St. John Neumann Church

Thanks to all the parents that attended the Jan. 9th meeting at Valley View School. If you were unable to attend, a link to the parent meeting presentation can be found on the homepage of our website at: http://www.ccsjn.org/.

The bishop's of the Catholic Church have defined the goal of all catechesis to be an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. We are all called to share in Christ's prophetic, royal and priestly mission and as parents the most important work we can do is pass on our faith to our children. We discussed what or who was the most important factor in our own coming to believe. While some shared family members or catechists were most influential, others shared experiences such as celebrating the Eucharist with people of faith to be what initiated their belief in Jesus Christ.

After reviewing the different faith formation models currently being used, interest in the traditional, intergenerational and summer alternative programs for children was voiced.

We discussed the fact that holding classes at Valley View is no longer supportable. Our enrollment in Valley View K-6 classes has dropped to 58 students, about half of the 120 students enrolled in 2005. The rental and custodial fees for holding classes at Valley View was renegotiated but they are still over $4000. The numbers in Saturday Family catechesis and Junior High have also decreased. Therefore, the Parish Catechetical Leader for next year's programs will be ministering on a part time basis.

It was suggested that we continue traditional classes using our Church and Office centers for class space and that this could be on a week day instead of Sunday. Some interest in a weekly traditional program was voiced. Parents were also in favor of the intergenerational model and some said they would participate in a summer alternative catechesis. It was suggested that we need to determine if we can get catechists and teen assistants for a summer program. The advantages of having a separate Junior High catechesis session which prepare's these children for confirmation was discussed. As in Youth Ministry, it builds community, encourages peer faith sharing and community service. It also gives these teens the opportunity to assist in the programs of younger children. It was suggested that we should consider adding the sixth graders to Junior High.

We took a straw poll of interest in the following catechesis programs (parents could vote for more than one model) and here are the results:

Summer Alternative Program:

Mornings - 13

Evenings - 18

All Day - 12

Intergenerational Program:

Once a month- 15

Traditional Program:

Weekly/weekday - 5

Weekly/Sunday - 5

Biweekly/Sunday - 10


Thirty-two parents from thirty-one families attended this meeting and participated in the straw poll. Dr. Fay invited the parents to continue this discussion on our parish faith formation blog. Parents suggested that we also put a survey in the bulletin.