Recursos Formação da Fé

Formação de Fé para Adultos

Abaixo você encontrará informações sobre alguns dos muitos programas e recursos excelentes disponíveis para ajudar os adultos a crescer em seu conhecimento e prática da fé. Por favor, não hesite em contactar a nossa equipa para mais informações.

Retiro ACTS (Apenas em Inglês)

An ACTS Retreat is a parish-based event which offers parishioners an opportunity to experience the love of Jesus Christ. This in turn fosters a desire for intentional discipleship. ACTS Retreats are given by parishioners for parishioners, and serve to build Christian community at a parish.

The ACTS Retreat begins Thursday evening and ends with Sunday Mass in the parish. While utilizing prayer, service, and teaching, the ACTS Retreat meets people where they are in their spiritual journey and invites them to experience God in a manner that is both personal and communal. ACTS stands for “Adoration, Community, Theology, and Service.”

In the Archdiocese of Boston, St. William’s in Tewksbury, St. John the Baptist and St. Thomas the Apostle in Peabody have used the ACTS retreat.

Alpha

Alpha é uma série de sessões que exploram os fundamentos da fé cristã, normalmente ao longo de onze semanas. Cada sessão é projetada para criar conversas informais e honestas sobre as questões que as pessoas têm sobre a fé cristã. O formato é muito adaptável, mas os três elementos principais são uma refeição, uma palestra ou apresentação de vídeo e uma discussão em pequenos grupos.

Maria Rainha dos Apóstolos em Salém e o A Colaborativa Apple Valley Catholic em Acton e Stow está usando este programa na Arquidiocese de Boston, entre outros. A Paróquia de São Bento em Halifax, Nova Escócia, teve, utilizando Alpha, um dos maiores sucessos entre todas paróquia católica do mundo. Os católicos que apoiam o uso do Alpha incluem o Cardeal Seán e o Arcebispo Fisichella, Presidente do Pontifício Conselho para a Promoção da Nova Evangelização.

Ascension Press (Apenas em Inglês)

Ascension Press provides resources and study programs to facilitate small group discipleship. Program offerings include Bible studies, Church history, prayer, marriage enrichment, baptismal preparation, divorce support, and more for those in middle school through adults. Many resources are also available in Spanish.

Called & Gifted (Apenas em Inglês)

Called & Gifted is a workshop which typically takes place in a parish over the course of one evening and the following full day. The workshop is actually only the first step in a three-step discernment process. The second step is a gifts discernment interview and the third step is a small group discernment process, a period of testing and evaluating one’s charisms and learning how best to use them in one’s life. This process has been designed to help Christians discern the presence of charisms, particular gifts of strengths given by God, in their lives.

St. Dominic Catholic Church in San Francisco CA and Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Santa Clarita CA have both used this process extensively to transform the culture of discipleship in their parishes. They report that attendees consistently become more involved in the parish and more committed to bearing witness through their life and work outside the parish.

ChristLife (Apenas em Inglês)

ChristLife is a three-part evangelization process that begins with a seven-week kerygmatic series titled “Discovering Christ,” followed by two more similar series entitled “Following Christ,” which addresses Catholic discipleship, and “Sharing Christ,” which addresses sharing Christ with others. There is a day-long retreat in week five.

The series is hosted at your parish and includes dinner, welcoming, prayer, a 30-minute video presentation, and small group discussion. The materials are available in English and Spanish. St. Andre Bessette in Laconia NH reports success with this program, as do a number of Archdiocese of Boston parishes.

Cursillo (Apenas em Inglês)

Cursillo is three-day weekend retreat experience; a short course in Christianity. It helps its participants encounter Christ in a profound way so that they will be equipped to answer Christ’s call to “go out and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). There are talks by priests and lay people, small group discussions, prayer, reconciliation, and Mass. It is followed up by optional monthly group reunions called Ultreya as well as small faith sharing groups. The weekends serve men and women separately. Cursillo is offered in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Portuguese in the Archdiocese of Boston. For more information, contact the Cursillo community that works best for you:

• Boston Cursillo
• St. Basil’s, Methuen, MA
• Holy Cross Retreat House, North Easton, MA
• Worcester Cursillo

Discipleship Quads from Steubenville Conferences

Entertaining Angels (Apenas em Inglês)

Entertaining Angels is a one-day hospitality training seminar rooted in the mission of the Catholic Church to make disciples and geared toward those who are “first contact” staff and volunteers. Those who are the first to interact with parishioners and visitors have a crucial role in determining whether or not those parishioners and visitors will ever want to return regardless of their job or volunteer duties.

Participants will come away feeling greater confidence about sharing Christ with whoever might visit the parish. They will learn what to say even during brief interactions. Those who attend will benefit from a presentation including times for reflection, prayer, and chances to practice evangelizing conversations in a low-pressure setting.

Evangelical Catholic Reach More

Evangelical Catholic Reach More is a way of building a culture of community and discipleship formation in your parish through small groups. An on-line system supports the local coordinator in leading the establishment of the small groups and the training and ongoing support of the small group leaders. By design it is a flexible platform for small group discipleship. St. Matthew Parish Billerica has used Reach More, among others.

Light of the World (Apenas em Inglês)

Light of the World (LOTW) is a parish-based weekend retreat experience designed to provide an encounter with Jesus Christ through the kerygma and a renewal of the Sacraments of Initiation over the course of the weekend, with small group follow-up. It involves parishioners coming to the parish days and evenings over the course of the weekend but does not involve an overnight stay. The program is also available in Spanish. St. Mary’s Uxbridge in the Diocese of Worcester is reporting tremendous success. St. Thomas the Apostle in Crystal Lake IL has been running Light of the World longer than any other parish.

Metanoia (Apenas em Inglês)

Next Step from Evangelical Catholic (Apenas em Inglês)

St. Paul Street Evangelization (Apenas em Inglês)

St. Paul Street Evangelization offers in-person and virtual training to proclaim the Gospel in the public square using the method: Listen, Befriend, Proclaim, Invite.

Word on Fire (Apenas em Inglês)

Word on Fire offers a variety of podcasts, videos, blogs, study programs, and other resources on particular topics.

Grupos e Programas de Homens e Mulheres

Grupos e Programas para Homens

• Be A Man (Apenas em Inglês)
• Catholic Men’s Leadership Alliance (Apenas em Inglês)
• Crossing the Goal (Apenas em Inglês)
• Exodus 90 (Apenas em Inglês)
• Men of St. Joseph (Apenas em Inglês)
• That Man Is You! (Apenas em Inglês)
• The King’s Men (Apenas em Inglês)

Grupos e Programas de Mulheres (Apenas em Inglês)

• Blessed Is She (Apenas em Inglês)
• Endow (Apenas em Inglês)
• Inspire the Faith (Apenas em Inglês)
• Momnipotent (Apenas em Inglês)
• Walking with Purpose (Apenas em Inglês)
• Women in God’s Spirit (Apenas em Inglês)
• Women in the New Evangelization (Apenas em Inglês)
• Women of Grace (Apenas em Inglês)

Young Adult Ministry (Apenas em Inglês)

Missão

A área de Boston abriga uma alta concentração de jovens adultos, especialmente dentro e perto da própria cidade. A equipe de Formação de Fé e Discípulos Missionários apoia paróquias, apostolados e outros grupos envolvidos no ministério de jovens adultos em esforços para acompanhar jovens adultos na evangelização e discipulado. A equipe também ajuda os jovens adultos a se conectarem às atividades do ministério de jovens adultos. Para obter informações sobre grupos de jovens adultos locais em inglês, conectar-se a outros líderes de jovens adultos ou formar um novo grupo de jovens adultos, entre em contato com Chris Donoghue. Se você é atualmente um líder de um ministério para jovens adultos, ou está pensando em se tornar um, você pode achar alguns dos recursos abaixo úteis para seus esforços.

Comunidades de Jovens Adultos da Área de Boston

• Brockton Catholic Young Adult Group – Brockton (Apenas em Inglês)
• Evangelium (Brighton)
• Harvard Catholic Center Graduate Students & Young Professionals
• Jesus aCross the Border
• Joyful Hearts Young Adult Ministry (Attleboro)
• Norfolk County Catholics
• P3 Boston (Cambridge)
• Paulist Center Young Adult Ministry (Downtown Boston)
• Pure in Heart (Boston, Lawrence, Lowell, Worcester)
• Shalom Catholic Community (Cambridge) – International
• St. Cecilia Young Adult Ministry (Back Bay)
• St. Clement Eucharistic Shrine (Back Bay)
• St. Columbkille Young Adult Commission (Brighton)
• St. Mary Catholic Young Adults (Dedham)
• St. Mary’s Young Adults Group (Brookline)
• Young Catholic Professionals Boston

Recursos (Apenas em Inglês)

Theology on Tap

A ministry structured around a series of events centering on faith topics of interest to young adults. These events can be held in a restaurant, a parish hall, a coffeehouse, even in a bar—places where young adults already are comfortable and feel welcome. These events feature an engaging speaker presenting a theological topic, time for discussion, faith sharing, and community building.

Night Fever

The idea behind Nightfever is simple: to open the church during the night and invite everyone who walks by, especially young people, to a moment of tranquility and to an encounter with God. Whoever goes out on a Friday or Saturday night usually have other destinations like restaurants, pubs, dance clubs or cinemas on their mind. We want to address these people and invite them to pause for a moment and to come into the church, offering them a candle to light inside. The church is illuminated almost exclusively by candles, and there is quiet live music that goes on throughout the night with people available for conversations and prayer if desired.

Intentional Disciples

A ministry initiative for young adults that creates monthly “Disciples’ Nights” to help deepen personal conversion, foster communion, and grow in an understanding of what it means to be a Catholic disciple in the world today. The meeting consists of Mass, dinner, and a compelling talk centered on discipleship. Every member is encouraged to join a Men’s or Women’s “Discipleship Group” to provide a smaller environment where effective material can be examined and applied, and to develop life-giving relationships where members can be encouraged, challenged, loved, and held accountable. Two video series, “Foundations of Discipleship” and “Our Deepest Identity”, comprise the foundation of each Discipleship Group session.

Young Catholic Professionals

Invigorated by a community of peers and mentors, young, Catholic professionals are empowered to witness to their faith at work and through work, performing their professional vocations for the glory of God and seeing the workplace as a natural site for joyful evangelization. Central to YCP’s mission of engaging young Catholic leaders is the importance of connecting them with seasoned Catholic professionals who have already made the choice to live out their faith in all aspects of their life. Young Catholic Professionals offers its members an avenue to engage with prominent Catholic executives in a way that is unique among young adult ministries.

FOCUS

FOCUS is a Catholic collegiate outreach whose mission is to share the hope and joy of the gospel with college and university students. Trained in Church teaching, prayer, sacred Scripture, evangelization and discipleship, FOCUS missionaries encounter students in friendship where they are, inviting them into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and accompanying them as they pursue lives of virtue and excellence. Through Bible studies, outreach events, mission trips and one-on-one discipleship, missionaries inspire and build up students in the faith, sending them out to spread the good news and to live out the Great Commission: Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations (Mt. 28:19). Many free resources for ministry to young adults beyond a college campus are also available.

Discipleship Quads

A Discipleship Quad is a group of four people who journey together as disciples through weekly gatherings of fellowship, ongoing conversion, and learning. This 12-month path of accompaniment fosters growth through prayer, accountability, and authentic relationships. Here’s what makes Discipleship Quads different than anything else you’ll find: The size of the Quad is four, allowing for a greater intimacy among members. Choosing who to invite into a Quad is discerned through prayer. There is a rotation of leadership during the Quad’s time together. Fellowship is a meaningful part of the experience. This model has had over three decades of success. It is all free of charge, there’s no cost to you or your parish!

Intergenerational Faith Formation

Reasons to consider intergenerational faith formation

As the domestic church, the family home is “a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1666). Parents, therefore, are the “first preachers of the faith to their children” (Lumen Gentium, 11). In fact, their role in educating their children in the faith is “so decisive that scarcely anything can compensate for their failure in it” (Familiaris Consortio, 36).

Goals

Intergenerational faith formation supports parents in their role as “first preachers of the faith”, facilitates lifelong faith formation for all generations, encourages missionary discipleship in addition to catechesis, and engages the talents of the whole parish community.

General principles and format

Intergenerational faith formation programs often consist of monthly or bi-weekly gatherings of all families at the Church and some include weekly sessions in each individual family home. A combination of textbooks, videos, speakers, arts/crafts, home grown curricula with take home lessons is used to create dynamic content for learning. Successful programs incorporate check-in calls from catechists or other volunteers to families between the sessions to accompany them in the family faith journey, training and support for catechists between sessions, and prayer teams dedicated to praying for a fruitful program. If a parish community is introducing an intergenerational faith formation program for the first time it is prudent to host multiple informational sessions for parishioners and training sessions for catechists.

Parishes typically host families in the intergenerational faith formation program once a month, or bi-weekly, (often after Mass) for seven months. Each session typically covers a specific topic related to the chosen theme for the year (e.g. session topic: Baptism, theme for the year: Sacraments). Depending on the needs of the community, multiple sessions might be made available. It is helpful to host the sessions in a Church facility that can accommodate a large group session and small group breakout sessions.

Communities often host the monthly session after Mass. The morning or evening often starts in the large group with a meal (provided by the parish, parents, or volunteers), followed by prayer which can incorporate the theme for the session. Then participants break off into small groups (often by age, although some programs arrange groups including a diversity of ages to encourage mentorship) for a lesson on the same topic and an opportunity to grow in faith. If small groups consist of multiple ages, guidance on mentorship is crucial to ensure older children are having a fruitful experience and fully engaging as mentors. Adults meet separately to enjoy a session geared toward their level and learning style; curriculum for adults might include a miniseries like The Catholicism Series or live speakers and sessions focused on relationship building and evangelization. The groups then often come together for a group session, closing prayers and announcements.

In between these sessions, the faith is lived out and learned in the home, possibly through weekly sessions led by parents and daily within the context of family life. Parents lean on the take-away sheets they received at the last parish session to lead their children in easy-to-understand weekly sessions (about an hour each) that bring the whole family together for dynamic and prayerful sessions often using hands-on activities, videos, and prayer. Families are encouraged to live out these lessons daily as they grow closer with one another and with Christ. Catechists check in to offer prayerful support and accompaniment during this time in between sessions. Also during this time, parish teams typically host catechists for a preview of the next month’s session.

Communities that have embraced this model have seen great fruit in increased sense of community, strengthened families, heightened adult engagement, stronger Mass attendance, and growth individually in relationships with Christ.

Recursos

Recursos para currículos e modelos

USCCB Evangelization and Catechesis
Sophia Institute Family of Faith curriculum
Loyola Press: Christ Our Life; Loyola Press: Finding God
Sadlier
FamilyFormation.net
Our Sunday Visitor Take Home Sheets

Documentos importantes da Igreja para fortalecer e aprimorar os currículos

Sagradas Escrituras
Catecismo da Igreja Católica
Evangelii Gaudium
Evangelii Nuntiandi
Lumen Gentium
Diretório Geral da Catequese
Diretório Nacional de Catequese

Recursos para complementar os currículos com vídeos dinâmicos, etc.

Formed; Augustine Institute
Dynamic Catholic Blessed videos
Word on Fire
Little Oratory
Ascension Press

Se você está considerando em oração a implementação de um programa de formação de fé intergeracional em sua paróquia, por favor, entre em contato com Rosemary Maffei com quaisquer perguntas e para se conectar a comunidades que tiveram sucesso com este modelo de formação de fé.

Youth Ministry and Faith Formation

A equipe de Formação de Fé e Discipulado Missionário trabalha para apoiar os esforços do ministério jovem em toda a Arquidiocese.

Recursos (Apenas em Inglês)

The Art of Forming Young Disciples

Experienced youth minister and speaker Everett Fritz considers the challenge of encouraging youth engaged in youth ministry and large church events for young people to remain committed to lifelong discipleship.

Cultivation Ministries

Cultivation Ministries offers training, resources, and support to adult and student youth ministry leaders and grew out of Frank Mercadante’s successful parish youth ministry experience.

Christus Vivit

This post-synodal apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis provides important insights regarding accompaniment and engagement of young people in the life of the Church today.

Discipleship Focused Youth Ministry

DFYM is an approach that focuses in on Discipleship and uses the fruits of Discipleship to make more disciples. This is the approach that Christ taught us. While having the vision to reach the entire world, He did so by investing in a few (His Disciples). Those Disciples then invested in others (Discipleship) in order to make more Disciples.

LifeTeen

Life Teen is a movement within the Roman Catholic Church, Life Teen leads teenagers and their families into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church.

Marathon Youth Ministry

Experienced youth minister and speaker Christopher Wesley offers youth ministry coaching and resources.

National Study of Youth & Religion

This groundbreaking, long-term, study directed by Christian Smith, Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame, began in August 2001 and provides a wealth of information regarding the religious lives of American youth from adolescence into young adulthood.

ProjectYM.com

ProjectYM exists to equip Catholic youth ministers for success.

Young Life

Young Life doesn’t start with a program. It starts with adults who are concerned enough about kids to go to them, on their turf and in their culture, building bridges of authentic friendship. These relationships don’t happen overnight — they take time, patience, trust and consistency. Simply put, the mission of Young Life is introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith. Young Life is a Christian organization, not a Catholic one. Here is an article on why Catholic dioceses are teaming up with Young Life. Here is a blog post on Young Life’s attempts to build bridges with Catholic dioceses.

Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry

This book by experienced Evangelical Protestant Youth Minister Doug Fields is a helpful resource for new coordinators of youth ministry and parishes considering starting youth ministry or hiring a coordinator of youth ministry.

Children’s Faith Formation

Faith Formation Models

As you are prayerfully discerning the faith formation model that would work best for your community, check out the these descriptions of common models and the strengths and challenges of each.

Livros (Em Inglês)

• 77 Ways to Pray with Your Kids by Jerry Windley-Daoust
  • Wondering how to teach your children how to pray? How to pray with them? Or how to introduce more variety of prayer with the children you teach? 77 Ways is full of practical advice and prayer ideas for ages 3-17.
• The Little Oratory: A Beginner’s Guide to Praying in the Home The Little Oratory: A Beginner’s Guide to Praying in the Home by David Clayton & Leila Marie Lawler
• The Religious Potential of the Child by Sofia Cavalletti
  • Sofia Cavelletti explains how a child (age 3-6) comes to know God and learns about him. It is a refreshing way to grow closer to God versus just learning about him.
• Character Building: A Guide for Parents and Teachers by David Isaacs
  • This book offers suggestions on developing the character of children through the development of moral habits.

Websites e Blogs (EM Inglês)

• Catholic All Year A resource for raising Catholic children.
• Catholic Icing: Catholic Craft Ideas
• CatholicMom: A blog for Catholic parents with information from technology to parenting to marriage to Gospel reflections
• The Catholic Parent: Encouraging Catholic Parents to Live Out Discipleship in their Homes
• Domestic Church Project: The Domestic Church Project offers a podcast, app, resources, and more to support families in growing together in faith.
• Foryourmarriage.org: Family Life and Catholic Parenting
• Katie Warner: Katie Warner provides simple resources for Catholic families and has written a number of outstanding books for children and Catholic families.
• Look to Him and be Radiant: Catechetical and Family ideas for living the liturgical year
• Messy Family Project: Mike and Alicia Hernon offer a podcast, blog, resources, and more for growing together in faith as a couple and as a family.
• Teaching Catholic Kids: From the same people who brought you PB and Grace, a great website for parents learning how to bring the faith home to daily life

Necessidades Especiais

Para encontrar paróquias que oferecem catequese para pessoas com necessidades especiais, entre em contato com Kathryn Griffin, Consultora de Movimentos Eclesiais, ou visite a página do Ministério de Pessoas com Deficiência.

Editores

• 52 Sundays
  • 52 Sundays is a dynamic guide to help you and your family reclaim the Lord’s Day with prayer, activities, food, and more.
• Augustine Institute
  • The Augustine Institute is partnering with Ignatius Press to offer a new textbook series in 2022 called Word of Life. They also offer outstanding sacramental preparation resources called Signs of Grace: Signs of Grace: You Are Forgiven for First Reconciliation, Signs of Grace: You Are Loved for First Communion, and Signs of Grace: You Are Sent for Confirmation.
• CatholicBrain
  • CatholicBrain offers an online faith formation platform for all ages, partnership with Our Sunday Visitor, and a Pre K-8^th grade textbook series called the Adventure Catechism: A Journey through the Catholic Faith in partnership with Brother Francis.
• Dynamic Catholic
  • Presently they offer only sacramental preparation. Their method is videos and small groups discussions. It is a new way to do religious education.
• Evangelize (Em inglês, espanhol, português, criolo haitiano e vietnamita)
  • Evangelize oferece o Projeto Nazaré: A Fé Começa em Casa, recursos semanais para famílias com crianças de 5 a 12 anos, para que as famílias possam Refletir, Ouvir, Rezar e Agir com um determinado tópico ao longo de cada semana. Guiados pela Sagrada Escritura e pelo Catecismo da Igreja Católica, diferentes séries do Projeto Nazaré exploram a mensagem fundamental do Evangelho, as leituras da missa dominical e outros temas importantes, como a Eucaristia
• Faith and Family Life Catholic Ministries
  • Faith and Family Life Catholic Ministries (FFLCM) offers an outstanding on-line formation management system called Martha and a variety of family-centered formation tools for families at different points along their journey of faith, including sacramental preparation. Learn more about their formation pathways at https://www.fflcm.org/pathways.
• Ignatius Press
  • Ignatius Press offers two K-8 textbook series: Image of God and Faith and Life, in addition to a very wide variety of materials for people of all ages.
• Loyola
  • Christ our Life has an abundance of reading material to form Catechists. Their textbooks are based on the basal theory. Also a great resource for Adapting to Special Needs.
• Lumen Ecclesia
  • A new press by the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. Focusing on teaching the faith systematically, using easy-to-understand philosophy and beauty
• Our Sunday Visitor
  • The curriculum is only a portion of their larger publishing house. This means you have easy access to lots of resources such as books and pamphlets to help with all your creative ways of doing faith formation. It also utilizes the basal approach.
• Pflaum Gospel Weeklies
  • Easy for parents to teach their children with these weekly pamphlets and is centered around the liturgical readings each Sunday.
• RCL Benzinger
  • This publisher offers a basal curriculum based on 6 key components of our faith. They also offer supplemental family guides to help parents reinforce what their children learn in religious education.
• Sadlier
  • One of the oldest publishers of basal curriculum for religious education, Sadlier provides new catechists with lots of options of how to teach each lesson and works to make their material affordable for parishes.
• St. Mary’s Press
  • This publisher is known for its bibles which are specifically designed for different age groups. They also provide materials for sacramental preparation. High School e-learning platforms dealing with current events, and bible studies.
• Sophia Institute
  • Takes the stance of teaching the child the faith by introducing them to beauty and God’s love for them while also teaching ways of living out the faith. Catechists like the on-line resources and find their material easy to use.

Catechesis at Home

Helping your children develop a relationship with God begins in the home.

“The Christian family constitutes a specific revelation and realization of ecclesial communion, and for this reason too it can and should be called ‘the domestic Church.’… [and] like the greater Church, needs to be constantly and intensely evangelized: hence its duty regarding permanent education in the faith…[for] future evangelization depends largely on the domestic Church.” (Familiaris Consortio, 21, 51, 65)

Catechesis of The Good Shepherd

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) is a Montessori-based religious formation program for children ages 3 through 12 which focuses on the child’s relationship with God and assists the child as he or she learns to follow Christ, the Good Shepherd. Catechesis of the Good Shepherd was developed almost 75 years ago in Italy and now takes place throughout the world.

A typical session includes prayer, a presentation on Scripture or the liturgy, and time for the children to work with materials from the presentation and silently ponder the mysteries presented. CGS philosophy has the child first ponder God’s love for them and then teach them how to live out the Catholic faith. It is not a classroom style of teaching and allows for more flexibility to teach at the child’s own pace. For this reason, Catechesis of the Good Shepherd is also very effective for children with learning disabilities.

If you have questions or would like to see if it is possible to bring Catechesis of the Good Shepherd to your parish, contact Melissa Kalpakgian.