Forming Domestic Churches: Models of Family-Centered Catechesis

Believing parents, with their daily example of life, have the most effective capacity to transmit the beauty of the Christian faith to their children . . . The greatest challenge in this situation is for couples, mothers and fathers, active participants in catechesis, to overcome the mentality of delegation that is so common, according to which the faith is set aside for specialists in religious education.
– Directory for Catechesis, no. 124

Within the last sixty years it’s hard to find a document on catechesis or the family that doesn’t describe parents, in various terms, as the “primary educators” of their children.¹ While often taken as a prescriptive exhortation — that parents should be equipped for and embrace their role in the formation of children — this phrase also has a descriptive quality. Evidence shows that parents² have a greater influence on the faith beliefs and practices of their children than any other source (pastors, schools, catechists) and so, in a very real sense, form their children through their attentiveness to the faith or malform them through their neglect of it.

The failure of traditional models of religious education is evident in studies published in the past fifteen years showing that the Catholic Church is not retaining members and that even those who remain have a tenuous understanding of Catholic doctrines:

• In 2015, 31.7% of American adults said they were raised Catholic, with 41% of those no longer identifying with Catholicism.³ This means 12.9% of American adults are former Catholics.
• Only 16% of American millennials self-identified as Catholic in 2015.⁴
• In 2015 only 61% of American Catholics said they believe in a personal God (compared to 80% of evangelical Protestants), while 30% said they believe God is an impersonal force.⁵
• In 2010 only 55% of American Catholics knew the Church’s teaching on the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist; 42% could name the first book of the Bible; and 33% could name the four Gospels.⁶
• In 2014 75% of Catholics said they believe heaven is a real place, 66% that hell is a real place, and 67% said there are many ways to heaven.⁷

In short, catechetical programs have helped ensure the reception of the sacraments by youth but have been less successful in transmitting either the content of faith or an ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ. But sacramental grace cannot take root and flourish without a living faith. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us,

“The sacred liturgy does not exhaust the entire activity of the Church”: it must be preceded by evangelization, faith, and conversion. It can then produce its fruits in the lives of the faithful: new life in the Spirit, involvement in the mission of the Church, and service to her unity. (no. 1072)

For this reason many parishes and dioceses are turning to models of family-centered formation, recognizing that it is within the context of the Domestic Church that the faith is best nurtured and passed on. This article will address the need for a more family-centered model of catechesis in the Church today and present three models parishes might consider adopting.

The Family and Christian Formation

In Forming Intentional Disciples, Sherry Weddell exhorts us that “God has no grandchildren.” This is true both in a theological sense (we are all made adopted daughters and sons of God through baptism) and in a practical sense: the faith is not genetic and cannot be passed on to the next generation in a passive way. Evangelization and catechesis are always active, intentional processes that requires attention from both the Church and the one being formed for discipleship.

The council fathers at Vatican II described the process of Christian formation as an “apprenticeship” (Ad Gentes, no. 14). This metaphor points to the fact that catechesis is not just the passing on of information or a set of doctrines, but formation in a way of life modeled by Christ and taken up by his disciples. This way of life is rooted in the love God has shown to his creation in sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to reconcile us to the Father through his life, death, and resurrection. Through the Holy Spirit we are empowered to hear Christ’s call, turn our hearts and mind to him, and work to share his Gospel with the world.

Such an apprenticeship is rarely accomplished in settings modeled after schools (cf. Directory for Catechesis, nos. 222–223) since they do not reach into the lived experience of the young person. Over the past twenty years we have been increasingly aware that a faith that is only lived or talked about in the Catholic school or on the parish grounds does not have the roots necessary to sustain itself as a young person grows in maturity and is exposed to the variety of faiths, viewpoints, and ideologies in our pluralistic society.

Instead, Gaudium et Spes teaches that “parents are consecrated by the sacrament of marriage to a specific function: they are active co-workers in the salvific and evangelizing mission of the Church, a service they perform by their educational duties toward their children.” (no. 6) Parents are truly the primary formators of their children, and an authentic catechesis — a catechesis that encompasses the whole of the Christian life — must be rooted in the Domestic Church.

This is emphasized in the Church’s liturgical life when, within the Order of Baptism of Children, parents are twice exhorted as to their responsibility to form their child in the Christian faith — first when they are greeted at the doors of the church (no. 77):

In asking for Baptism for your child,

you are undertaking the responsibility

of raising him (her) in the faith,

so that, keeping God’s commandments,

he (she) may love the Lord and his (her) neighbor as Christ has taught us.

Do you understand this responsibility?

and again at the lighting of the baptismal candle (no. 100):

Parents and godparents,

this light is entrusted to you to be kept burning brightly,

so that your child, enlightened by Christ,

may walk always as a child of the light

and, persevering in the faith,

may run to meet the Lord when he comes

with all the Saints in the heavenly court.

All this is to say that parents are “active participants in catechesis” (Directory for Catechesis, no. 124), not passive consumers called to outsource the formation of their children to ecclesial experts. A “drop-off mentality,” implicitly part of many traditional catechetical programs, has encouraged parents to abdicate their natural responsibilities in their children’s faith lives, further separating catechesis from its primary setting in the Domestic Church.

Primary Characteristics of Family-Centered Formation

Dr. Christian Smith, professor of sociology and director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Society at the University of Notre Dame, has done some of the most in-depth research exploring the dynamics of passing on the faith in the family context. His longitudinal studies have followed the same cohort from middle school through young adulthood to discern the critical factors differentiating those who continue to practice the faith and those who do not.

Among his findings Dr. Smith has identified the following as crucial components for families that succeed in passing on the faith to their children:⁸

• Loving, affirming relationships between parents and children
• Quality religious conversations and interactions
• Consistent, active, and intentional religious engagement that is neither indifferent nor overbearing
• Child-centered conversations that allow children to ask questions and share their religious perspectives
• Fathers who value and practice the faith
• Religious interactions with grandparents and other extended family members
• Consistency between professed religious convictions and behavior

Even more than the exact faith content being taught, these factors, especially taken in tandem, significantly increase the probability that a child will continue to practice the faith as they mature, leave the home, and begin their adult life.

In her book Forming Families in Faith, Kathy Hendricks draws on the six tasks of catechesis from the General Directory for Catechesis to describe how families engage in home-based formation:

The exact way in which families undertake these tasks will be contingent on their own familiarity with the faith and level of discipleship; the family structure and support from extended family members; their cultural and ethnic backgrounds; the social-economic status of the family; and other factors.

As should be evident from the above, ministerial leaders should not expect family-centered formation to mirror traditional parish- or school-based catechesis. Family-centered formation does not entail a simple transferral of catechetical activity from the parish classroom to the family living room, and the activities of the Domestic Church need not be systematized, scheduled, and turned into a curriculum. Family-centered formation is “more witnessed to than taught, more occasional than systematic, more on-going and daily than structured into periods.” (General Directory for Catechesis, no. 255)

The Role of the Parish in Catechesis

Given the primary role of parents in catechizing youth, some might assume that the parish has no part to play. This would be a false assumption. The Church recognizes that the parish has a vital role to play as collaborators with and supporters of parents:

The Church is called to cooperate with parents through suitable pastoral initiatives, assisting them in the fulfilment of their educational mission. She must always do this by helping them to appreciate their proper role and to realize that by their reception of the sacrament of marriage they become ministers of their children’s education. In educating them, they build up the Church and in so doing, they accept a God-given vocation. (Amoris Laetitia, no. 85)

In other words, parishes and Catholic schools are called to assist parents in the education and formation of their children, not substitute for them. And yet the predominate model of Catholic formation in the United States for decades has been a substitutionary model in which parents were encouraged to hand over the formation of their children to religious sisters and priests (or, in more recent decades, to trained catechists and licensed teachers) who, it was felt, were better equipped to teach the faith.

Again, this isn’t to say that sisters and clergy, catechists and teachers don’t have a role to play in the faith formation of children and youth. But given the data showing the vital importance of parents, we must acknowledge that by encouraging parents to trust “experts” we have created habits and patterns of life in the family that have lessened our ability to pass on the faith to new generations.

This focus on cooperating with parents is one reason the Church insists on the primacy of adult faith formation and that “all the other forms [of catechesis], which are indeed always necessary, are in some way oriented to it.” (Directory for Catechesis, no. 77) By focusing on the formation of youth for so many decades, often to the exclusion of adult formation, we have lost sight of the fact that all catechesis has as its goal the formation of an adult disciple. Without adult disciples the work of the Domestic Church, the activities of the parish, and the apostolate of the laity suffer.

A catechesis that respects the role of parents and encourages, forms, and equips them for their “God-given vocation” will center its catechetical mission around the family and the life of the Domestic Church. This may include giving parents tools for leading home-based faith practices (such as the family liturgies found in Catholic Household Blessings and Prayers or ways of observing the liturgical year), integrating home visits from clergy or pastoral ministers into the preparation for matrimony or the baptism of a child, or hosting events for families at the parish or in the community.

This cooperation with parents may also include elements of more traditional catechetical programs such as instruction led by catechists at the parish. It should also be understood in the context of the entire faith life of a parish community (celebration of Sunday Mass, Reconciliation, and other sacraments; parish festivals and celebrations; missions and youth retreats; etc.). However, these elements must be seen as supplementing and supporting the formation being done in the home. That is, it should “fill in the gaps” of the less structured and less systematic family formation.

Models of Family-Centered Formation

Family-centered formation is not a catechetical model, but rather a family of models that center the formal catechetical activity of youth and adults around the Domestic Church. There are varying levels of cooperation between the parish and parents; catechetical leaders, in conversation with families, should evaluate their resources, gifts, and capabilities for supporting parents when preparing their parish’s catechetical plan.

The following models are by no means exhaustive, and even within each model there is room for variation. They are meant to serve as categories to help local faith communities discern potential areas for growth in their support of family-centered catechesis.

Model #1: Parallel Adult/Child Formation

This model of family-centered formation most closely resembles the traditional religious education program of many parishes. The primary difference is that, rather than dropping off their children and returning at the end of the session, parents (and other adults) participate in their own formation at the same time children are being catechized.

Parishes can attenuate this model and make it more family-focused in a variety of ways. For instance, they might begin the session with all ages in a common space for an opening prayer, skit, or other introduction. Then, after all age cohorts have completed their formation, the whole group can gather to share what they learned and end with a common prayer.

This model gives the parish opportunities to form parents directly. In addition to normal faith topics this may include specific formation for their parental tasks and role as the primary catechist of their children. This model can also encourage parents to discuss the faith with their children, especially if all ages are covering the same subject matter (in age-appropriate ways), bringing the faith conversation into the home.

Unfortunately, many parents, already disengaged from the formation of their children, will choose to ignore the invitation to participate in adult formation. Catechetical leaders must be courageous and creative in reaching out to such parents by engaging them in their hopes and dreams for their children, modeling patterns of prayer for the home, and helping parents navigate the challenges of raising faithful children in the modern world.

Model #2: The Family as Small Faith Group

In this model parents and children gather and receive the same catechetical instruction at the same time. It can encompass a full catechetical program at the parish (families coming to the parish every week or month for catechetical instruction), more occasional faith activities (building an Advent wreath together, family Adoration and prayer services, service opportunities, etc.) or less formal gatherings in the home or organized by ecclesial movements.

This model has the advantage of helping parents have faith conversations with their children and begin to catechize them in a supported environment where parish leaders are available to assist. When families gather with families, whether at the parish or in homes, it also opens avenues for mutual assistance and support in practicing the faith.

On the other hand, as many homilists can attest, it is difficult to address a wide variety of ages in the same room at the same time. The intergenerational catechesis movement, popularized around the turn of the millennium through programs such as Generations of Faith, was based on this model. Without published materials to support such catechesis, however, many parishes found it difficult to adapt the necessary content for adults, teens, and youth month after month. This model requires significant investment if it is to be sustainable.

Model #3: Home-Based Formation

This is perhaps the most rigorous family-centered model, for it involves moving the majority or totality of youth formation off the parish grounds and into the home. Rather than form youth, the parish takes on the task of forming parents to be the formal catechists of their children, providing them with a curriculum that they take back to the home.

Some parents already choose this model by homeschooling their children, including providing religious instruction. Such parents are to be supported in their efforts and invited to participate in any family-based catechetical activities or resources provided by the parish.

However, there are a number of challenges when introducing this model across a parish, not the least of which is that many parents are themselves ill-formed in the faith and do not feel equipped to form their own children. Moving straight from the traditional catechetical program to a fully parent-led process can be disorienting for many parents; any such undertaking must be preceded by a period of formation for the parents so that they do not feel abandoned by the parish in their task.

Many parishes also find it difficult to track a family’s engagement in the home-based model or gauge the faith development of children. Some parishes have parents submit completed worksheets to the parish on a regular basis so that completion can be recorded. Regular face-to-face check-ins are also advantageous, especially as children prepare for Reconciliation, Confirmation, and First Communion, to ensure that they evidence the requisite faith in and knowledge of Jesus.

Even if a parish chooses a different model, more limited versions of parent-led formation can be utilized to supplement existing catechetical programs, such as providing take-home sheets that parents review with their children or seasonal home-based liturgies (such as Epiphany home blessings, prayers for birthdays, etc.) for families to celebrate together. Many published catechetical curriculums already provide such resources for parents but remain underused by parishes.

Hybrid Models of Family-Centered Formation

The three models outlined above are not mutually exclusive of each other. Aspects of each can be combined when preparing the parish’s catechetical plan. Indeed, a robust catechetical plan should, according to the parish’s ability, incorporate the best of these models in their support of families.

For instance, a parish running a traditional classroom-based program might introduce an adult faith formation session at the same time as the youth lessons (Model #1) while providing take-home materials for parents to discuss with their children and liturgical prayers to celebrate in the home (Model #3) and hosting seasonal whole-family faith activities (Model #2). In this way families have multiple and overlapping opportunities to engage the faith and be formed together as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Conclusion

Both the teaching of the Church and sustained empirical research support the conclusion that effective faith formation begins in the home. Pastors and those who assist them in the formation of the faithful, called to “promote and foster the function of parents in . . . family catechesis” (c. 776), should never tire of reaching out to parents and offering the Church’s support, cooperation, and prayers for the faith development of their children.

While no one model can meet the needs of every parish, careful consideration should be given when outlining the parish’s catechetical plan for how families will be equipped to live, learn, and love the faith in the home. This is not an optional “add-on” to catechesis, but the very heart of forming disciples for the twenty-first century.