Faith Formation

Mission Statement

The mission of the process of Faith Formation is to provide a variety of opportunities to grow in knowledge and love of God, the Church, and the community in which we worship.

Vision Statement

The call of the Gospel is to bring about the Kingdom of God here and now. Faith Formation is the development and application of a strong faith in, and personal relationship with, Jesus Christ as a living God who loves each individual and desires to free us from fears and anxieties. All Faith Formation endeavors in our parish shall support and strengthen the Traditions of our Catholic faith and an ever-deepening understanding of the Gospel. We nurture and foster a sense of discipleship within the parish at all age levels. We facilitate belonging and believing in a unified community of Christian values and a lived experience of God. We not only educate for knowledge of the faith but also for personal and social transformation.

Faith Formation Objectives:

• Evangelize not only the people in our community but also those who are lost or searching through the use of technology and programs that expand beyond the parish.
   
• Provide education/formation for parish staff and all parishioners, preschool through adult.
   
• Provide personalized education for children and adolescents through small groups concerned with catechesis, spiritual life and apprenticeship in Christian life (service).
   
• Work for family-centered, intergenerational experience from baptismal catechesis through high school.
   
• Strengthen the centrality of our Sunday liturgy in the everyday life of our parishioners by using Scripture, the Sunday lectionary and the Catholic Catechism as the foundation for religious formation.
   
• Continue to emphasize the process of Christian Initiation for all levels, helping the community to become an initiating parish through expansion of the Catechumenate for adults, teens, and children.
   
• Continue to nurture the spiritual development and faith formation of our catechists by training parents and adults to teach the faith to their own children, youth and to other adults.
   
• Expansion of adult education opportunities in a variety of settings, methods, and on a variety of topics.
   
• Continue to create a climate of openness and support to Catholic education (Parish School).
   

Connect with Faith Formation Online: seekingfaith.stedward.com or through our Parish App

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EDIFYING WEBSITES:

www.wordonfire.org
Word On Fire offers daily blogs, articles, commentaries, and over ten years of weekly sermon podcasts with Father Barron, the first priest to have a national show on a secular television network since the 1950s. Father Robert Barron is an acclaimed author, speaker, and theologian. He is the Francis Cardinal George Professor of Faith and Culture at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago and also is the founder of Word on Fire.

www.anamchara.com
Carl McColman is the author of twelve books on a variety of spiritual topics. His works include The Big Book of Christian Mysticism, The Lion, the Mouse and the Dawn Treader, 366 Celt: A Year and a Day of Celtic Wisdom and Lore, Spirituality: A Postmodern and Interfaith Approach to Cultivating a Relationship with God, and The Aspiring Mystic. He created the “Website of Unknowing” as he called it in 1996 (he has owned the www.anamchara.com domain name since December of that year) and has been blogging since 2003. His writing has also appeared at the Huffington Post, Beliefnet, Patheos, and in print publications like PanGaia and Evolve.

Carl is a sought-after speaker, teacher, and retreat leader on topics such as Christian mysticism, the contemplative life, monasticism, writing as a sacred practice, Celtic wisdom, and interfaith spirituality.

www.gratefulness.org
A Network for Grateful Living (ANG*L) provides education and support for the practice of grateful living as a global ethic, based on the teachings of Br. David Steindl-Rast and colleagues. Gratefulness – the full response to a given moment and all it contains – is a universal spiritual practice that inspires personal transformation, cross-cultural understanding, interfaith dialogue, intergenerational respect, nonviolent conflict resolution, and ecological sustainability.

www.abbeyofthearts.com
The Abbey is a virtual monastery – existing as an online community through classes, reflections, and resources which integrate contemplative practice and creative expression. Christine Valters Paintner is a writer, artist, spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and teacher. She earned her PhD in Christian Spirituality from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and her professional status as Registered Expressive Arts Consultant and Educator (REACE) from the International Expressive Arts Therapy Association (IEATA.org). She lives out her commitment as a Benedictine Oblate in the heart of Seattle.

www.macrinawiederkehr.com
Macrina Weiderkehr is a Benedictine sister, author, spiritual guide, seeker of Truth, and lover of the spiritual journey. In her blog, Under the Sycamore Tree, she inspires with her journal writing and photography. “Journaling is an important spiritual practice for me. Almost (but not every) morning I sit under my sycamore tree and journal…... In this journaling section I hope to share selections from my daily journal. Happy Journaling to all who come to my blog for you, too, must have hearts full of things that must be held in reflection.”

www.cacradicalgrace.org
The Center for Action and Contemplation, located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was founded in 1987 by Franciscan Father Richard Rohr. The Center’s purpose would be to serve not only as a forum for peaceful, non-violent social change but also as a radical voice for renewal and encouragement. Envisioned as a faith alternative to the dominant consciousness, offering hope, inspiration and challenge to a despairing world, the CAC today attracts people from around the world—those who seek peaceful, positive alternatives and solutions to the difficult challenges of our often materialistic, irrational and violent world. These people share the CAC vision and understand the constructive message of the Gospel that crosses boundaries of religion, ethnicity, social class and gender.

www.pray-as-you-go.org
The Jesuits of Britain provide a virtual experience of prayer, meditation, music and inspiring thoughts for each day for your mp3 player.

www.speakingoffaith.org
On Being is a spacious conversation — and an evolving media space — about the big questions at the center of human life, from the boldest new science of the human brain to the most ancient traditions of the human spirit. The program began as an occasional series on Minnesota Public Radio in 1999, then became a monthly national program in September 2001, and launched as a weekly program titled Speaking of Faith in the summer of 2003 with host Krista Tippett.

www.ronrolheiser.com
Ronald Rolheiser, a Roman Catholic priest and member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, is president of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas. He is a community-builder, lecturer and writer. His books are popular throughout the English-speaking world and his weekly column is carried by more than seventy newspapers worldwide.

www.joycerupp.com
Joyce Rupp is well known for her work as a writer, a spiritual "midwife," and retreat and conference speaker. She has led retreats throughout North America, as well as in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Joyce has a B.A. in English, a M.R.E. in Religious Education, and a M.A. in Transpersonal Psychology. She is a member of the Servites (Servants of Mary) community and a volunteer for Hospice. She currently resides in Des Moines, Iowa.

www.contemplativeoutreach.org
Contemplative Outreach is a spiritual network of individuals and small faith communities committed to living the contemplative dimension of the Gospel. The common desire for Divine transformation, primarily expressed through a commitment to a daily Centering Prayer practice, unites this international, interdenominational community.