Well…I am back from vacation. It is so hard getting back into the
swing of things! There is so much going on over the summer. Let me tell
you about one of them…
Some of you are aware that I am enrolled in a two-year certificate
program through Vibrant Faith University. It is a 6-course program. I have
completed 2 courses already and am awaiting the third course to begin.
The program presents a new vision and aids parishes in developing a new
set of practices for faith formation with all ages and generations. Over the
two-years I will learn how to:
• Continue to engage all generations inter-generationally
• Nurture family faith and equip parents to transmit faith to their children
• Develop outreach to the unaffiliated and uninvolved and invite people
into discipleship and participation in the faith community
• Utilize digitally enabled and digitally connected approaches in faith
formation with all ages and generations
Over the last 16 years, we have become an intentional intergenerational
community of life-long learners. We use intergenerational events
and experiences, such as Sunday worship and church year seasons, to
form faith in all ages. Our goal is to connect the generations through
church life, learning from each other.
Another goal that I hope to achieve through this program is to find
ways to reach and engage the uninvolved and unaffiliated. In the first
class, we explored digitally enabled Faith Formation using digital tools,
such as a faith formation website where personalized faith formation can
be created around the unique religious-spiritual needs of people of every
age.
In our second class, we learned how to create a flipped classroom
(a blended online and physical setting) and also became familiar with a
variety of digital methods for designing and conducting programs.
In our cohort, there are 20 participants from all over the country.
There are so many ideas that are generated and shared. Many of these
ideas will be implemented here at Sacred Heart in the near future as we
continue to intentionally be an intergenerational community of life-long
learners. So many ideas…so little time to do them all! Stay tuned!