These are my personal recommendations to achieve the end of optimal effectiveness in Adult Catechetical Formation. These tips are based on over three decades of Adult Formation and RCIA Catechetical experience and broad successful outcomes confirmed by consistent testimonies.

I define “effectiveness” as striving to “meet each person where they are at” and optimally breaking open the joy and genius of Catholicism for them in a way that most personally resonates.

While it is obviously much easier to accomplish this goal when meeting with someone “one-on-one”, it is definitely more challenging in a group setting which typically involves a wide range of perspectives and faith experiences. That

said, it is absolutely “do-able”.

As a side point, we have found that combining our RCIA Candidates with Adult Catholics who have never gone beyond a grade school understanding of their Catholic Faith has worked tremendously well. Our conviction, based on long experience and concrete evidence is that there is not one person who doesn’t benefit from a complete and compelling adult catechetical formation. [Future articles will break down the methods and radical  effectiveness of this combined model.]

Suffice it to say, whether you are exclusively catechizing Adult Catholics OR exclusively catechizing RCIA Candidates, these ten recommendations are beneficial in optimally impacting and  connecting with each individual.

 

At times, catechists make assumptions about their audience. You might say that some catechists “live in a Catholic bubble”. They may be involved in ministries and/or apostolates with very grounded and spiritually well-formed Catholics and assume that anyone who is regularly attending Mass and involved in the Church is operating from the same lens and foundation.

There is an assumption that they know and understand things that they honestly have no clue about. Over 50 years of a lack of easily accessible and  compelling Adult Formation has left even the most involved “practicing” Catholics with major holes and gaps. In this regard, always assume that you are starting from “ground zero”. This doesn’t mean “dumbing down” the Faith. It means providing a complete and compelling foundation on an adult level.

Knowing your audience, in relation to breaking out of your “Catholic bubble”, also involves the pastoral care outlined in Point #1. Don’t assume that because they are “practicing Catholics”, that they have it altogether on the most challenging areas in our present day culture.

Bottom-line, we must make every effort not to come across “tone-deaf” or we risk giving the impression of our Catholic Faith being “out of touch”.  By “knowing your audience”, we  optimize effectively bringing forward the timeless context and impact of our Catholic Faith.

This point is an extension of #2. When we live in a “Catholic bubble” we are often out of touch with aspects of our present culture. It is vitally important that we are up on where main-stream thinking is at on any particular topic that we are teaching.

Particularly, when we are catechizing on areas that involve the moral life and the Commandments, our examples need to be current and relevant (vs outdated). When we cite examples to make a point that do not achieve that end, we again risk not only being “out of touch” ourselves but, more significantly, we risk giving the impression that the Catholic Faith is irrelevant and out-dated.

Further, we unintentionally leave the attendees with the inability to apply the Church’s guidance to current areas and challenges.

When speaking of Church history and/or citing the challenges with different perspectives, make every effort to pastorally navigate this terrain. Keep in mind that some of your attendees (or their family members) have been deeply involved in their perspectives and are working their way towards openness to the Catholic framework. It is not helpful to come across even slightly dismissive, critical, sarcastic and/or judgmental.

Our default approach needs to be that persons having subscribed to these perspectives have been deeply invested and sincere in their approach. That is a “win-win” in terms of due respect and in terms of breaking open the best of everything for these attendees seeking clarification and answers.

With every topic, WHY that particular topic matters should be a core principal. Laying out the “why it matters” at the outset is a great aid in how the attendee both listens and processes everything that follows in the session.

Too often, presentations are lacking in the crucial points that provide clarity and overcome common objections and/or misperceptions. Be mindful to incorporate points that not only “nail” the topic, but are actually major game-changers.

It is vital that a catechist not present themselves as “having it altogether” and conveying areas of morality (in
particular) in “black and white” terms. When presenting moral truths, we must strive to approach God’s objective reality with mercy, compassion, and gradualness; meeting people where they are presently at on their journey and assisting them in realizing the best of everything God wants for them.

It is important that we acknowledge our own personal struggles(whether we cite specifics or not) and make it clear that every one of us is tested in different ways throughout our journey and that it is a process; a process that we both personally relate to and a process well worth fighting through with the help of God’s grace to achieve authentic flourishing and freedom.

Above all, strive to achieve these dynamics in your approach to Catechesis and the precious lambs before you. If you are in a place where you are not inspired, passionate, and convicted, your vocation as a Catechist begins here. Fill yourself up with amazing resources to achieve this end.

Some initial online recommendations:

All too often RCIA or Adult Formation programs and/or presentations fall flat because they are lacking in any one or all of the above dimensions. I can’t count the number of times over the  years that I have heard from a wide range of Candidates and Adult Catholics regarding how they “got nothing” out of this or that process, or  program, or presentation and it was an entire waste of their time.

All too  often what is provided in our parishes is weak, nebulous, or out of touch with the compelling needs at the core of the human soul.  People both desire and need  great answers to their hardest questions and challenges.  Too often they don’t even realize what they need and/or what is missing until they effectively encounter it.

When souls come away with solutions to their problems, it’s a major game-changer and I can assure you that they absolutely make the time in their busy lives to make Adult Formation a priority!

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I hope these pointers were helpful! Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need particular assistance or guidance in the area of effective Adult Formation.