Religious Education > Whole Community Catechesis

An Exciting New Framework for Adult Faith Formation

The Parish Community is the source of faith formation for its members: 

The name, whole community catechesis or total parish catechesis or faith formation for all is drawn from article #254 of the General Directory for Catechesis where it says that…

The Christian community is the origin, locus, and goal of catechesis.  The proclamation of the Gospel always begins with the Christian community and invites [people] to conversion and the following of Christ

Let’s take a brief look at some of what makes WCC work.

How does it work?  Whole Community Catechesis ties all the formal instruction that the parish provides (homilies, children’s instructional programs, sacramental preparation, leadership training, preparation for various pastoral care and liturgical ministries, biblical study and spiritual growth opportunities) with the Sunday Liturgy and with the informal sharing of faith that Whole Community Catechesis encourages throughout the parish and especially in every household.

Whole Community Catechesis can and will look different from one parish to another, but it would normally include the following.

The Sunday Assembly: the Question of the Week

Whole Community Catechesis provides simple ways where parish-wide faith-sharing can happen based on the Sunday Assembly.  And it will help you get people to actually do this.  The most basic is the Question of the Week.  Each week throughout the entire year the homilist offers the parish a question that encourages everyone to reflect on the Sunday readings.  The question does not focus on Scriptural interpretation or intellectual theology.  It is a personal question that enables everyone young and old to reflect on the ways the readings impact their lives.  Parishioners are encouraged to discuss the question of the week whenever they gather.

Intergenerational Catechetical Assemblies

Whole Community Catechesis promotes large assemblies of adults and children of all ages in order to provide for a friendlier and more relaxed atmosphere to inform and share important elements of our faith in an intergenerational manner.  There is no need for a large number of trained catechists at the assemblies because a master catechist is trained to lead the assembly with facilitators leading table discussions.

The assemblies complement the current structured classroom program.  The assemblies use the current children’s program as a springboard.   The children’s curriculum and texts have great potential to be a wonderful catalyst for moving into the flow of Whole Community Catechesis.  The assemblies will enhance and complement the children’s program in a very natural, meaningful, and exciting manner.

Households of Faith 

In developing households of faith, Whole Community Catechesis encourages families to focus on:

Centering on the meal
Sharing meals in the family around the supper table is the key to developing households of faith.  Family meals can be Eucharistic.  Just as Jesus used everyday events, especially the meal, as understandable ways to teach, Whole Community Catechesis can greatly enhance the mealtime experience for family and friends – bridging the gap between the sacred and the secular.

Simple Living in Homemaking
Whole Community Catechesis focuses on helping families with simple living, showing how to make their lives less cluttered, and letting the important elements of everyday life flourish.  And it helps create an atmosphere in the home that possesses a sense of belonging, welcoming and love.

Family Prayer and Traditions
Families share faith in informal ways, through the stories they tell, in the ways they pray together and by the traditions they pass on.  Whole Community Catechesis resources families so they can make use of the opportunities they have to pray in meaningful ways, share faith with one another through celebrating the seasons and family events in faithful ways and pass on the faith traditions of their family and community.

Celebrating Sacraments
Sacrament preparation within this framework becomes a task of the whole parish community and enables the whole community grow in faith.  Preparation for sacraments is done in a way that involves the community in some way. Sacraments are celebrated within the community in ways that nourish all the faithful.

Parish Retreats
Many people are religious, but not really evangelized.  They have not experienced a personal relationship with Christ.  Delivering the Good News of Jesus Christ must be the first priority of any parish, but it often gets skipped.  One element of Whole Community Catechesis is the parish evangelization retreat, scheduled in the parish for parishioners such as Christ Renews His Parish.  The aim is to open the door to conversion and build parish faith and community as more and more people attend the retreat.

Hospitality and Justice
Whole Community Catechesis views the parish as a resource center not only for households of faith but also for serving and enriching the wider community.  The parish begins to strategize about how to be more hospitable, to be open to the marginalized, and how to impact the local community with the message of justice and love found in the Gospel.

In sum: Adult Christians of mature faith

In whole community catechesis the new goal or outcome is “whole communities of faith, growing together.”  It’s a framework within which the faith is shared and passed from one generation to the next.  In the beginning a parish may choose to only do one part of Whole Community Catechesis.  Or the staff may decide to make a commitment to the whole framework.  It is best to look upon creating this vision as a ten-year process in the parish.

For more on this exciting model for parish catechesis refer to Bill Huebsch's books Whole Community Catechesis and Handbook for Success in Whole Community Catechesis available from 23rd Publications.

Contact the Religious Education Office for further information and consultation.