Religious education

[M.Krocheski]

We used to have CCD for religious education, but now they are trying to push through a new system called Generations of Faith and if you go to that website you find out that it’s headed by E.J. LILLY, a big conglomerate pharmeceuticals and drug company and also Presbyterian. Can you tell me if this is something good or not? Especially for Catholics. If you want to look at that website here’s the website, www.generationsoffaith.org. Just send response to mkroches@msn.com. Thanks much and GOD BLESS YOU ALL.

 

[Shiann]

Lilly Endowment, Inc.
Lilly Endowment, Inc. is different from Eli Lilly and Company Foundation. The Lilly Endowment was established in 1937 by members of the Lilly family as a vehicle by which to pursue their personal philanthropic interests. The Lilly Endowment is completely separate from Eli Lilly and Company and Eli Lilly and Company Foundation and is independently managed. The Lilly Endowment cannot be solicited through the company and must be contacted directly.

Lilly Endowment, Inc.
P.O. Box 88068
Indianapolis, IN 46208
Phone: 317-924-5471
Fax: 317-926-4431

lillyendowment.org/

This program looks Catholic to me… but I will need to review the program more…

The Generations of Faith Project is a service of the Center for Ministry Development, funded through a four-year grant from the Lilly Endowment.

Generations of Faith is an innovative approach to parish faith formation that involves all generations in learning and growing together through their experience and participation in church life. Funded through a grant from the Lilly Endowment, the Generations of Faith Project helps parishes develop lifelong, intergenerational, Church-based faith formation that is focused on the educative power of the church community: the feasts and seasons of the Church Year, sacraments and liturgy, prayer and spirituality, justice and service, proclamation of the Word, and community life. The Generations of Faith approach promotes participation of all ages and generations in the shared experiences of church life (events) as a focus for learning. The Generations approach utilizes a catechetical process of preparing all ages and all generations for meaningful participation in church events through a variety of learning programs, engaging them in church events, and guiding them in reflecting and applying the significance and meaning of the events for their lives as Catholics. The Generations approach weaves home and parish in a comprehensive model of faith formation for all ages and generations.

From Generations of Faith Website: www.generationsoffaith.org

It would seem to me that how “traditional” this program can be would depend on those running the Generations of Faith program in each parish. I would assume that a very traditional church could implement the program successfully- but I can also see a less traditional “clown Mass” parish embracing this program.

 

[Shiann]

PROGRAM GOALS:

The Generations of Faith Project is designed to equip parishes to:

provide comprehensive, lifelong faith formation for all ages-children, adolescents, young adults, and adults-and all families by utilizing the events of Church life: Church Year feasts and seasons, liturgical and sacramental celebrations, prayer experiences and spiritual traditions, justice and service ministries, and community events

utilize a catechetical process of preparing all ages and all generations for meaningful participation in church events through a variety of learning programs (age-specific, family, and intergenerational), engaging them in church events, and guiding them in reflecting and applying the significance and meaning of the events for their lives.

design and conduct age-specific, family, and intergeneration preparation programs centered on events

design resources and activities for home faith formation centered on events

strategize for successful implementation of their lifelong faith formation plan and develop change strategies to introduce and sustain the innovations in their parish

Parish Responsibilities

Parishes participating in the Generations of Faith Project commit to the following responsibilities:

Develop and implement an intergenerational, lifelong faith formation curriculum over a three-year timeframe as an integral element of parish and home faith formation.

Develop a Generations of Faith Team comprised of the pastor, parish staff (e.g., DRE, liturgist, youth minister, pastoral associate, family minister, social justice minister), school staff, and key leaders in faith formation (e.g., children/adolescent/adult catechesis, RCIA, sacramental preparation, small communities).

Participate as a team in the six Generations of Faith Workshops over the three years timeframe of Project Services.

Purchase the two volumes of Generations of Faith publications produced by the Center for Ministry Development: Volume 1: Church Year ($275) and Volume 2: Sacraments ($275).

Participate in the Generations of Faith evaluation process.

 

[LoneRanger]

i would like to recommend the VHS tape series of the Catechism of the Catholic Church as explained by Fr Corapi…

IMO, it should be required viewing prior to confirmation…

 

[Tantum_ergo]

Purchase the two volumes of Generations of Faith publications produced by the Center for Ministry Development: Volume 1: Church Year ($275) and Volume 2: Sacraments ($275).

Ouch. $550 right there for “parish responsibilities”. Wonder how much it would cost to get a good copy of the new Catechism, the Baltimore Catechism (all vol.), and use those?

 

[Shiann]

I do not disagree $500 is a lot to spend for a couple of books.

But if this includes all the help this organization is going to provide in getting a first rate Catechism program up and running- over a 3 year period, seems like a good investment to me.

So many parishes feel the need to overlook a lot of the Catechism because it deals with “non-politically correct” ideas. (Abortion, NFP, value of marriage, etc.) This isn’t including those parishes who read liturgical issues out of context to include all sorts of things in the Mass.

Again, I mean no disrespect to your post. You are correct, the best teacher IS the Catechism- if your heart and mind is open to it. But I have been in enough religious education programs to know that a little organization goes A LONG way in maintaining the integrity of the information disseminated.

If it helps get the parish organized, I think it makes the parish more wholesome and purposeful in sheparding thier flock.

 

[hollybc]

M.Krocheski:

We used to have CCD for religious education, but now they are trying to push through a new system called Generations of Faith …

Our parish has implemeted our first year in the GoF program. It will probably replace traditional CCD in the future… but we are offering both GoF and trad. CCD now. To see what our parish doing please visit our GoF page at sacredheart-middleboro.org/generations.htm or visit our photo album at sacredheart-middleboro.org/genfaith/gof-photos.htm .

We just had a Pentecost festival (no pix yet!) next festival is Corpus Christi in May.

The main idea behind this is to bring in whole families AND adults to learn what is behind our faith. I am a member of our GoFdesign team (and parish webmaster!) Feel free to ask me any questions.

Holly

 

[kmktexas]

I have seen this implemented in one parish near me. It isn’t a very liberal one, but not a conservative one either. It has been energizing for families who practice the faith regularly. It seems to be the approach that a parish would chose if it decides that it doesn’t want kids going to CCE if they aren’t practicing the faith at home. There is no option for kids to get Religious Ed unless they are part of a family unit that attends together. In the parish that I know, Sacrament Prep is no longer offerered, just a meeting to hand out a workbook and then rehearsal. The parents do all of the preparation for First Communion and First Confession (I don’t know anyone who’s kids have done the Confirmation prep there yet).

I have looked at some of the materials that the families bring home and they seem a little “off”. For example, the packet on the Eucharist had lots of stuff about the Eucharist as a meal and comparing it to the family meal at home. Nothing at all was said about it being sacrificial or about the miriale of transubstantiation. Let’s just say that most Protestants would not have found anything objectionable in the material.

What I don’t know is how much (name removed by moderator)ut the leaders have in the choice of material. It could be that the material is “Catholic Lite” because of the particular parish rather than because of the focus of GOF.