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A new approach to religious formation is gaining popularity in Catholic parishes across the United States. The emphasis is on gatherings that include old and young alike. It has many variations but the most common sources are Whole Community Catechesis (www.twentythirdpublications.com) and the Generations of Faith Project (www.cmdnet.org). Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Milwaukee adapted these materials and initiated the Generations In Faith Together (G.I.F.T.) programme. The emphasis is on gathering together parents and children, as well as other parishioners who do not have children at home, to experience some aspect of their faith in an interactive way that will have a lasting effect. This is an attempt to change the parish into a lifelong learning center. Generations in Faith Together began in 2005 with information gathering and research. Staff members and lay leaders attended workshops, read resource materials, talked to other parishes and then shared their findings with one another. An organizing team was formed to plan monthly events around such themes as the Eucharist, Justice and Service, and most recently, Advent.Next came an intensive publicity blitz, including handouts, bulletin inserts, announcements from the pulpit, banners, brochures, emails, website notices – anything that would encourage people to attend. The first G.I.F.T weekend was held in September of 2006. The theme was "A Call To Family, Community and Participation." People could attend any one of three sessions, either Saturday morning, Sunday afternoon or Monday evening. Each session began with a meal, followed by a common prayer and an all-ages activity to set the theme. This was followed by breakout sessions for various age groups among the children and teenagers, while the adults experienced a presentation on the topic, followed by small group interaction. The entire gathering then reassembled for intergenerational activities, ending with prayer and take-home materials. Examples of intergenerational activities include designing an altar cloth that could be taken home for celebrating meals together, passing around a balloon and then having half the group putting their hands behind their back to show what happens when people are unwilling to participate, or in the case of Advent, telling stories to one another that related to experiences of waiting and expectation. The "Take-Home Kit" given out at the end encouraged people to keep reflecting on the theme throughout the month and to foster group activities in their homes. The Advent kit, for instance, included "Waiting in Hope - An Advent Prayer Journal," instructions for making an Advent wreath, various family traditions for Advent, the O Antiphons for the nine days before Christmas, creative options for gift-giving and a calendar for the new Liturgical Year. To date the G.I.F.T program has drawn an average of 650 to 700 participants each month. This amounts to one fifth of the total membership of the parish. No longer are parents dropping off their children for religious education classes; they now come as a family unit and work on projects together. Both older and younger adults are also attending and are discovering new friends in the process. A network of 25 parishes has been formed in the Milwaukee area that have begun intergenerational learning and are meeting on a regular basis to give each other support and encouragement. This has all the earmarks, in other words, of a whole new way of traveling the faith journey together. Tom Sweetser, SJ & Peg Bishop, OSF www.pepparish.org Parish Newsletter A Service of the Parish Evaluation Project Milwaukee, Wisconsin December, 2006 Reproduced on the OPRFM website with permission.
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