Parish kicks off unique faith plan for all generations

November 15, 2022

St. Catherine of Siena Parish has shifted from a family-based model of catechesis to an intergenerational faith formation program.

Two issues prompted the change.

First, the pandemic gave the parish an opportunity to consider how it might redefine itself.

Second, the parish has relatively small numbers of students, especially in certain grades.

“We needed to figure out what we were going to do about faith formation since we don’t have a critical mass of children, youth, and families in every age cohort, which made it difficult to guarantee a really high-quality program across the board,” said Aimee Beckmann-Collier, a member of the Parish Council.

The parish saw three options: Maintain the status quo, combine with another parish, or create something new and unique to the parish.

“We fully expected parents would say, ‘Let’s combine with another parish,’” Beckmann-Collier said. But no, the parents had strong feelings about what the community is and what it stands for.

“One of the things that was impressed upon me (years ago) was that you shouldn’t choose a church or choose your priest, you should choose a community,” said parent Greg Bellville. “As a young, single person, I found a community that was supportive. As we all grew together and started families, we said, ‘Let’s hang out. We’re all in a similar boat and have similar value sets.’ It’s been fantastic.”

Parent Laura Catherine Carruthers-Green, who is now the coordinator of Faith Formation and helped form the young families group, said, “What brings us back to St. Kate’s is the faith that we see in the people around us and the community support we see around us as we bring kids up as prayerful people and people who believe. It’s beautiful to see that we’re supporting each other.”

The parish involved a diversity of people – from young families to the deaf community, the college student community, and the African community – and consulted with John Gaffney, the diocesan director of Evangelization and Catechesis, and Paulette Chapman, of the St. Joseph Evangelization Center.  Chapman is currently working with six parishes in the Des Moines metro region that are stepping into family or intergenerational catechesis.

The parish opted to create something unique to it. Parishioners created Encounter, a once-a-month, intergenerational opportunity for people to grow in their faith no matter their age, no matter the number of people in their household.

“We could never have created Encounter without Paulette’s help,” said Beckmann-Collier. “The seven parishioners who make up the Encounter planning team, and who invested five months in creating the new program, don’t have all the necessary expertise. But Paulette’s knowledge and experience, combined with the passionate dedication of the Encounter committee, made it possible for us to create a meaningful monthly shared faith journey.”

"It exceeded my expectations," Bellville said. "I think everyone really liked everyone getting together. I like my kids being around poeple in this parish. they're good people with strong values."

 In the end, Encounter was created based on listening to people of the parish.

“We modeled a synodal church, working together with a diverse group of people to create something that speaks to our parish values and unique characteristics,” said Beckmann-Collier.  “Encounter is our way of discovering God in community.”