Adult Faith Formation ~ What Is It?

The Adult Faith Formation/Evangelization Ministry serves the people of Nativity of Our Lord Parish by inviting and enabling ongoing conversion to Jesus in Holiness of Life by which people consciously grow in the life of Christ through experience, reflection, prayer, and study. We are called by our Baptism to build adult Christian communities that are strong in faith, clearly proclaim the Gospel, celebrate vibrant and reverent liturgy, and give courageous witness in charity. Moreover, the witness of adults actively continuing their own formation shows children and youth that growth in faith is the intent of all catechesis from the earliest years. Thus, all catechesis is geared to a life-long deepening of faith in Christ.

The Parish ~ How Can We Help?

For most Catholics, the parish is their primary experience of the Church. It is where they gather for weekly worship, celebrate their most joyous occasions, and mourn their deepest losses. There they are called to repentance and renewal, finding and celebrating God's forgiveness and reconciliation. Embracing the dying and rising of Jesus in their lives, they are challenged to holiness and strengthened for self-giving love and Christian service.

We are challenged to find effective ways to walk the journey of life with all Catholics - including those without a strong parish connection - and to enrich that shared journey with the gifts of the faith community. Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us, a pastoral plan for Adult Faith Formation, created by the bishops of the United States, states...this responsibility belongs fundamentally to the whole parish, which is called to be "a visible place of faith-witness" and "the living and permanent environment for growth in the faith." The parish IS the curriculum.

Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us comes from the disciples walk to Emmaus (Luke 24: 13-35). In the familiar story of Emmaus we find the model for this pastoral plan. The parish, in order to be effective ministers of adult faith formation, we will first, like Jesus, join people in their daily concerns and walk side by side with them on the pathway of life. We want to ask questions and to listen attentively as you speak of your joys, hopes, griefs, and anxieties.

If you have any questions, please contact:
Cathy Krzywicki, Coordinator of Pastoral Services, 215-675-1925. †