Nancy Dome
How we got involved with Generations of Faith and what our vision is for St. Isidore.

Many of you I am sure are wondering how all this changing came to be…what piqued our interest in Generations of Faith (GOF) … it has been an evolving process, realizing that what we did 20 years ago, that made perfect sense then, might not make perfect sense for families in the 21^st century… I began to look for something that might

• make our present system of religious education even better,

• would create less stress for our parish families, by providing a flexible schedule and requiring a little less of their time without diminishing the importance of faith formation

• would make the children of our parish family less isolated from the rest of the parish and more able to draw from the breadth and depth of the Catholic experiences of many of our adult parishioners,

• that could enrich the experiences of faith at home,

• that might help to strengthen our worship experiences

•   and that would be more “interactive” and “hands on” in it’s method, one that would seek to form & inform us as disciples.…that would develop us as followers of Jesus who not only knew the information such as Sacraments, Creed, Commandments & Beatitudes, but knew how to integrate that information into our daily lives…to better know what difference does this make in MY life

We took some “baby steps” here in the parish and we have experienced  three “turning points” that have brought us to this night :

• The first was, as we began what has now become our annual First Eucharist retreat…parents and children coming together for a day of interactive activity & learning, baking bread, pressing grapes, making banners, “visiting” the Last Supper and learning about the Passover tradition, as well as a “hands on” tour of the church where they could touch, smell, see and ask questions…at the end of that first retreat, as parents & children were leaving, nearly every one thanked us for the day, expressing how much it had meant to them to spend that time with their child, how much they believed their children had gained from the experience AND how much they themselves had learned!  While we were all bone weary from the day, I KNEW we were “onto something”…we needed to find a way to capture this experience and be able to duplicate it in other areas and offer it to our entire parish family on a regular basis.

• The second point came through the experience of gathering all the children for prayer before each class, reading the gospel for the coming Sunday with them, and helping them to “break open the word”...to talk about what the message of this gospel was and to ask that all important question “what difference does this message make in our lives?”  It has been a rewarding and eye-opening experience for me and for their catechists to see how readily and enthusiastically the children responded and the many ways in which they have grown in their understanding of all this...we recognized a need to do more of this…

• The third turning point was when I was becoming increasingly more aware of a dwindling attendance at our weekly classes: not because families don’t care or place value on the experience, but because their lives are already full to overflowing and they are struggling to keep all the balls in the air…I watched many of our middle schoolers race in on Tuesday evenings, often straight from a game or competition, having had neither the time for dinner OR a shower…I watched parents choreograph intricate routines known as carpools, because they could not always be available at the times when we were… and At the same time I was paying more attention to some of our families without children and those who have retired, I was seeing their commitment to Catholic life through St Vincent de Paul, Stewardship Committee, Parish Pastoral Council, Parish Finance Council, our annual baby shower for mothers in crisis, the sale of roses for Spring House, VALS project, the giving tree at Christmas, providing Thanksgiving and Easter dinners for those in need...their commitment to daily Mass & Communion, devotion to the rosary, to being lectors, St Isidore gardeners, Eucharistic Ministers, providing clerical help when we need it in the office, being ushers and greeters, music ministers, and the bereavement committee…I saw the wealth of faith experiences & traditions that were “untapped”, these can be such a valuable resource to our younger parishioners….

Just about a year ago an invitation arrived on my desk to attend an information session about Generations of Faith…from the brief description it seemed that this might be a direction to explore… I asked Fr Butler and Charlie to join me at this session and together we immediately saw a value in this process and believed that it could enhance and enrich the faith life of the parish community….the rest as they say is “history”...we formed a core committee of staff and parishioners and entered into the planning & training that would be necessary to make this a reality at St Isidore.

And so here we are:  we will join with about 600 parishes nationwide already implementing GOF … and along with us, 35 other parishes in this archdiocese including St Elizabeth in Acton and Our Lady’s & St Bernard’s in Concord & St. Matthias in Marlborough will launch GOF this fall…

 What will the “curriculum” be? 

Our curriculum will be the church calendar… this calendar will be our “textbook” so to speak…we will take the events of our church calendar, the feasts and seasons, and use those as our curriculum.  During our inaugural year, we will look specifically at the feasts and seasons themselves, next year we will look at the feasts & seasons from the vantage point of sacraments…for example the seasons of Lent and Easter lend themselves easily to learning about the Sacraments of Initiation, Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. In other years we will use the calendar to deepen our understanding of Creed, Morality, Justice and Service, and Prayer.

This is what GOF will look like at St. Isidore:

Each session will be offered twice, once on Friday evenings from 6-9 PM and again, a duplicate session on Sunday evenings from 5-8 PM. A calendar of all these gatherings will be mailed in June along with your registration materials.  You will be asked to choose a preference, but if during a given month you have a need to switch, that can be accommodated.

Lets first be clear about our language here…for purposes of GOF a “gathering” is the session that is offered twice monthly on Friday or Sunday evenings…and an event is a one time experience that could be liturgical, a speaker, a social, or even a field trip!

Each gathering session will begin with a meal…no potluck, no cooking serving or cleanup…just come, eat and enjoy.

Next we will have an “all-ages” opening experience...an introduction to the topic for that evening that will include prayer, and may include film, story, an activity or skit.

At this time we will usually split into all ages learning groups…families with children in grades K-5 will remain in the main gathering space, while middle schoolers, young adults and adults will move to separate learning spaces. I will give more information about the participation of our high school students in a minute…these learning groups will last about 75-90 minutes and will be directed by group leaders. Childcare will be available for toddlers and pre-schoolers during this time. Infants can easily stay with families.

Following the age specific learning groups we will all gather in the main gathering space for a time of reflection, sharing and closing prayer.

Each of these monthly gatherings will lead us to and prepare us for a specific “event” in the church calendar.  You will be invited and encouraged to attend this event to complete the learning experience.

Lets take a look at the proposed calendar for the 2004/2005 year…

Following each gathering everyone will be sent home with a home kit…these home kits will contain materials for use in the home in the time between the gathering and the event. Some of those items will include reflections on the Sunday readings, suggestions for activities in the home, special recipes and crafts for the season…these kits will be opened and reviewed at each gathering, and a table of contents and directions for usage will also be included. Home kits will also be brought to our parishioners who are unable to get out due to age or infirmity.

It is our hope that the GOF experience will draw people more closely to the Lords table each week, that what we will offer will deepen and enrich your experiences of prayer, worship, community and service.  To that end we will also continue a few established practices:

• PRE-K and K will still be offered during the 10:30 AM Sunday Mass

• Charlie and Fr Butler will continue what they began this year in periodically gathering the children in the front during the homily on some Sundays

• in addition we will also offer the option of Children’s Liturgy of the Word regularly throughout the year.

Let’s take a look now as a Generations of Faith parish walks through Holy Week… and then we will talk about how sacramental preparation will happen with Generations of Faith…and how our high school students will be involved…

(If anyone is interested in viewing the video, please contact the Generations of Faith Team at gof@stisidorestow.org

First Eucharist and Reconciliation:

Will remain much the same as it, independent of our regular programming. The exception will be that all of the children’s learning will be done at home, and there will be 2 parent only meetings one in October and one in November and a  Parent/Child Reconciliation Retreat for parents and children in late January, children will receive the sacrament in February…then there will be 2 parent only meetings for Eucharist and the First Eucharist retreat in April, followed by First Communions at Sunday liturgies in May.

Confirmation…

Candidates will be asked to do most of their service in the parish in conjunction with GOF,  to set up, serve, and clean up from meals at our Generations of Faith gathering’s, to serve as aides with childcare, in the middle school learning groups and in the K-5 family group.  Classes for these candidates will continue to take place on Sunday evenings but will begin in January. 

Further details on both First Communion and Confirmation will be sent to all families who indicate on the registration forms that they will have a child or children in these programs.