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Fan the
Flame: Inspiration through Religious Enrichment
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
One of my ongoing concerns and, I believe, the concern of all diocesan
bishops is the quality of religious formation provided the youth of our
Church. Our larger parishes often have paid catechists. Some of them
have advanced degrees. Many, if not most parishes, however, depend upon
volunteers who may or may not have necessary formation to serve as
catechists.
As a parish pastor, I
— like many other priests — would begin to plead from the pulpit and
through the parish bulletin in June and July for parishioners to
volunteer to teach religion to the children of the parish. Come August,
I would be in a state of near panic. Well-intentioned good people would
step forward. I would accept their generous offer even though no
organized formation was provided those folks. The theory was that it was
better to have religion classes for the kids rather than no classes.
With the wisdom of hindsight, I am now convinced the “theory” upon which
I operated was seriously flawed. Our children deserve catechists well
formed in Catholicism and catechists deserve formation that equips them
to embrace the heavy responsibility they assume. Parents, too, deserve
catechists who have been prepared to teach their children the
fundamentals of the faith, especially in our time when so many people
are poorly catechized, misinformed or uncertain about what the Church
teaches and why.
I was deeply moved years ago when I had a series of listening sessions
with young adults (people between the ages of 18 and 35). Loud and clear
they insisted that they did not know what the Church teaches. They were
hungry to know. My reaction tended to be defensive. Yet, I could not
deny they felt that their religious formation classes had been fun and
games rather than faith formation.
In an age of relativism, when the culture makes morality a matter of
personal opinion rather than objective right and wrong and when
“conscience” for many is equated with a judgment about what is right in
their own eyes rather than a seeker of truth, this convinced me that I
as bishop needed to call for catechist certification even if that meant
thanking some for volunteering to serve as catechists, but insisting on
certification before entrusting them with the religious formation of
children.
This has not been accepted with open arms in all cases. There has also
been a struggle to provide a solid catechist formation program. After
far too many ups and downs, we have at last, I believe, from sometimes
painful experience, found a way to serve catechists, parents and our
children that comforts me as one responsible for the oversight of the
catechetical instruction of the youth in this Local Church. It’s called
F.I.R.E. (“Fan the Flame: Inspiration through Religious Enrichment”).
F.I.R.E. is an adult formation plan of study developed for our Local
Church as a result of listening sessions in each of our six deaneries
and after surveys of the 43 parishes in attendance. The program was
formulated during the fall of 2006 by leadership individuals from Our
Lady of Mt. Carmel, Carmel (Brigid Ayer, Melissa Bowen, Laurel DeStefano,
Dan McFeely and Peggy Philhower); St. Boniface, Lafayette (Sharon
Antonio, Sean Martin, Anne Roat, Paul Shireman and Amy Vanderkolk); St.
Maria Goretti, Westfield (Evelyn Burton and Lowell Wilson); St. Joan of
Arc, Kokomo (Elisa Rose and Eric Wyatt); St. Thomas Aquinas, West
Lafayette (Judi Jezierski and Kyle Murphy); St. Francis of Assisi,
Muncie (Katie Berger); St. Mary, Frankfort (Arlene Bowyer); Sacred
Heart, Cicero (Ellen Cook); St. John Vianney, Fishers (Marla Hoyt); St.
Alphonsus, Zionsville (Barbara McCormack); Sacred Heart, Fowler (Robert
McCreary); St. Peter, Winamac (Gerald Rausch); and St. Mary, Muncie
(Peggy Reilly).
Most important was the need to align our local program with standards
approved by the National Certification Standards for Pastoral Ministers
issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. I have been
assured that this has been done.
F.I.R.E. is a plan of study for adult formation and catechist
certification that consists of four levels: basic, specialized, advanced
and master catechist certification. Each level is developed around four
areas for growth: spiritual, human, pastoral and intellectual. At the
advanced and master catechist certification level, there is also
leadership formation. F.I.R.E. gives direction to catechists; it is
parish based; it is aligned with national standards; it clearly states
which courses are required in each certification level; it gives
substance to the process and streamlines it, and it allows the process
to be manageable at both the parish and diocesan levels. It provides a
balanced approach to adult formation that can be utilized by parishes or
individuals seeking to enrich their own spiritual and intellectual
treasury.
The Code of Canon Law (229) states: “Lay people have the duty and the
right to acquire the knowledge of Christian teaching which is
appropriate to each one’s capacity and condition, so that they may be
able to live according to this teaching, to proclaim it and if necessary
to defend it, and may be capable of playing their part in the exercise
of the apostolate.”
I’m confident that the F.I.R.E. program will ignite the flame of desire
to know Our Lord more fully and result in more spiritually, personally,
pastorally and intellectually formed Catholic adults. Those who have
immersed themselves in F.I.R.E. are enthusiastic.
I am confident that with parish catechists certified through the F.I.R.E.
program, our youth will be served as they should be because those who
share their faith with them (catechists) will be far better grounded in
their understanding of their role. |
