Adult Faith Formation

Until fairly recently, it was unusual for Catholic parishes to feature ministries like “adult faith formation,” “adult faith development,” or “adult catechesis.” Parishes offered religious education to children and teenagers, and the adults were often included in parish administration and management, but the ongoing faith formation of adults depended on the religious education they themselves received as children and their participation in the parish’s sacramental life.

But what is adult faith formation? To understand, we can reflect on what the church commonly means by faith. Faith is the word we use to discuss our relationship with God. Unlike the various other people in our lives (parents, spouses, children, coworkers, neighbors), God isn’t immediately present to us. Our relationship with God is characterized as much by God’s absence as by the signs that remind us of God’s presence. As St. Augustine teaches us, God is closer to us than we are to ourselves. But, as we all know so well, we don’t always feel God’s closeness as intimacy, love, or protection. Often, we experience God’s closeness as something missing, something we want and don’t yet have. “We walk by faith, not by sight,” says St. Paul. So we use the word faith to describe our strange connection to God, who is hidden in plain sight and who we come to know by sign and testimony.

Faith is a gift, and God gives it in three ways. First, God gives us faith through a felt connection to Jesus as our priest, teacher, and leader. Second, God gives us faith by our belonging to the community of those baptized into the life of Jesus, crucified and risen. Third, God gives us faith as we encounter the world’s desperate need for justice and renewal.

We want to promote and nurture these three avenues of faith within the lives of the adults in our community. As a parish ministry, adult faith formation fosters a sense of belonging to Jesus personally. As a community, with all of the obligations to ourselves, one another, and the broader world that being followers of Christ entails. Adult faith formation creates opportunities for thinking new thoughts, reflecting on old ideas, and hearing the diverse perspectives of others. Adult faith formation makes space for meeting new people, spending time with familiar faces, and finding moments of solitude. Adult faith formation grows from the life of the local parish and extends to those whose faith journey takes them beyond the parish grounds. There’s no single model for this ministry because adult faith formation needs to meet folks wherever they are in their relationship with Jesus, the parish, and the world.

Please contact Maria Wanner, Faith Formation Coordinator, to learn about opportunities to grow in your faith as an adult.
503-648-1998 ext 230 or [email protected]