Family Topic 1 - Listening to Families

Reading

• Guide to Designing Catechesis (Part One) (Download the Guide)
• Insights & Practices Article: "Faith Formation with Families & Parents" (Download the article)

1. Watch the Video: National Profile of Parents and Families

The video presents an overview of the major findings from the CARA 2024 Research Report and the over 8000 parent surveys from NCCL's Catholic Families Project (2024). 

The major findings are included In Part 1 of the Guide to Designing Family Catechesis. 

2. Reflect & Apply the "National Profile" Research

What did you learn about parents and families from the two research studies? Consider the following findings: 

1. Parents view of their job as a parent (CARA)
2. Religiosity of parents – from active believer to inactive nonbeliever (CARA)
3. Family faith practices – from the CARA research and from the 8,000 parents in the Catholic Family Project
4. Parent practices – from the CARA research and from the 8,000 parents in the Catholic Family Project
5. Parent perception of children’s enthusiasm about being Catholic and the practices that are important for raising children as Catholic (CARA)
6. Top interests of parents – from the 8,000 parents in the Catholic Family Project

How can this research assist you in working with parents and families in your parish?

How can this research assist you in designing catechesis with families?  Consider what it would mean to address the four ways parents view themselves religiously; to help parents develop family faith practices; to equip parents around the parent practices; to address the top interests of parents; etc. 

* Write down your reflections so that you can use them to guide your design work. 

3. Read the Insights & Practices Article: "Faith Formation with Families & Parents"

The Insights & Practices article summarizes current research on faith formation with families, organized into four categories:

1. What do we mean by faith transmission?
2. What does the research show are the most important contributors to effective faith transmission?
3. What does the research show are the activities, tasks, and behaviors that bolster faith transmission?
4. What are the implications for faith formation with families? 

4. Reflect & Apply the Research on Family Faith Formation

How can this research assist you in designing catechesis with families? 

What do the research studies tell us about: 

• The skills and practices parents need to become faith-formers of their children?
• The faith practices that are most essential for family faith formation? (How does this research compare to what the National Profile research discovered about family faith practices?)
• The development of programming - with parents and the entire family - that effectively enhances faith transmission?

* Write down your reflections so that you can use them to guide your design work.