learner’s experience, d) the learner’s readiness to learn, e) a problem-centered orientation to learning, and f) motivation.174 After much critique and numerous studies by other educators, Knowles eventually came to believe that adults and children could benefit from either approach, depending on the specifics of a given situation.175

While the pedagogical model focuses on content, the andragogical model focuses on process. In andragogy, the teacher or facilitator creates a set of procedures for involving the learners in the learning process. The process includes preparing the learner, creating an environment conducive to learning, the creation of a mechanism for mutual planning, a diagnosis

174 Ibid., 61-68.

175 Jarvis, 53.

55 of learning needs, the process of having learning experiences, the evaluation of learning outcomes, and a new diagnosis of new learning needs.176

Learning as Transformation

At the same time that Knowles was doing his work, learning as transformation began to be studied and researchers D. A. Kolb and R. Fry proposed an experiential learning cycle which involved concrete experience, observation and reflection, formulation of abstract concepts and generalizations, and testing of implications of concepts on new situations.177 As these understandings about the learning processes were unfolding, developments in the understanding of religious education were unfolding also. The need for a better way to hand on that revelation came into focus with the updated understanding of Revelation in Dei Verbum.178 Gabriel

Moran’s work with the methodology of catechesis was grounded in this dynamic new understanding of revelation.179 In reflecting on the development of AFF in the twentieth century,

Moran wryly commented that decade after decade the Church discovered anew the need for

AFF. “Nearly every major writer on church education from 1910 onward has a variation on that announcement.”180

176 Knowles, 115.

177 David A. Kolb and Ronald Fry “Towards an Applied Theory of Experiential Learning” in Theories of Group Processes, C. L. Cooper, ed. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1975), 33-37.

178 Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum, the Basic Sixteen Documents of Vatican Council II: Constitutions, Decrees, Declarations, ed. Austin Flannery, O.P., rev. trans. (Northport, NY: Costello Publishing Co., 1996).

179 Gabriel Moran, Catechesis of Revelation (New York: Herder and Herder, 1966).

180 Gabriel Moran, Fashioning a People Today: The Educational Insights of Maria Harris (New London, CT: Twenty-Third Publisher, 2007), 39.

As more study of adult learning took place, many insights regarding adult learners have led to new ways of teaching adults. Many of these insights can be helpful in constructing and facilitating AFF programs. In 1986, Laurent Daloz discussed the importance of a “good enough environment” in order to promote learning. He referred to D. W. Winnicott’s work,

Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment, 181in which Winnicott states that the learning environment needs to be good enough to support the needs of the learner, but not so perfectly supportive that he or she feels no need to move on. While Winnicott primarily focused on children, Robert Kegan extended the same concept across the life span, with an understanding of adults continuing to move from disequilibrium to equilibrium and back to disequilibrium as new situations confront the person.182 Daloz summed up the learning process:

[T]he “good enough” environment both meets and contradicts our needs for growth and, in so doing, calls forth an essential developmental dialogue, an internal conversation through which we struggle to make sense of the conflicting messages coming from a changing world.183 Jack Mezirow has published numerous books on what he calls transformative learning.184

He refers to the above concept of disequilibrium as being caused by a “disorienting dilemma.”185

The dilemma is followed by nine steps of a process that result in a changed perspective and a

181 Donald Woods Winnicott, Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment: Studies in the Theory of Emotional Development (New York: International Universities Press, 1965).

182 Laurent A. Daloz, Effective Teaching and Mentoring: Realizing the Transformational Power of Adult Learning Experiences (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1986), 190.

183 Daloz, 192.

184 This theory originated with his work on changing perspectives: Jack Mezirow, Education for Perspective Transformation: Women Re-entry Programs in Community College (New York: Center for Adult Education, Teachers’ College, Columbia University, 1978). He has written numerous books and articles on the concept of transformative learning in the thirty years since this publication.

185 Mezirow, Jack, Edward W. Taylor, and Associates, Transformative Learning in Practice: Insights from Community, Workplace, and Higher Education (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009), 19.

57 restoration of equilibrium. Transformative learning involves educating from a new world view – not an easy task! For this to happen, adult education expert, Edward W. Taylor, insists that the educator first needs to be willing to be transformed. He or she needs to have a deeper awareness of his or her own frames of reference and premises.186 Loretta Grazaitis explains that external events often cause crises in the life of the developing adult that require reflection and an internal assimilation in order to resolve it.187 She states, “This search for value, for meaning in one’s life, is the ongoing process of maturation and neither age nor status complete it or bring it to fruition.”188 Likewise, Fred Eyerman speaks of the dynamic, always unfinished business of becoming the mature Christian: “It is the journey each of us must travel in search of our authentic self, to be who we are called to be through the uniqueness of our birth and the grace- filled moments of daily life.”189 Eyerman proposes that the job of adult religious educators is to help people acquire meaning, explore and expand meaning effectively, and help others reclaim meaning.190

Motivation

An enhanced understanding of the activity of learning can help inform the practice of adult faith formation in the parish. Applying such a holistic understanding of learning to faith

186 Edward W. Taylor, “Transformative Learning Theory” in New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education: Third Update on adult Learning Theory, Sharan B. Merriam, ed. 119, Fall 2008, 13.

187 Loretta Grazaitis, “The Mature Christian Adult” in Agenda for the 90’s: Forging the Future of Adult Religious Education, Neil Parent, ed. (Washington, DC: USCC, 1989), 9.

188 Ibid., 3.

189 Fred Eyerman, “Reclaiming Meaning: A Response to the Mature Christian Adult” in Agenda for the 90’s: Forging the Future of Adult Religious Education, Neil Parent, ed. (Washington, DC: USCC, 1989), 14.

190 Ibid., 15.

58 formation makes great sense in light of our theology that teaches that the whole person, body and soul, is saved in Christ. But what motivates adult learners to come to AFF? What is motivation?

Motivation appears to be a complex concept. Sansone and Harackiewicz describe motivation as simply that which “energizes and guides behavior toward reaching a particular goal.”191 In the twentieth century, experts in the field of psychology studied explanations for behavior by looking at a) biological needs necessary for survival and procreation and b) extrinsic rewards or punishments. As studies advanced, some researchers realized that in addition to biological needs and extrinsic rewards, some behaviors were engaged in simply for the pure enjoyment of the activity, or intrinsic reward. Subsequent research on motivation has found that individuals seem to have an inborn need to feel competent and in control.192 To this research

Deci and Ryan have added the notion of self-determination theory (SDT).

Self-determination theory assumes that humans have inherent propensities to be intrinsically motivated, to assimilate their social and physical world, to integrate external regulations into self-regulations, and in so doing, integrate themselves into a larger whole.193

Deci and Ryan propose that in SDT, the integrating tendencies work “in conjunction with basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness.”194 Much subsequent research in motivation theory has shown that imposing contingent rewards on behaviors that would have been done anyway because of their intrinsic value (i.e. the values of enjoying

191 Carol Sansone and Judith M. Harackiewicz, eds. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: The Search for Optimal Motivation and Performance (New York: Academic Press, 2000), 1.

192 Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci, “When Rewards Compete with Nature: the Undermining of Intrinsic Motivation and Self-Regulation” in Sansone and Harackiewicz, 13-54.

193 Ryan and Deci, 14.

194 Ibid.

59 community, tradition, learned values, or of experiencing natural consequences) replaces these values as rewards. The learners seem to become conditioned to look for extrinsic rewards. Deci and Ryan believe that the result is a global culture that functions along the lines of B. F.

Skinner’s extrinsic reward system. They further argue that if a person experiences an increased sense of autonomy, control and competence, intrinsic motivation is increased.195 As this researcher read about these findings, she wondered if the practice of the “prize” of receiving

Confirmation at the end of a long preparation in high school did not have a similar effect on young Catholics. What if Confirmation were celebrated at a younger age and young Catholics gathered for faith formation simply for the enjoyment of being with one another and learning about their faith? Would this eventually lead to more participation among adults? These core ideas about motivation also need to be applied to the manner in which we do AFF. Do our AFF programs and events promote feelings of autonomy, personal control and competence?

So what is at the root of motivation? Numerous theories and studies on motivation have produced a large body of interesting and conflicting information on what motivates adults to learn. A socio-constructivism perspective which uses the work of sociology and anthropology, understands “that people learn from other people and objects in the world.”196 Another perspective that stands behind various theories is an individualistic, mechanistic framework. 197

Interest and curiosity also seem to energize the adult learner; promoting learning among adults requires the teacher to pay attention to the bigger picture of the teaching and learning context.

195 Ibid., 16.

196 Raymond Wlodkowski, “What Motivates Adults to Learn?” in Adult Learning Theories, Principles, and Applications, edited by Sharan B. Merriam, et. al. (New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2002), 243.

197 Ibid.

In the 1970’s and 80’s various studies sought to understand why people choose to learn something. Patricia Cross analyzed a number of these studies and summarized the findings.198

Among the motivators were extrinsic and intrinsic rewards, pragmatic concerns such as responding to life and family transitions, and the desire to improve oneself.

Wlodkowski stresses the need to pay attention to the motivational conditions. Adult learners need to feel respected by the teacher and accepted in the learning situation by the other learners. An attitude that predisposes a learner to learn is often created when the learner understands that which is being taught as resonating with his or her life. Adults are usually motivated to continue learning when they can apply what they are learning and have a sense of making progress. For adults, the goal of and the process of learning give meaning to each other.

Adults also have a strong desire to see themselves as competent. Competence engenders confidence, which in turn, promotes a positive attitude toward learning. Wlodkowski refers to this plan for enhancing motivation “the Motivational Framework for Culturally Responsive

Teaching.”199 It includes four essential conditions: establishing inclusion, developing (a favorable) attitude, enhancing meaning, and engendering competence.200

John Keller, an adult education researcher, proposed a strategy for enhancing motivation to learn: the ARCS Motivation Model.201 The requirements of this strategy are 1) gain and sustain attention of the learner; 2) establish the relevance of the class or program; 3) establish an

198 K. Patricia Cross, Adults as Learners (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1984), 81-108.

199 Raymond Wlodkowski, “What Motivates Adults to Learn?” 244-249.

200 Ibid., 249.

201 John M. Keller, “Strategies for Stimulating the Motivation to Learn,” Performance and Instruction 26 (October 1987), 1-7.

61 expectancy of confidence in the learner regarding success in learning the material; and 4) promoting a feeling of success in learning. With regard to AFF, these basic considerations need to be a part of the planning and promoting of AFF opportunities.

Baumeister and Leary promote the hypothesis that the need to belong is a fundamental human motivation. Authentic belonging involves frequent pleasant social interaction with at least a few other individuals and a somewhat stable and enduring context in which a person experiences genuine concern. They argue that this need to belong causes a person to seek out stable caring relationships.202 Those who plan AFF need to consider the importance of such motivation in a parish setting.

While there has been much research in education regarding motivation for learning, what motivates an adult who is not seeking a clear cognitive goal? Brophy looked at the context in which intrinsic motivation is promoted. In line with Deci and Ryan’s discussion on the need for learners to feel competent, autonomous and to value the relevance of a learning situation,203

Brophy found that in intrinsically motivated situations, the learner cannot feel that a task is too difficult, nor can he or she feel pressured or threatened. Readiness for a task is essential.

[T]he features of a learning domain or activity must line up with the learner’s prior knowledge and experiences in such a way as to stimulate interest in pursuing the learning. . . . [motivational readiness] would not occur if the activity were overly familiar to the point that the learner had become satiated with it (at least temporarily), if it were so unfamiliar that the learner could not understand or appreciate its potential value, or if the learner’s prior experiences with it had been unrewarding.204

202 Roy F. Baumeister and Mark R. Leary, “The Need to Belong: Desire for Interpersonal Attachments as a Fundamental Human Motivation” in Psychological Bulletin 117, no. 3, (1995), 497-529.

203 Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci, “Promoting Self-determined Education” in Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 38:1 (1994), 3-14.

204 Jere Brophy, “Toward a Model of the Value Aspects of Motivation in Education: Developing Appreciation for Particular Learning Domains and Activities” in Educational Psychologist 34(2), (Spring 1999), 77.

Brophy also expands on the relevancy theme by emphasizing the importance of considering the learner’s perception of himself or herself and how well a particular learning opportunity matches his or her personal agenda. Not only is the learning opportunity relevant to his or her life, but is it connected to his or her self-identity? In other words, the learner asks, “Am I the kind of person who wants to learn this?”205 In addition, learners sometimes need assistance in seeing how a learning opportunity is relevant or helpful. In the context of AFF, it seems that in many cases we have not developed the framework of expectations among our adult parishioners that they can even imagine how much of the AFF we offer could have anything to do with their agenda, or with their identity as a Catholic. AFF practitioners could find reflection on these concepts very fruitful in doing long range planning.

John R. Zaums, religious educator, weighs in on this subject of motivation: “No matter how often we are exposed to answers, religious or otherwise, little or no learning takes place without prior questioning, reflection, and frequently, dialogue.”206 Most adult education and adult religious educators seem to agree: the key in motivation seems to be in relating the faith formation to the life of the learner. Maurice Monette and Matthew Hayes suggest using the pastoral cycle of Peter Henriot and Joe Holland207 to plan AFF programs. 208 This process calls for giving adults the opportunity to tell their stories, to reflect on causes and consequences, to

205 Ibid., 79.

206 John R. Zaums “A Church that Learns: Adult Religious Education” in Agenda for the 90’s: Forging the Future of Adult Religious Education, Neil Parent, ed. (Washington, DC: USCC, 1989), 42.

207 Peter Henriot and Joe Holland, Social Analysis (New York: Orbis books and Center of Concern, 1983), 7-30.

208 Maurice L. Monette, OMI, “The Social and Cultural Context of Adult Religious Education” in Agenda for the 90’s: Forging the Future of Adult Religious Education, 57-64, and Matthew Hayes, “The Challenge to Be Relevant and Effective: a Response to the Social and Cultural Content of Adult Religious Education” in the same volume, 65- 70.

63 examine issues in light of the Gospel and Church teachings, and then to plan appropriate responses.209 If the planning and implementation is “done effectively, the potential adult religious education participant will be motivated to become involved because the program is tied to the stories of how social structures touch his or her life.”210 This cycle of learning is similar to

Thomas Groome’s “life to faith to life” process of faith formation, Bernard Lonergan’s theological process, Alison Le Cornu’s work with reflection, and to cycles of learning proposed by experts in the field of learning and brain biology, including Bernice McCarthy and Dennis

McCarthy, K. A. Kolb, and James E. Zull.211 In recent years, brain research has demonstrated a connection between biological processes and these theories of learning cycles. Zull’s work connects biology with learning theory and finds a remarkable match in brain science with these similar proposed theories: these theories of learning follow the biological process of the brain -- receiving sensory input, integrating it, and then moving to action.212 Further research in both the behavioral and biological aspects of motivation and learning will hopefully enhance future efforts in AFF.

209 Ibid.

210 Matthew Hayes, 66.

211 See Thomas Groome, Will There Be Faith? A New Vision for Educating and Growing Disciples (New York: Harper One, 2011); Bernard J. F. Lonergan, Insight: a Study of Human Understanding, ed. Crowe, Frederick E. and Robert M. Doran, Collected Works of Bernard Lonergan, vol.3 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992); Alison Le Cornu, “Meaning, Internalization and Externalization: Toward a Fuller Understanding of the Process of Reflection and Its Role in the Construction of the Self” in Adult Education Quarterly, 59, no. 4 (August 2009) 279- 297; Bernice McCarthy and Dennis McCarthy, Teaching Around the 4MAT Cycle: Designing Instruction for Diverse Learners With Diverse Learning Styles (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2006); David a. Kolb, Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1983); and James E. Zull, The Art of Changing the Brain: Enriching Teaching by Exploring the Biology of Learning (Sterling, VA: Stylus Publishing, 2002).

212 Zull, 18-22.

These studies on motivation offer many insights for the AFF planner. A century of study on motivation has shown that there is rarely a single cause at work, nor is there one theory or framework that can adequately explain motivation.213 Biological needs, extrinsic rewards, intrinsic rewards, the needs to feel competent, autonomous, and in control, curiosity, inclusion, positive or negative attitudes, meaning-making, success, relevancy, self-identity, reflection, learning cycles, biological processes in the brain - these and many more factors all seem to affect motivation. Clearly AFF practitioners cannot simply “build it” and expect “they will come.”

Successful AFF planning needs to consider a very broad perspective.

Cultural Context

Cultural considerations must always be taken into account when looking at motivation for learning in faith formation. Connecting motivation to transformative learning, Jack Mezirow emphasizes the need to attend to the “culturally-defined frame of reference” of the learner.214

Wlodkowski also emphasizes the importance of culture in affecting motivation:

The language we use to think, the way we travel through our thoughts, and how we communicate cannot be separated from cultural practices and cultural context….We are the history of our lives, and our motivation is inseparable from our learning, which is inseparable from our cultural experience.215

The assumptions that stand behind our ways of doing things are usually rooted in cultural contexts. As the United States has become an increasingly multi-cultural country, it is very

213 Richard M. Ryan, “Motivation and the Organization of Human Behavior: Three Reasons for the Re-emergence of a Field” in The Oxford Handbook of Human Motivation, ed. Richard M. Ryan (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 5.

214 Jack Mezirow, “Contemporary Paradigms of Learning,” Adult Education Quarterly 46 (Spring 1996): 162.

215 Raymond J. Wlodkowski, Enhancing Adult Motivation to Learn: A Comprehensive Guide for Teaching all Adults, 3rd. ed. (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2008), 2-3.

65 much a concern of the United States bishops to attend to the needs of those many cultures. To that end, they have created the Office of Cultural Diversity in the Church.

Throughout the United States we experience a profound demographic shift as Hispanics, Asians, Caribbean people, Africans and many other communities of non-European origin are on the rise. Today as ever the Church's mission to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and promote the life and dignity of each and every human being has much to do with insight into cultures.216

A Shift in Thinking

Beyond attending to ethnic, national and racial differences, in the last several decades, numerous men and women have been sensing and trying to name and /or describe a huge global, cultural shift. Phyllis Tickle, founding editor of the Religion Department of Publishers’Weekly, refers to the “witty and wise” Right Reverend Mark Dyer, an Anglican bishop, who “famously observes from time to time that the only way to understand what is currently happening to us as twenty-first century Christians in North America is first to understand that about every five hundred years the Church feels compelled to hold a giant rummage sale.”217 In agreement with

Dyer, it is her thesis that the Church seems to follow a five-hundred-year pattern – gradually building up to a major change, changing, and then growing out of that change. Each of these major changes sends the Church on a new trajectory for the life of the Church.218 Stanley

Hauerwas and William H. Willimon had begun looking at the current shift in the 1980’s. They attempted to locate when this shift began: their study indicated that “sometime between 1960 and

216 Allan F. Deck, “Welcome Message” for Office of Cultural Diversity in the Church. http://www.usccb.org/ about/cultural-diversity-in-the-church/ Accessed Mar. 19, 2014.

217 Phyllis Tickle, The Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing and Why (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2008), 16.

218 Tickle, 16. The book, The Great Emergence, describes these patterns over the 2000 year history of the Church.

1980, an old, inadequately conceived world ended, and a fresh, new world began.”219 They describe how, by 1980, the Constantinian Christianity in which the culture interacted with and upheld the church had faded away. 220 As this line of thinking has developed, we now find ourselves in a situation many call “postmodern.” In the early 90’s, Zygmunt Bauman was also observing this shift in thinking as a new way of being in which there are no truths, standards, or ideals.221

The postmodern perspective reveals the world as composed of an indefinite number of meaning-making agencies, all relatively self-sustained and autonomous, all subject to their own respective logics and armed with their own facilities of truth validation.222

Bauman goes on to explain that “the postmodern condition is a site of constant mobility and change, but no clear direction of development.”223

More recently, Michael Gallagher has observed that “the pressures of contemporary culture keep religion impotent in the public sphere” and that the Christian vision “seems to have lost its meaningfulness in today’s cultural situation.” 224 Gallagher discusses how the split between culture and religion has taken place over the last two centuries:225 when empirical science came to be understood as the only dependable form of truth, and science no longer

219 Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon, Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989), 15.

220 Ibid., 15-29.

221 Zygmunt Bauman, Intimations of Postmodernity (New York: Routledge, 1992), ix.

222 Ibid., 35.

223 Ibid., 189.

224 Michael Paul Gallagher, SJ, Clashing Symbols: An Introduction to Faith and Culture, new and rev. ed. (New York: Paulist Press, 2003), 7.

225 Ibid., 26.

67 understood itself as uncovering the divine purpose behind creation, then ever-more isolated individuals (in society) began to discard the notion of divine revelation as relevant.226

Gallagher parses this out into the ten commandments of radical postmodernism in which thou shalt not worship reason, believe in history, hope in progress, tell meta-stories, focus on the self, agonize about values, trust institutions, bother about God, live for productivity alone or seek uniformity.227Gallagher does find hope in the postmodern context, however, in that postmodernity is more open to religious and mystical experience than was modernity.228 Albert

Winseman insists church leaders need to tap into this postmodern desire for experience: post- moderns don’t come to church to learn more about God, “they come because they want to experience God.”229 This is an important perspective for AFF practitioners to keep in mind.

In today’s cultural setting there are many baptized who have a thin or non-existent connection to lived Christianity.230 Gallagher identifies four types of culturally-rooted unbelief that may assist AFF leaders in planning more relevant faith formation opportunities.

a) religious anemia: the receiver [of a faith tradition] encounters only the conventional or complacent externals of an institution, and when the communications of faith fail to enter imaginatively into the culture of the receiver.” 231 b) secular marginalization: the culture forces religion into the private sphere in which God has disappeared from the popular consciousness and is no longer needed.232

226 Ibid., 92. Gallagher references Leslie Newbigin, Foolishness to the Greeks (London: SPCK, 1986), 24.

227 Ibid., 100-103.

228 Ibid., 110.

229 Albert L. Winseman Growing An Engaged Church: How to Stop “Doing Church” and Start Being the Church Again (New York: Gallup Press, 2006), 31.

230 Gallagher, 130-131.

231 Ibid., 132.

232 Ibid.

c) anchorless spirituality: “Where church discourse fails to connect with human needs and where culture forces religious consciousness into the realm of the private, then fundamental spiritual hungers remain unsupported and get desperate in their longing for some kind of food.”233 d) cultural desolation: The dominant culture “kidnaps their imagination in trivial ways and leaves them un-free for revelation.” 234

Gallagher suggests Christian leaders need to be keenly aware of the social message in which contemporary congregations are steeped and to look for creative ways to help people imaginatively encounter religious meaning. Leaders need to promote a sense of awareness of the

Spirit present and working among us today. 235

Emerging Adults

Christian Smith and Patricia Snell are two researchers who also have studied the above ideas and attitudes among young adults. Following up on Smith’s study of teens and religious thinking in 2001-2005,236 Smith and Snell followed up with the same participants five years later. The participants included a representative sample of most of the faiths practiced in the

United States. It was the impression of Smith and Snell that the young adults, or “emerging adults”237 as they called them,

cannot, for whatever reason, believe in – or sometimes even conceive of – a given objective truth, fact, reality or nature of the world that is independent of their subjective

233 Ibid., 133.

234 Ibid.

235 Ibid., 134-156.

236 Christian Smith, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005).

237 The term “emerging adults” refers to young men and women in their late teens through their twenties.

self-experience and that in relation to which they and others might learn or be persuaded to change.238

Results from their study indicate that most emerging adults believe it is easy to know right from wrong; it is most important not to hurt others (something that hurts others must be bad); and that they themselves are the source of morality.239

The notion of “personal experience” is essential in understanding young adults. Bathed in a multiplicity of ideas, Christian and Snell report that emerging adults believe there is no way to really know what is true. However, since they believe that most religions are basically the same, it’s best to go with what seems right from one’s own experience, and not think too much about difficult questions! In studying “post-boomers,”240 Richard Flory and Donald Miller found this same belief: there are no universal truths; personal truth depends on one’s experiences. They see this belief as a result of young adults’ constant exposure to multiple world views and religious belief systems.241 Drew Dyck affirms this finding also: young adults highly value individual experience. Each person is allowed his or her own truth, how one feels in any given moment trumps prior commitments.242 “The post-modernist view holds that there is a different

‘truth’ for each person. And experience -- not rationality – is the key to finding the truth.”243 In a

238 Christian Smith with Patricia Snell, Souls in Transition: the Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), 46.

239 Ibid., 46-49.

240 Post-boomers are the generations that have been born since the Baby-boomer (born 1946-1964) generation.

241 Richard Flory and Donald E. Miller, Finding Faith: The Spiritual Quest of the Post-Boomer Generation (Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2008), 10.

242 Drew Dyck, Generation Ex-Christian: Why Young Adults are Leaving the Faith . . . and How to Bring Them Back (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2010), 23-24.

243 Ibid., 27.

70 similar vein, when seminary professor Diana Butler Bass asked her students to whom they turned when they had an ethical or spiritual concern, their responses were primarily about personal relationship, the media or the Internet. She was surprised that none of them said they would consult a bishop, priest, seminary professor, or a religious book. She makes this point:

The question is, of course, a question of religious authority. Who provides trustworthy answers to difficult questions? Once upon a time Americans would have deferred to the clergy, a teacher, or a parent on issues of belief. When it comes to questions of meaning and purpose, however, it no longer seems adequate to say, “Christians have always believed,” or “the Bible said it, so I believe it.” External authorities do not carry the weight they once did.244

In both of Smith’s studies, he and his co-researchers found a set of prevalent ideas that he called the defacto religion of teens and young adults: moralistic therapeutic deism (MTD).

These themes seem to flow through the thinking of many of the young people they interviewed, regardless of their childhood denominational affiliation. The basic tenets of MTD are

a) There is a God who exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth. b) God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other. c) The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself. d) God doesn’t need to be particularly involved in one’s life except when God is needed to solve a problem. e) Good people go to heaven when they die.245

Smith summarizes the comments of the emerging adults:

Religion exists to support individuals, according to emerging adults, to provide useful beliefs and morals that help people live better lives. People should take and use what is helpful in it, what makes sense to them, what fits their experience – they can leave the rest. . . . Ultimately, religion consists of a lot of accumulated beliefs and rituals that different people have made up for different reasons, which may or may not be relevant for today. At least some parts of religion are “outdated.”246

244 Diana Butler Bass, Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2012), 115.

245 Smith and Snell, 154.

246 Ibid., 157.

While these ideas seem to be prevalent among young adults, they affect and influence everyone. This is part of the cultural stream in which all adult Catholics live.

Branding

Tom Beaudoin offers an interesting insight into the apparent “disconnect” many younger

(and some not-so-young) Christians experience between the proclaimed Christian message and the reality of how they live their lives. He argues that our spirituality is connected to an economy made up of spoken and unspoken principles of redistribution of resources. The power of consumerism, specifically the power of branding, functions to fulfill spiritual hungers in contemporary society. The brand economy in which we are immersed works as a spiritual discipline.

In part because of its unique dynamic: branding also offers a consistent, coherent identity in which you are told about your true self; it offers membership in a community; it issues an invitation to unconditional trust; it offers the promise of conversion and new life.247

Beaudoin argues that classic spiritual disciplines have offered this same dynamic.248 Our secular cathedrals, the shopping malls, offer this market-as-god as a replacement for the God of

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Jesus.249 He believes that the spiritual hungers that at one time drove people to the churches, now are being satisfied by the acquiring of new things – clothes, vehicles, and/or gadgets. Owning a specific brand of “thing” gives the person a sense of self- worth and personal identity. Not having a need for Church, there is no need to learn more about

247 Tom Beaudoin, Consuming Faith: Integrating Who We Are With What We Buy (Chicago: Sheed & Ward, 2003), 44.

248 Ibid.

249 Ibid., 51-58.

72 the things of faith, either. Michael Crosby agrees with this evaluation, discussing three types of atheism that wash through contemporary culture: a) avowed atheism, b) defacto atheism in which the baptized have left the faith and replaced it with nothing, and c) cultural atheism, in which believers who practice their faith are really grounded in the god of the culture, not the God of

Jesus. He states,

I have long held the assumption that today’s cultural Catholics in the United States are more formed by the twin gods of our nation (Americanism and consumerism) than the Trinitarian God revealed in Jesus Christ.250

Michael White and Tom Corcoran have looked at the notion of consumerism as it is manifested in a parish community. They describe many contemporary parish-goers as demanding consumers, not true disciples of the living Christ.251 This consumer mentality requires a new way of looking at parish life and a new way of being church. AFF planners who are trying to promote the new evangelization need to take into account such cultural forces.

Art and Music

Two more candidates for replacement “gods” are art and music. In studying twenty to thirty year-olds, Robert Wuthnow found that young adults often point to art and music as inspirational. “When creeds and doctrines fail them, they turn to the more intuitive lessons of the arts.”252

250 Michael Crosby, Repair My House (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2012), 18.

251 Michael White and Tom Corcoran, Rebuilt: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, Making Church Matter (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2013), 2.

252 Robert Wuthnow, After the Baby Boomers: How Twenty - and Thirty - Somethings are Shaping the Future of American Religion (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2007), 48.

Clearly, doing effective AFF requires an awareness of the multiple cultural factors that affect today’s adults. AFF planners who are aware of these pervasive cultural ideas can look for imaginative ways to help adults reflect on these perspectives and to seek an authentic Trinitarian and Christo-centric spirituality.

An Adult Church

Currently, the Church is focusing on the new evangelization – a movement to re-arouse faith in many who are no longer active in their faith. As discussed above, evangelization is the deepest identity of the Church253 but it requires an informed, catechized community of adults who can do the evangelizing. In order to have a community of adults who can be the evangelizers that their baptism calls them to be, Jane Regan stresses the need to shift the focus in the parish from children’s formation at the center of catechetical activity to placing adults at the center. While not ignoring children’s formation, it is only adults who can fully engage the depth and breadth of Christian teaching.254

While Church documents and catechetical leaders have been calling for adult faith formation for decades, it is the link between evangelization and catechesis that provides the clearest mandate and most convincing rationale for focusing on adults.255

The dynamic relationship between catechesis and evangelization is always ongoing:

“evangelization sets the foundation for catechesis and catechesis is in service to the formation of an evangelizing community.”256 The American bishops have taught, “To do their part, adult

253 Evangelization in the Modern World, no. 14.

254 Jane Regan, Toward An Adult Church.

255 Ibid., 24.

256 Ibid., 25.

Catholics must be mature in faith and well equipped to share the Gospel, promoting it in every family circle, in every church setting, in every place of work, and in every public forum.”257

Clearly, the need for AFF is urgent and great. With so many aspects to consider, how then do we know where to begin to enhance participation in AFF in the parish?

Sherry Weddell, co-founder of the Catherine of Sienna Institute, and author of Forming

Intentional Disciples: the Path to Knowing and Following Jesus, has described the huge gap between the Church’s teaching on adults as evangelizers in the world, and the real experience of most Catholics in the pew. She and Rev. Michael Sweeney, OP, have made a study of lay

Catholics in the United States in which they have found a huge chasm between official teaching and lived reality:

And this chasm has a name: discipleship. We learned that the majority of even “active” American Catholics are at an early, essentially passive stage of spiritual development. We learned that our first need at the parish level isn’t catechetical. Rather, our fundamental problem is that most of our people are not yet disciples.258

Weddell discusses at length the lack of structures in most Catholic parishes to support the first two steps of the evangelization process described above (pre-evangelization and initial proclamation of the kerygma) in the GDC.259

We typically presume that pre-evangelization and initial proclamation just happen automatically during basic catechesis. All the evidence suggests that even if true evangelization once worked that way, it is not working that way anymore. Catechized Catholics are clearly not necessarily evangelized Catholics.260

257 OHWB, no. 2.

258 Sherry A. Weddell, Forming Intentional Disciples: The Path to Knowing and Following Jesus (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division, Our Sunday Visitor, 2012), 11.

259 GDC, no. 47.

260 Weddell, 126.

Weddell incorporated the findings of Don Everts and Doug Schaupp’s work with campus ministry, in which they found five thresholds of conversion on the path to active Christian discipleship.261 These thresholds are 1) initial trust; 2) spiritual curiosity; 3) spiritual openness; 4) spiritual seeking; and 5) intentional discipleship. While Everts and Schaupp’s work was from an evangelical Christian perspective, Weddell has found that the thresholds are applicable to

Catholic evangelization and catechesis. This discovery may hold the key to helping AFF planners provide formation in which Catholics are motivated to participate. By looking at the characteristics and needs of the person as he or she moves from one threshold of conversion to the next, AFF planners can be intentional about providing appropriate fertile ground in which the

Holy Spirit can move the hearts of men and women.

Summary

The context in which pastoral leaders are promoting AFF today is a complex reality.

There are many factors of which leaders need to be aware if they are to enhance AFF. The key to promoting AFF in the parish seems to center first, on the pastor and his understanding of evangelization, motivation, conversion, and AFF. Second, the other lay and ordained pastoral leaders need to share the pastor’s vision and work together to create a pastoral plan that supports a systems-theory approach to the parish. Third, the pastoral leadership needs to be aware of the competing cultural values with which they must deal, as well as the apparent paradigm shift in thinking that has influenced what is considered of value and what is normative in contemporary society. Fourth, the pastoral leadership needs to be well informed about adult methodologies in

261 Don Everts and Doug Schaupp, I Once Was Lost: What Postmodern Skeptics Taught Us About Their Path to Jesus (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2008).

76 education so that they design activities that are experiential, highly relational, and resonate with the lives of their parishioners. Finally, they need to be aware that AFF is not so much about giving parishioners information as it is about affecting transformation by helping them construct new holistic frameworks of meaning.

CHAPTER FOUR: IMPLEMENTING THE PROJECT

Focus Groups

The question to be studied was, “When parishes offer adult faith formation programs, why do so few people come?” The researcher decided to ask the “person in the pew” to see if insights might be gained regarding why participation in many adult faith formation opportunities in the parish are so often poorly attended. She decided to hold focus group meetings at three parishes to ask a cross-section of parishioners their thoughts about faith formation in the parish.

The researcher chose three similar parishes, hoping that insights gained would be helpful for that type of parish. The researcher contacted the director of adult faith formation at six suburban parishes, each of which has 2700 - 4000 registered families. The population of each parish was primarily middle to upper middle class, well-educated parishioners. It was the hope of the researcher that by choosing a population that was already predisposed to value education, that the insights about AFF would be particularly helpful for that population.

In each case, the researcher contacted the adult faith formation director for the parish and talked to him or her about the D. Min. project, explaining the process and the goals of the project. Upon being asked, two faith formation directors immediately agreed to participate in the project. Finding the third was more of a challenge! It was of interest to the researcher that in one of the parishes she contacted, the director indicated that they were too busy to do the project, and in two cases, the person in charge of AFF did not respond to repeated voice-mails. Eventually the researcher found a third parish to participate. The researcher met with each director to plan the place and time of the focus group meetings. The researcher asked each director to find eight to ten people who would be willing to come to the focus group meetings to talk about adult faith 77

78 formation in the parish. She asked that the director try to find men and women of various ages so that a relatively representative cross-sample of parishioners could participate in the process.

However, since there was no statistical information about the demographics of the parish available, the researcher had to rely on the good judgment of the AFF director that the group was truly representative of the parish.

The researcher planned three weeks of focus group meetings in each parish. She began the sessions with explaining the goal and process of the focus group and by getting the signed consent of each participant. She then focused on three areas, one each week. The first week the researcher asked the participants to think about present or recent AFF of which they were aware or in which they had participated. They were asked, “What AFF is currently happening in this parish?”

Week two focused on obstacles to AFF participation in the parish. The participants had been encouraged to go home from the first week’s meeting and to ask friends and family what their thoughts were regarding AFF participation. The question for week two was, “In your experience, what obstacles prevent greater AFF participation?”

Week three enlisted the creativity of the participants, focusing on ways to enhance AFF in the parish. The questions were, “In what ways might we remove some of the obstacles

(discussed last week) in this parish? What other ways might we enhance AFF in the parish?”

In addition to explaining the project, the researcher offered a short PowerPoint presentation each week, summarizing church teachings and recent studies about AFF.262 For the first two sessions, she began with time for discussion, so that participants could offer their ideas

262 In the third focus group the researcher was not able to use the technology due to technical issues. She instead used handouts of the PowerPoint presentation.

79 before being influenced by the presentation. After the Power Point Presentation, she encouraged comments and questions. It was her hope that by offering some recent thinking in the literature on AFF, that a fruitful and creative discussion on enhancing AFF would emerge in each parish.

The sessions were digitally recorded and transcribed. Then the researcher used qualitative analysis to look for themes. She used colors to tag similar themes, and labeled those themes.

Most of the themes were common to all three parishes. She also employed the assistance of Dr.

Bryan Silva, O.M.I., Psy.D., in analyzing the transcripts. He read the coded transcripts and read the conclusions of the researcher. He indicated that he agreed with the coding. He offered some critique for clarity in the seven themes and in the overarching findings of the project. His suggestions are included in the discussion of the project, the transcripts, and the conclusions.

Week One

Parish One

At Parish One there were four women and three men, plus the AFF director. The group included one white and one Hispanic young adult female263 (20-40), one white and one Hispanic middle aged female (40-65), one white and one Hispanic middle-aged male (40-65), one white senior citizen male (65+), and the DRE who was a white middle-aged woman. Each person agreed to attend all three sessions, but the two middle-aged males were not able to attend each time. One came only once; one attended twice.

The question for Week One was, “What are the AFF opportunities that happen in this parish?” In Parish One the group demonstrated a good awareness of current and recent parish

263 Fr. Bryan Silva, O.M.I., Psy.D. suggested that the group be described with regard to the Hispanic presence in the group in addition to mentioning the age and gender.

AFF programs. In the first session, as they were remembering and describing various faith formation opportunities, they appeared to be beginning to analyze why people came or didn’t come. In mentioning about fourteen different AFF opportunities in the parish, they offered the context for these programs that shed light on why they were or were not successful in drawing participants. Among the programs mentioned were The Seven Steps of Financial Freedom,

Making the Most of Marriage, Bible studies, including The Great Adventure, intergenerational faith formation, Theology of the Body, seasonal parish missions, RCIA, refresher courses for lay liturgical ministers, Just Faith, ACTS (an evangelizing retreat), mini retreats, and Teams of Our

Lady, a faith–sharing group for couples.

As the various programs were being discussed, many offered ideas on why the programs were successful or appealing. Considerations included paying attention to the target audience; offering some family-centered programming; considering the length of the commitment for a program; having motivational presenters; the physical setting; the perceived level of hospitality and acceptance, along with its opposite characteristic: a fear of being ostracized; and the relative complexity or simplicity of a particular AFF offering.

Parish Two

Parish Two included one white young adult female (20- 40), one white and three

Hispanic middle-aged females (40-65), one white senior citizen female (65+), four white and three Hispanic middle-aged males (40-64), and two white senior citizen males (65+), plus the director of adult faith formation, who is an Hispanic middle-aged male. The nine attendees from week one agreed to attend all three sessions, but only six were able to keep that commitment. In addition, five people came to weeks two and three who had not been present at week one’s

81 gathering. While this was not the ideal for the project, the researcher wanted to have as broad a range of participation as possible and so she was happy to accommodate and include those who came only weeks two and three.

Among the types of adult faith formation of which this group were aware were small church communities, Theology Café (an adult faith formation weekly program), ACTS retreats, a men’s club, College Life (for young adults), Renew, various Bible studies, including Genesis 2, seasonal missions, catechist formation, the Women’s Council, the Rosary Society, Pre-Cana,

Beyond Cana, and Marriage Encounter. There also was some discussion around the idea that being in the Knights of Columbus or building a home with Habitat for Humanity were formative because participants were among people of faith who were living their faith. One woman mentioned how she learned about her faith in a sort of “on-the-job-training” – she studied by herself as she felt the need to learn something.

The participants discussed why they thought people came to the various faith formation offerings. One reason was that some people have a deep desire to keep growing in their faith.

People enjoyed being able to share their faith and being able to have conversations about their faith in a small group setting where they felt comfortable. Focusing on spirituality (not so much on the content of the catechism) and how it applied to everyday life was also mentioned as important. Several people mentioned how formative it was to merely be a part of a ministry or an organization. The one young adult spoke of being formed by simply being a part of the parish, and the importance of gathering with other young adults to talk about faith matters. Yet she also indicated that sometimes the young adults feel set apart, almost as if they are not “real” adults because they’re not married, aren’t settled into careers, are still going to college, etc. Woven throughout the discussion was the concept of the need for people to be part of a community and

82 to feel welcome. Something the young adult mentioned that made other young adults feel like

“outsiders” was their perception that, at least some Catholics were overly fixated on rules and less on service or on intentionally coming together – in all our diversity – as community.

Parish Three

Parish Three was a group of eight people. It included one young adult female (20-40), two middle-aged females (40-65), two senior citizen females (65+), one middle-aged male (40-

65), and two senior citizen males (65+). The director or religious education was available to attend only on the second week. She was a middle-aged female. The participants appeared to come from a broad cross-section of the parish. The group included two who were very involved with the Spanish programs, two who had been in the parish over fifty years, and one who was a young adult who had grown up in the parish. They all appeared to be very knowledgeable about the AFF opportunities in the parish.

The types of adult faith formation this group mentioned included Scripture studies, ACTS retreats, Men on Fire (a faith –sharing group for men), Women at the Well and Women of Faith

(both faith-sharing groups for women), occasional lectures, Teams of Our Lady (a faith sharing group for couples), Angeles de Dios (an Hispanic faith-sharing group for Spanish speakers), lector retreats, Small Christian Communities, RCIA and a ministry for divorced women. Many of these groups were “grass roots” organizations that came about as the result of large numbers of men and women attending the locally founded ACTS retreat, an evangelizing retreat.

As the various faith formation offerings were mentioned, some in the group ventured to guess why they were successful, as well as what might keep people from joining. One participant explained the importance of providing care for the children while the adults attended faith

83 formation, as well as finding the most convenient time for the target population. Often younger and older generations have very different schedules and needs, so it’s hard to get them together.

Yet the hunger that people naturally have for community can be a big draw. Two group members commented on the need to offer opportunities for people to learn or re-learn the basics of the Catholic faith. Offering formation in Spanish as well as English is also important in the

San Antonio area. One person explained that she thought some people thought of faith formation as too boring, that they were accustomed to interactive media and not practiced in the art of conversation, i.e. faith-sharing. Another suggested that many people are just too lazy to come to anything! A couple examples of persons avoiding church after having had unfortunate or unkind encounters with a parish priest were also mentioned.

Week Two

In the discussion of the second week, the focus was on finding root causes why people do not come to AFF programs. At the end of week one the researcher invited the participants to think more about the question and to ask friends and family for their thoughts. Some of the participants had asked friends and relatives, so the sharing extended beyond the boundaries of the focus group. The question for week two was, “When the parish offers adult faith formation programs, why do so few people come?” In each of the three parishes, the group members had already begun to give some responses to this during the discussion of week one.

Parish One

In Parish One, the timing of an event and the busyness of contemporary life were among the most frequent responses to this question. Along with this idea was the mention of the need to

84 provide family faith formation so that all the members of a family might come at the same time.

It was ventured that many people are not able to keep long term commitments so programs need to be short-term or designed in such a way that regular attendance is not required. A second concept that stood out in the discussion this week was the idea of hospitality, or feelings of inclusion and exclusion. Several people mentioned the importance of feeling welcome. They wanted to feel comfortable in a group, connected to others, and not to fear that they didn’t know enough, or that they wouldn’t be accepted, or that their ideas would be rejected.

A third idea that surfaced was the idea that some people may not know about what is offered, or if they do, they don’t know how to get connected to a group. Suggestions for better advertising and use of the website and social media were offered as possible solutions for this problem. A fourth idea about the lack of attendance at adult faith formation is the underlying assumption or attitude in many Catholic parishes that once one is confirmed, he or she is done learning about the faith! Coupled with the perception (perhaps from their childhood experience) that faith formation is boring, it therefore doesn’t have much appeal. As a response to this, several mentioned the importance of careful planning for good adult methodologies.

Parish Two

In Parish Two one of the big concerns, as in Parish One, was the busyness of life and the lack of time to attend church activities. Discussion here included the difficulty in making long- term commitments to programs, the lack of time to prepare to attend some events, and the demands of contemporary family life. A lack of family-centered activities keeps some adults away. A second idea from this group was, like in Parish One, the importance of feeling welcome and included. One person mentioned that most people have a hunger to be part of a group; one

85 mentioned the importance of forming relationships; another commented that people will return to an organization or activity if they felt wanted and accepted.

A third idea that came from this group was centered on motivation and/or lack of interest.

It was suggested that while some people were unaware of the adult faith formation offerings, and others saw no need for formation, yet others found the offerings irrelevant. Participants discussed the need for an internal motivation for most people to attend. One participant ventured that while witness was essential to conversion, leading to motivation; many Catholics may be unaware that it is our Baptismal mission to be evangelizers. Other participants suggested that building community and helping people to see themselves as part of the community would be important in motivating people.

A fourth consideration is planning: content, marketing and methodologies need to be well-thought-out. The audience needs to be identified, along with their needs, and then decide on the best ways to get the word to them. Men and women will not come to programs or activities that seem irrelevant to them. A fifth idea on why people do or do not come to adult faith formation has to do with the personality and words and actions of the pastor. Having a welcoming pastor and stable pastoral leadership makes a big difference in the underlying attitudes about adult faith formation in a parish. One participant mentioned that while having a dynamic, welcoming pastor may be an external motivation for a person to attend, eventually an internal transformation will change their reasons for attending.

Parish Three

In Parish Three, once again, the idea of lack of family time and the busyness of life was mentioned. A second idea that surfaced was the importance of having a welcoming atmosphere

86 and of taking the initiative to personally invite people to join various activities. Feeling comfortable in a group is important in attracting and retaining participants. Feeling that one is part of an extended family is spiritually nourishing. Related to this was discussion around the idea of people returning on a “high” from an ACTS retreat but then being on their own to find a group to join. Lacking a concrete “next step” of welcome to an adult faith formation group may be the reason these returning retreatants don’t come to any subsequent AFF. A third idea on why people do not come to AFF centered on the concept of a lack of conversion: the distractions of contemporary life, especially the consumer culture, may divert people who have a sense of spiritual hunger but find themselves unable to commit to a regular faith-sharing group or AFF activity. A fourth idea regarding participation in AFF referenced the use of technology. While technology can be distracting, it also could be better employed by parish leaders both in advertising AFF events and in offering AFF online. In addition, participants indicated that tailoring programs to the different needs of different age groups is important (i.e. having family members all come at the same time, or having daytime events for senior citizens who don’t drive at night).

Week Three

Parish One

The discussion of the third week was to be centered on looking at ways to enhance participation in AFF and to see how we might remove obstacles to greater participation. Yet the group began by reiterating some of the reasons that people don’t come: people are unaware of the AFF offerings; they don’t want to be tied to a long commitment; people don’t have time to come to AFF – especially single Moms or households in which both parents work outside the

87 home; people with young children can’t attend because of needing baby sitters, early bed-times, and/or the needs of the children; it’s not a priority and/or there’s little or no interest in coming to

AFF.

A strong theme that came through as the researcher analyzed this conversation was the repeated notion of fear. Several participants emphasized that people are afraid of a new setting, of meeting new people, of being judged, of appearing ignorant. Some don’t want to talk; folks who are too enthusiastically promoting a retreat or program “turn off” some people; adults don’t want to come to a “school” in which they are told what to think or believe; some people are not open to learning anything new; and some adults think they don’t need to learn anything more about the faith. All of these reasons are related to the level of emotional comfort a person feels in a situation.

One person stated the need for more evangelization. Another said the parish was poor at connecting returning retreatants from the ACTS retreat to specific faith formation opportunities.

While one member said that having an AFF group in which the teachings of the Church are explained was not attractive to her because she wanted to be able to share and offer her perspective, a second member said that in her experience, people who come to AFF didn’t want to think critically: They wanted to be told in “black and white” categories exactly what Church teaching is.

Regarding positive suggestions to enhance AFF, the members of the group offered these suggestions: being aware of various needs in the parish and therefore offering a variety of programs, lectures, retreats and other AFF opportunities; offering a formalized process similar to

RCIA for those who are already fully initiated Catholics; paying attention to how AFF is

“marketed;” offering programs that give basic “black and white” information; focusing on what

88 the faith teaches more than on required behaviors; doing more intentional evangelization and building trust.

Parish Two

In looking at ways to enhance participation in AFF, the group at Parish Two offered many ideas. Among them were ideas centered on hospitality, welcome and meeting emotional needs: get to know people better when they first come to the parish; create emotionally safe environments for people to feel safe and comfortable as they explore their faith since some people feel insecure in their faith; communicate to adults that experiencing doubts is normal and acceptable; plan with the awareness that young people hunger for acceptance, and that many older people hunger for affirmation. All of these ideas centered on emotional comfort.

Timing was also an important consideration: create more time in the parish calendar by reducing the number of monthly meetings; have programs scheduled so that all members of the same family can come at one time; and, offer the same program at more than one time. Physical needs are also important to remember: promote carpools and have a van service so it is easier for people to attend; and offer a meal with the programs. With regard to media, it would be important to balance the use of media and online presentations with “in-person” activities since people need to be in and formed in community.

Parish Three

The participants in Parish Three also spoke of the need to be welcoming and intentionally invitational so that trust can be built. One way to build trust is to invite people to do service projects. This introduces them to the community and may, for some, be less emotionally

89 threatening than coming to a Bible study or an AFF course. Formed by simply being around people of faith, persons might eventually be curious enough to come to AFF offerings. They also discussed how the judgmental and/or inhospitable attitudes of some parish group members kept people away from trying new AFF activities. Once again, emotional comfort is considered a key ingredient in successful AFF programming. When AFF events happen they need to be done in an inviting and appealing way that includes prayer, solid teaching, and time for discussion.

One participant indicated that she saw a need for better communication in homilies about basic teachings of the Church and content that nourishes people. She believed that if people were made more aware of Church teachings, many would have the desire to come to AFF to learn more. The influence of the pastor and other pastoral leaders in promoting faith–sharing groups should not be underestimated. Also, it is important to be intentional in how we market various programs, and to make it easy for people to contact the person leading that group or activity.

The participants of Parish Three discussed how the influence of individualism worked against the communal values being promoted in the faith setting. They also mentioned how the fragmented schedules of today’s families – with children, teens and adults all having so many different outside-the-home commitments -- made it difficult for adults in those families to come to AFF.

Table 2: What types of Adult Faith Formation happen in this parish? (Week one)

-various Bible studies Parish One -The Great Adventure (Bible study) -ACTS (an evangelizing retreat) -RCIA -Just Faith -Theology of the Body -intergenerational faith formation -seasonal parish missions -mini retreats -refresher courses for lay liturgical ministers -Teams of Our Lady (faith-sharing group for married couples) -The Seven Steps of Financial Freedom -Making the Most of Marriage -various Bible studies Parish Two -Genesis 2 (Bible study) -Renew -ACTS (an evangelizing retreat) -small church communities -Theology Café (a weekly adult faith formation program) -College Life (for young adults) -seasonal missions -catechist formation -a women’s council -a men’s club -Rosary Society -Pre-Cana -Beyond Cana -Marriage encounter -Bible studies Parish -ACTS (an evangelizing retreat) -RCIA Three -Men on Fire(men’s faith-sharing group) -Women at the Well -Women of Faith -occasional lectures -Teams of Our Lady (faith-sharing group for married couples) -Angeles de Dios (Hispanic faith-sharing group for Spanish speakers) -lector retreats -Small Christian Communities -support group for divorced women

Commonalities Among the Groups

After studying the transcripts and naming the important relevant themes that emerged in each parish, the researcher looked at all the commonalties the groups shared. While the questions for each week of the focus group had been distinct, in each group, each week, some people anticipated the question of the next week and/or referred back to the question of the prior week. The results of this analysis showed that each week, regardless of the intended question of the week, participants offered ideas around what attracted people to AFF and what kept them away. The results are given here in table form.

Table 3: Discussion on why programs were successful or not (Week One)

All Parishes obstacles to fuller participation invites people to attend Combined - too long of a commitment - know the target audience - busyness of life - different generations have different - consider the physical setting schedules and needs Week - too complex an offering - offer family-centered programs One - too much emphasis on Catholic - consider the physical setting rules, catechism, doctrine - hospitable and welcoming - nothing specific for young adults environment - laziness - people need to feel they are part of - perception that AFF is boring the community - unfortunate or unkind prior - helping young adults feel included experiences with pastoral leadership - intentionally accept diversity may prevent subsequent - have motivational presenters participation - relatively simple format and content - content on spiritualty - offer service opportunities - offer Spanish-language programs - offer basics-of-the-faith programs - offer childcare

Table 4: What obstacles prevent greater AFF participation? (Week Two)

All Parishes obstacles to fuller participation invites people to attend Combined - fear of being excluded, treated as an - short-term commitments outsider - be welcoming so people feel - fear of appearing ignorant included Week - fear of one’s ideas being rejected - build community and invite Two - inconvenient timing of an event participation in the community - busyness of contemporary family - feeling part of a family life - personal invitation - unaware of what is being offered - influence of the pastor - underlying assumption that once one - good marketing is confirmed one has no further - attractive website need to learn about the faith - good use of technology - perception / experience that faith - good use of social media formation is boring - well-planned programs that offer - perception that the content is attractive content irrelevant to one’s life - different programs for different age - lack of motivation groups - lack of personal conversion - use of appropriate methodologies - many Catholics are unaware that their Baptismal mission is to be evangelizers - influence of the pastor - no intentional guidance for returning retreatants to help them connect with suitable AFF - consumerism

While the questions for week three were, “What obstacles to fuller participation in AFF can we remove?” and “How might we enhance participation in AFF?” as demonstrated above, both questions had been discussed somewhat during weeks one and two. None-the-less, these were the questions the researcher posed to the groups on week three. The following table shows the results of the analysis of the transcripts for week three.

Table 5: What obstacles to better AFF can we remove? What can we do to enhance the participation in AFF? (Week Three)

All Parishes obstacles to fuller participation Enhancements Combined - fear of new settings - be intentional about meeting - fear of meeting new people emotional needs Week - fear of being judged - focus on hospitality Three - fear of appearing ignorant - communicate that doubt and - lack of intentional hospitality questioning is normal behavior in - judgmental attitudes AFF - individualistic attitudes - design ways to build trust - long-term commitments - be aware of various needs of - busyness of contemporary life different groups in the parish - unaware of AFF - offer a variety of AFF - lack of openness to learning new opportunities things - offer a process similar to RCIA - lack of interest / not a priority for the fully initiated - don’t want to be told what to think or - offer the same program at more believe than one time - perception that one has no need to - offer basics-of-the-faith programs learn any more about the faith - focus more on the content of the - dislike of “school” setting faith that on required behaviors - avoidance of critical thinking - offer solid content situations - evangelize - offer service projects - reduce the number of monthly parish meetings to create more time for AFF - promote carpools and offer van service to make it easier for people to attend - offer meals with programs - balance the good use of media with in-person community events - use good marketing - carefully plan programs - use good methodologies - have better homilies that invite people to further reflection through AFF

Seven Themes

After examining all the responses from all the parishes, the researcher could see that the responses tended to cluster around seven main themes. The themes are 1) welcome and inclusion, 2) time and busyness, 3) content and method, 4) marketing and technology, 5) motivation and conversion, 6) cultural influences, and 7) pastoral leadership. These themes deserve careful consideration in the designing and implementing of a vibrant AFF plan in a parish.

Welcome and Inclusion

Perhaps the most helpful responses in this study were those that spoke about the feeling of being welcome and the desire to be part of a community. One striking aspect of this project was the frequent responses regarding how attendees felt about going to AFF. Indeed, responses about welcome or exclusion were the most frequently given reasons for why people did or did not attend AFF. Numerous responses spoke of fear: fear of being judged, fear of meeting new people, fear of new settings, fear of appearing ignorant, and fear of signing up for an AFF event.

This fear is apparently a strong factor in keeping people away. Similarly, many participants emphasized the importance of being welcoming, of offering emotionally safe, non-judgmental environments. In the discussion of welcoming environments, participants in two of the focus groups mentioned family members having had negative experiences with priests or pastoral leadership in the past. This kept the persons from having any desire to come back to the Catholic

Church. In addition, they spoke of the need for pastoral leaders to help build trust among men and women so that all could feel that they were part of a community. From the discussion of the

95 focus groups it is obvious that the social environment is a key ingredient for consideration when planning, promoting and implementing AFF.

Time and Busyness

In each parish the hectic pace of contemporary family life was suggested as an important reason that many adults do not come to AFF. They simply do not have the time. Also, senior citizens who are retired may have more time, but many of them do not drive in the evening. This prevents them from attending many AFF offerings. In addition, long term commitments preclude many adults from registering for some AFF offerings: they know they cannot commit to any long term programs due to the many other demands on their time. AFF planners need to give serious consideration to the timing and length of AFF programs, consulting the parishioners.

Content and Method

The third most discussed reason for participation or lack of participation (after responses around welcoming and time) was the content of the programs and how they were presented. A welcoming environment is key to inviting people to attend AFF, and the timing for any activity needs to be carefully considered. But if the participants are going to continue to attend AFF, then the AFF leaders need to employ sound methodologies and prudently consider the content and target audience for each program. A broad range of ideas were offered with regard to content that was considered interesting. It was also mentioned that while some people prefer a program that gives them in “black and white” what the Church teaches, other adults want to be able to offer their own thoughts and not simply be told what the Church teaches or what they should be thinking. The AFF groups that were spoken of with great enthusiasm seemed to be ones in which

96 not only was there a sense of welcome, but the ideas of everyone in the group were shared and valued. In a contemporary setting, therefore, pastoral leaders need to analyze the interests of the parishioners and then offer solid programs that employ adult learning principles.264 Variety here is essential since some adults need a pedagogy of the basics of the faith to help them to build a framework for understanding the Catholic faith. Others need an andragogy of self-identified learning goals. Technology needs to be considered in this mix of offerings also. Social media, on-line programming, and interactive sites can all be an enhancement to AFF in the parish.

Marketing and Technology

Participants in each parish identified marketing as an essential component in enhancing

AFF participation. Some discussion centered on the importance of using the parish website to both market AFF and as a medium to deliver AFF. Keeping in mind the various needs of different generations, programming can be promoted among those most likely to be interested at a time when, and in a place where they are most likely to be able to attend. Most parishioners use the internet and many are familiar with social media. Pastoral leaders, therefore, need to give adequate planning to the use of technology in the parish – both for advertising and as the medium for some AFF programming.

Cultural Influences

Among the many cultural influences affecting contemporary parish life, four were specifically discussed by the focus group participants. In all three parishes the need to engage young adults was discussed. Participants recognized that young adult culture is often ignored in

264 Malcolm Knowles, et.al., The Adult Learner.

97 parishes: the needs and interests of young adults may not be the same as those of older adults.

But young adults need to be welcomed and spiritually fed also.

One influence mentioned was consumerism – with people distracted by buying one thing after another, they may be ignoring their own spiritual hungers. A third cultural influence mentioned was individualism. With much of the culture promoting individualistic attitudes and a focus on “the self,” the Church’s call to communio can be a difficult message for contemporary men and women to hear and to understand, and one to which it is difficult to respond. Hence the attitude, “What does this (AFF) have to do with me?” AFF pastoral planners also need to keep in mind that gender and cultural differences influence that which is of interest.

Fr. Silva suggested that the researcher mention that in Parish Three the need for paying attention to the Spanish-speaking population was discussed. Not only did many parishioners prefer to come to programs that were offered in Spanish, there was also the recognition that the

Hispanic population was more interested in intergenerational faith formation than some of the parishioners of European descent may be.

Motivation

There was some discussion around motivation and the importance of having motivational speakers. They also discussed how some people saw AFF as boring and /or irrelevant. In parish three there was also some discussion around the idea of people needing to be converted in order to want to come to AFF. Yet the participants did not offer much with regard to what they thought motivated people to come to AFF. The pastoral leadership needs to make the effort to determine what is of interest to the adults in the parish so that relevant, interesting, and inclusive activities abound.

Pastoral Leadership

Focus group members discussed the need for the pastor to be supportive of the AFF programs. They had a few suggestions on how that support might happen: having the pastor’s verbal approval and having him show up sometimes at the various activities. Other ways the pastoral leadership could show support for AFF in the parish were to reduce other parish meetings, to be inviting human beings, and to bring dynamic speakers. In addition, it is essential that pastoral leaders honor the relationships they have with the adults who come to AFF, and, if needed, try to help past hurts from prior negative parish experiences.

Evaluations

At the end of the third week in each focus group the researcher distributed evaluation forms. She tabulated the results and noted the comments. Most of the participants gave a “very good” or “good” response to the evaluation questions. Seven participants thanked the researcher for helping them to think more deeply about AFF and about helping them to know about faith formation opportunities in the parish. One commented that we should never underestimate the draw of entertainment. The combined tallies are indicated in the table in the Appendix.

Overarching Findings

In analyzing the process and the content of the three focus groups, the researcher realized that the perspective of being in the group was very different from that of standing outside it and listening to the recordings or reading the transcripts. Four important overarching ideas stood out.

Parallel Monologues

First, it was fascinating to the researcher to read the transcripts of the conversations and to discover how frequently parallel monologues were actually being delivered instead of people having real conversations. Numerous group participants would make a point, then politely stop to allow another person to speak. The second speaker often did not engage the thought of the first speaker, but made his or her own points. A third person might speak about yet another idea and then the first person would begin speaking again, picking up exactly where he or she left off initially, not engaging the ideas of speakers two and three. This pattern happened over and over again. The researcher, immersed in the experience of the “conversation,” had not realized this pattern until she read the transcripts. She learned that in future discussion groups she might need to be more intentional about helping to weave the strands of the conversation together. Yet, despite the wandering threads of thought, the researcher was pleased with the number and richness of ideas that the conversations produced.

PowerPoint

A second point that emerged from the analysis of the transcripts was the awareness that doing the PowerPoint presentation was largely a waste of time. The researcher had initially hoped that by offering a bit of academic content for the participants to consider, that the discussion on why adults don’t come to AFF might be enhanced. She thought that by sharing some ideas from researchers in the field of AFF that the participants might be stimulated to think of things that they had not yet thought about or mentioned. Yet the only people who appeared to

100 engage the material were the two directors of AFF who participated in the group process.265 The researcher became aware of how much talking she had been doing during the PowerPoint presentations! The presentations were probably too long for the group participants to follow and remain interested, even though it only went for about twenty to thirty minutes each time. The researcher learned about the importance of brevity. She also decided that if she were to do this study again with another parish that she would probably omit the PowerPoint presentation. It did not appear to stimulate much further discussion, with the exception of week three at parish one, where she was frequently interrupted by participants’ comments on the content of the

PowerPoint. Perhaps this lack of interest indicated that the researcher had lapsed into too much of an academic stance, or she had assumed too much of a teacher role which was a “disconnect” for the context. While it did not seem to do much to stimulate enhanced discussion, it did not appear to otherwise affect the gathering of data.

Insiders and Outsiders

The third point that an overarching analysis of the transcripts showed was an undercurrent of an “us and them” mentality. In each parish, as insiders, they seemed to be grappling with how to bring the “them” in. The discussions among the people in each group gave an indication that, even though all the people in each focus group did not know each other at the first meeting, there was still a sense of “we” who belong and participate in this parish and

“they” who perhaps only come to Sunday Mass sometimes. As the researcher observed each focus group, she could see that their camaraderie clearly indicated their enjoyment of being part

265 The director in the third parish was able to be a part of the group only during one evening and that presentation did not employ PowerPoint because of technical difficulties.

101 of a vibrant community and they wanted to bring others into the community. But there was a strong awareness that there is a small group of people who participate in many activities and a much larger group of people who attend Mass but rarely do anything else with the parish. While the responses the participants offered about why (mostly “other”) people did not come to AFF were important, perhaps of equal, if not greater value for this project was the witness of the people in the focus groups. Clearly their experiences of welcome and acceptance, of being part of a community, and of their awareness of their own transformation were all key factors in their continuing participation in AFF. Pastoral agents should not underestimate the power of a welcoming community as a major attraction to AFF events and as a major transforming force.

Adult Faith Formation at the Center

Finally, it was interesting to note that in each parish many of the participants were surprised to hear that it is and has been official Catholic teaching that “adult catechesis should be the chief form of catechesis in the parish.”266 While they agreed with the logic of the teaching, clearly, it was a new idea for many of them. Apparently the attitude they had encountered in their parishes over the years was one in which AFF was seen as a nice “add-on” or “extra,” but certainly not at the center of the parish catechetical program.

In reflecting on what was and was not said in the focus groups, the researcher came to see the importance of the pastor, his associates, and his staff all being aware of the teachings of the

Church regarding the importance of AFF. It became clear that they need to have a good understanding of the process of conversion and of the identity of the Church as an evangelizing force in the world, and that they need to be convinced of the necessity of AFF. This would

266 GCD, no. 20.

102 hopefully lead to their promotion of the attitude that AFF is a normative activity in which all adults in the parish should participate. This also means that the pastoral leadership would do pastoral planning in such a way that programming was offered to meet the needs of the various stages of faith conversion and faith development one finds in a parish.

Conclusion

The focus of this project was on participation in AFF programs. The researcher asked,

“When parishes offer AFF programs, why do so few people attend?” In looking at all the responses of all the focus groups, the replies tended to cluster around seven themes: welcome, time, marketing, method and content, cultural influences, pastoral leadership, and motivation.

The busyness and lack of time, as well as the cultural influences of individualism and consumerism are elements of which a good pastoral leadership needs to be aware. While they cannot be eliminated, creative solutions can help reduce these factors as obstacles to greater AFF participation. But first the pastoral leadership must acknowledge these elements and take them into consideration when doing pastoral planning.

The other five elements are directly dependent on pastoral leadership that values AFF and chooses to place it at the center of faith formation in the parish. Increased participation is not the end unto itself, however. Greater numbers in AFF is not really the goal. The goal is continued formation and renewal of intentional disciples. In many parishes, this perspective may require an attitude shift of the pastoral leadership. They need to share and communicate a vision of parish life in which the idea of the Church’s central identity as evangelizer267 is recognized, articulated,

267 Paul VI, Evangelization in the Modern World, no. 14.

103 and lived out. Pastors and pastoral leaders need to be intentional about providing emotionally welcoming spaces so that adults are not afraid to come to AFF for fear of being judged, excluded, or treated without respect. Pastoral leaders need to help parishioners understand that

AFF is not primarily about information but rather, transformation.268 Pastoral leaders also need to see conversion as a process, one to which God repeatedly calls all of us. Ultimately, parish leaders need to help parishioners see the connection between AFF and the central transformative act of parish life, the Eucharist. Propelled toward Eucharist by the grace of transformation in conversion, men and women are sent out of the Eucharistic celebration to take up their Baptismal call to evangelize and transform the world. A noble way to live one’s life: yearning for God, learning about God, growing in relationship with God and worshipping the God who saves.

268 Thomas H. Groome, “The Purposes of Christian Catechesis” in Empowering Catechetical Leaders, Thomas H. Groome and Michael J. Corso, eds. (Washington, DC: National Catholic Education Association, 1999), 22.

APPENDIX A: CONSENT FORM

Adult Faith Formation Study Group

Consent Form

By my signature below, I agree to participate in a three-session research project on “Why Don’t They Come? Enhancing Participation in Parish Adult Faith Formation,” as part of a study by Rose Marden for the Doctor of Ministry degree at Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. The project is under the supervision of Rev. Raymond Studzinski, OSB, PhD.

In agreeing to participate, I understand the following:

1. The sessions will take place at St. X on (dates) at 7-9 PM. The sessions will be audio-recorded for transcription. Rose Marden has my permission to use the information gathered in these sessions for research in this project and for future research.

2. I may request confidentiality, and I will protect the other participants’ requests for confidentiality. I understand that the researcher will use pseudonyms in the written published reports and that she will change the details of specific parishes to disguise identifying characteristics.

3. I agree to attend all three sessions.

4. I will be able to review the transcripts of the sessions and I will be able to add clarifying details if necessary.

5. I can receive a copy of the completed report of the project.

6. I may end my participation at any time.

Date ______signature of participant ______

Date ______signature of researcher ______

104

APPENDIX B: EVALUATION FORM

Table 6: Combined Ratings of the Focus Groups

Adult Faith Formation: Why don’t They Come? 1= very poor 2=poor 3=average 4=good 5=very good Did you feel welcomed to the focus group? 1 2 3 4 5 1 21 Did you understand the purpose of the focus group? 1 2 3 4 5 5 17 Was the leader organized? 1 2 3 4 5 22 Were you encouraged by the leader to participate? 1 2 3 4 5 1 21 Were you able to adequately express your ideas? 1 2 3 4 5 5 17 Did the leader seem to listen carefully to your input? 1 2 3 4 5 1 21 Were the slide shows helpful for your understanding of adult faith formation? 1 2 3 4 5 1 9 12 Did this focus group study help you to have a better understanding of why many people do not come to adult faith formation in the parish? 1 2 3 4 5 13 9 What is your overall impression of the focus group study? 1 2 3 4 5 4 18

105

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