Jane Regan is a professor of theology and religious education at Boston College. Much of her research and writing have focused on adult faith formation, adult learning theory and adult spiritual development. She often serves as consultant to national groups on matters relating to faith formation. A few years ago she wrote a article in America with the very provocative title “Adult Faith Formation: Will it Catch on This Time?”. The major point of the article was that many in the church have been talking for years about the need for more emphasis on adult faith formation, but, sadly, the results have been meager. She offers four major recommendations or sets of ideas for people involved to ponder:
1) Shifting more of the emphasis and resources to the “faith-building” potential of families and adults generally would eventually have a wonderful impact on the education of children and youth. Parents (and grandparents) should obviously be the primary educators of their children, so helping more adults become comfortable talking about their faith makes them much more capable of explaining God’s presence in the lives of young people.
2) The fundamental focus of adult faith formation should not be on conveying information but on transformation in how people think of their lives as Christians. Adults, she argues, should be invited to look beyond the “what” to the “so what ?” We should be asking how we can better relate our spiritual lives to our daily “worldly” lives.
3) “Sustained, critical conversation is an essential component of the faith formation of adults.” Telling stories of real life incidents and talking seriously about things that matter is helpful for all of us. Among other things, it leads to better understanding and appreciation of the foundations of our faith and the implications of living a solid Christian life.
4) “The goal of adult faith formation is not only to enrich the faith life of the participants and strengthen the parish community. It does these things in response to the church’s primary task and reason for being: to evangelize.” Sharing what we know and believe is critical, especially as more and more baptized Catholics rarely, if ever, attend Mass or think seriously about the course of their spiritual lives. Professor Regan’s ideas about faith formation deserve to be taken seriously and considered by all. The documents of Vatican II made dramatically clear that each of us has a role to play in the Church. We have all been blessed to be part of a parish with a rich tradition of acting on that belief.
St. John’s Adult Faith Formation: AFFC@stjohnwellesley.org
