These workshops are part of the National Community of Catechetical Leaders’ (NCCL) Lilly Endowment grant-funded project involving nine parishes within the Diocese of Saint Petersburg. They guide parish leaders in identifying where the faith may not be transmitted within families so that new plans, strategies, and approaches can be implemented to reach and address these areas. These may include new programs, additions to faith formation already in place, ways to assist parents with parenting skills, and more.

“When parents are growing their faith, their kids are growing. When parents are engaged, the kids are engaged. When the whole family is learning, the whole parish is growing,” said John Roberto from NCCL, who facilitated this workshop. “Our goal in the project is to help you become intentional about this flow [of faith formation] from zero years old to graduation from high school at church and at home.”

During these workshops, parish leaders work to develop these initiatives that may assist in providing faith formation within the family at all stages of life. They are also able to share what is working at their parish with those present in a collaborative effort.

Six elements are the primary areas of focus in these workshops:

• Faith practices at home
• Engagement in parish life
• Equipping parents with practices and skills appropriate to each life stage
• Equipping parents to be faith formators of their children and adolescents
• Providing catechesis for the entire family
• Fostering intergenerational relationships

Parish leaders are finding the workshops to be fruitful and something beneficial to the overall faith formation that they can bring back to their parishes.

“It is providing a structured and spiritually nourishing environment for faith formation leadership to share ideas and compare information,” shared Lisa Limberger, Youth Minister and Family Ministry Director at St. Matthew Catholic Church. “We can discuss hurdles and successes as we continue growing as Catholic communities. It puts a focus on family faith formation that grows our entire faith community within the diocese, parish by parish. We can tailor the information to work within the individual dynamics of our own parishes.”

To learn more about Parents and Families at the Center of Faith Formation, visit www.ncclcatholicfamilies.org.