Our Hearts Were Burning
Among Us
10th Anniversary of
This Plan
for Adult Faith Formation
by Bryan Reising
In November of 1999,
the
promulgated a plan for adult
faith formation called Our
Hearts Were Burning
Within Us (OHWB), hoping it will
stir more opportunities
for Adult Faith Formation. This year
is the 10th anniversary
of this watershed document. The
following is a summary of this
plan.
Vision of This Plan and
Introduction
The Second Vatican
Council and many postconciliar
documents inspired the vision
of this plan. For example, the
General Directory of
Catechesis in 1971 stated, “all forms
of catechesis are
ordered around adult catechesis.” The
current General Directory of
Catechesis reiterates this, “the
organizing principle, which
gives coherence to the various
catechetical programs offered by a
particular Church, is
attention to adult catechesis.”
The
commitment to adult faith
formation as stated in OHWB.
The bishops stated
that Jesus is the model teacher, as he
was on the road to Emmaus
after he rose from the dead. We
are to look to Jesus as
the model of how we form and
inform adults in our
parishes. The bishops also
acknowledged and are appreciative
of the many efforts
within parishes such as
renewal retreats, small Christian
communities, parish missions,
Bible studies, publications of
all sorts to form the
faith, parent programs juxtaposed with
Catholic schools,
faith formation, sacramental preparation,
and the media and
technology.
Part I – A New Focus on Adult
Faith Formation
In this part, the
bishops describe the culture and the
people that we evangelize
and catechize. It is multicultural,
it is media driven, and
it is a society where families and
individuals are stretched in many
directions.
They are convinced
that a Church that prioritizes its
efforts with evangelization
and catechesis of adults will see
a positive shift in
parish life, such as everyone will benefit
from children, to youth,
to adults.
Part II – Qualities of Mature
Adult Faith &
Discipleship
They state that it
begins with the Gospel and a relationship
with the Triune God we
call Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit. It is an explicit
faith with a message that is very
relevant for our times and all
times. Faith that is
experienced and learned is to be
lived. There are various
ways and examples of how
this is a living faith. For
example, a living faith needs
to be nourished with prayer,
Scripture, and sacred tradition.
The fruit of a lived faith is
involvement with ministry and
with the work of charity and
justice.
Part
Content, and Approaches for
Adult Faith
Formation
The three major goals
of Adult Faith Formation are:
1) Invite and Enable
Ongoing Conversion to Jesus in
Holiness
of Life.
2) Promote and Support
Active Membership in the
Christian Community.
3) Call and Prepare
Adults to Act as Disciples in
to the World.
In other words, we
need to provide opportunities for
renewal and conversion with
follow-up formation that is
lifelong, active participation
in our parishes with our
various ministries, and we
need to call upon parishioners to
be involved with acts of
charity and justice.
The general principles
for adult faith formation are:
1) Plan adult faith
formation to serve “the glory of God,
the building of the
kingdom, and the good of the
Church.”
2) Orient adult
Christian learning toward adult Christian
living.
3) Strengthen the role
and mission of the family in Church
and society.
4) Give adult faith
formation the best of our pastoral
resources and energies.
5) Make adult faith
formation essential and integral to the
pastoral plan of the parish.
6) Design adult faith
formation opportunities to serve the
needs and interests of the
entire faith community.
7) Use the catechumenate as an inspiring model for all
catechesis.
8) Respect the
different learning styles and needs of
participants.
9) Engage adults
actively in the actual life and ministry of
the Christian community.
10) Bring the power of
the Gospel into the very heart of
culture(s).
11) Let the gifts of
culture enrich the life of the Church.
12) Involve the whole
people of God in inculturating the
faith.
13) Let adult faith
formation programs be centers of service
and inculturation.
All of these
principles should be evaluated so that
parishes are both affirmed and
challenged to grow in areas
they need improvement.
There are six
dimensions or content areas that need to
be included in adult
faith formation:
1) Knowledge of the
Faith 4) Prayer
2) Liturgical Life 5)
Communal Life
3) Moral Formation 6)
Missionary Spirit
Under these headings,
adults can learn about specific
areas like the Eucharist,
Catholic Social Teaching, Family
Life, and perhaps
training on outreach to those Catholics we
miss.
The bishops then
describe some approaches to adult
faith formation:
multifaceted approaches, the liturgy, the
family, small groups, large
groups, and individual activities.
In our diocese, there
are a variety of methods being
used like
intergenerational catechesis, Bible studies for
adults, and family
catechesis.
Part IV: A Plan for Ministry:
Organization for
Adult Faith Formation
In this section, the
bishops describe the parish as the
primary experience of the
Church for most Catholics. With
this in mind, the plan for
the parish will have adult faith
formation as a driving force
for all catechesis. The parish
itself serves as the
curriculum with all its vibrancy,
activities, and people. It also
states that if a parish can plan
for lifelong involvement
with faith formation and church
life, then there is a
better chance that this will actually
happen.
In addition, this plan
calls for specific roles by the
pastor, the director of
adult faith formation, the adult faith
formation team, and catechists
for adults. For example, a
pastor can help set the tone
or initiate a vision for adult faith
formation as a priority within
the parish. Another example
would be hiring someone for
a parish (or in many of our
cases, Area Faith
Community) to direct efforts and organize
adult faith formation.
Within this document, they have some
examples of the other roles.
Regarding the diocese,
it states, “the diocese will have a
clearly stated vision of
lifelong learning in parishes that
promotes adult faith formation
as the chief form of
catechesis.” I believe we are
not there yet regarding this
goal, but this is our
vision. Imagine what our diocese would
be like if every parish
did make adult faith formation the
chief form of catechesis. I
believe our churches would see
an increase in
membership in our parishes, vocations would
become more numerous, and we
would be even more
generous and compassionate
than we already are. Imagine
that!
Regarding
implementation, there are five steps:
1) study
the plan,
2) analyze
the situation,
3) develop
action steps,
4) prepare
your leaders, and
5) make
a commitment of financial resources.
I hope this summary
wets the appetite to read more!
It is my hope that
pastoral leaders and catechetical
leaders will take the time to
read and to study this important
document, Our Heart Were
Burning Within Us. University
of
below). It is my hope that
adult faith formation will become
a priority so that all
Catholics, young and old can benefit!
For further
information, contact Bryan Reising at 507-
233-5324 and check out
VLCFF’s website:
http://vlc.udayton.edu/.