Introduction

Course Topics

1. Utilizing the vision and practices from the Directory for Catechesis in designing catechesis with all ages, families, and the whole community.
2. Developing an understanding of the key developmental life tasks and spiritual and religious needs of children, adolescents, young adults, midlife adults, mature adults, and older adults, and discerning how this understanding can inform the development of catechesis at each life stage.
3.  Developing an understanding of the diverse spiritual and religious practices and involvement of Catholics today – from the actively practicing to the unaffiliated, and discerning how catechesis can be responsive to the diversity in people of all ages.
4. Designing family faith formation for the home and for family catechetical experiences in the parish
5. Forming the faith of parents and equipping parents as faith formers of their children and teens.
6. Designing age-appropriate catechesis for children, adolescents, young adults, and adults  utilizing a variety of life-stage appropriate faith-forming content and experiences in a variety of settings, formats, and learning models.
7. Designing intergenerational (whole community) catechesis for all ages to learn together.
8. Incorporating catechesis for persons with disabilities into catechetical programming.
9. Designing culturally-appropriate catechesis for families and people of all ages that reflects the religious traditions, values, and spiritualities of ethnic cultures. 

Course Texts 

Directory for Catechesis. Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, 2020.

Guided by the Directory for Catechesis: Transforming the Vision and Practice of Parish Catechesis. Catherine LaVecchia, Janet Schaeffler, and John Roberto. Twenty-Third Publications, 2024.

Course Design

Part 1. Designing Catechesis with Families (Live Teaching Session 1)

Part 2. Designing Age Group Catechesis (Live Teaching Session 2)

Part 3. Designing Intergenerational Catechesis (Live Teaching Session 2) 

Course Resources

• Guide to Designing Family Catechesis
• Guide to Family Faith Formation Models
• Guide to Designing Intergenerational Catechesis
• Guide to Designing Age Group Catechesis
• Insights & Practices: Children’s Faith Formation
• Insights & Practices: Adolescent Faith Formation
• Insights & Practices: Young Adult Faith Formation
• Insights & Practices: Family Faith Formation
• Insights & Practices: Intergenerational Faith Formation

Application Projects 

Project 1. Family Catechesis. Design a faith formation plan using the Framework for Developing a Family Faith Formation Plan. Use one of these strategies to develop your assignment:

• Select the life stage of greatest need. Recall Activity #4 from Course 1 where you developed a profile of lifelong faith formation and identified areas for growth.
• Focus on one life stage with multiple activities and programs across all six categories.
• Combine two life stages (children or adolescents) and identify ideas that apply to all families with children or all families with adolescents.
• Select one or two of the six elements of the Framework (e.g., forming faith at home or parent education and formation) and develop ideas for all four life stages.
• Identify a major program, such as implementing a family catechesis program, as a focus for your plan. Integrate other elements, such as parent formation and forming faith at home, into the family catechesis plan. 

Project 2. Intergenerational Catechesis. Use one of the following intergenerational strategies to create one intergenerational project:

• Strategy 1. Design catechesis around the intergenerational life and events of the parish community., Select one event and design an intergenerational program or activity.
• Strategy 2. Transform multigenerational settings into intergenerational faith-forming experiences. Select one multi-generational setting to design into an intergenerational experience.
• Strategy 3. Redesign age-specific programs into intergenerational faith-forming experiences. Select one age-specific program and redesign it with intergenerational experiences. 

Project 3. Age Group Catechesis. Use the age-group design process to develop one catechetical program around one or more of your faith maturing goals that you developed in Course #1. The steps outlined in the Guide to Age Group Catechesis include:

1. Audience: Who is your target audience?
2. Goals: What do you want to accomplish? Which faith maturing goal(s) are your focused on?
3. Needs: What are you addressing in the lives of your target audience? Consider the life tasks specific to their stage(s) of life; their interests, concerns, needs, and questions; their milestones and transitions in life; their cultural experiences, traditions, and practices; and their religious and spiritual characteristics and needs/hungers
4. Content: What are the essential topics or themes that need to be incorporated in programming that Is responsive to the lives of your target audience and addresses your faith maturing goal(s)?
5. Personalized: How can you design catechesis that addresses the diverse styles of faith and practice – with active believers, believers, inactive believers, and inactive nonbelievers – with catechetical experiences, programs, and activities personalized to people’s faith journey? For example: experiences targeted to those who need “taste and see,” or “refresher,” or “growing,” or “going deeper” experiences.