Our Family Faith Program is for families registered in our parish with children in grades 1 to 8. Our program is designed to be a learning experience for both children and their parents (and sometimes grandparents)!  We recognize the calling and responsibility of parents as primary educators and role models to their children. The FFF program is here to assist parents in passing on our faith to their children. Every family is a mini-church – a domestic church. And as a parish and the Church, we are a family of families. The Catechism states that “The Christian home is the place where children receive the first proclamation of the faith. For this reason the family home is rightly called “the domestic church,” a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity.”

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “Through the grace of the sacrament of marriage, parents receive the responsibility and privilege of evangelizing their children. Parents should initiate their children at an early age into the mysteries of the faith of which they are the “first heralds” for their children. They should associate them from their tenderest years with the life of the Church. ³⁴ A wholesome family life can foster interior dispositions that are a genuine preparation for a living faith and remain a support for it throughout one’s life.” (2225)

It also states that “education in the faith by parents should begin in the child’s earliest years. Family catechesis precedes, accompanies, and enriches other forms of instruction in the faith. Parents have the mission of teaching their children to pray and to discover their vocation as children of God. The parish is the Eucharistic community and the heart of the liturgical life of Christian families; it is a privileged place for the catechesis of children and parents.” (CCC 2226) We are here to partner with and support parents in this very important role!

We are proud to share that Our Family Faith program has been awarded the prestigious New Wineskins Award in 2017 by the National Conference Catechetical Leadership. The award is a “recognition of parishes and Diocesan offices for their creative ways (something new, effective, and engaging) to address formation, the changes in family realities, sacramental preparation…” (nccl.org) 

Mission Statement

Our mission is to communicate the treasures of faith to our young friends (grades 1 to 6) and to their parents. Using the Emmaus model, we walk with our families on a journey towards encountering Jesus in breaking open the Word (online lessons), breaking bread with the whole parish (Family Mass), sharing the Good News with others in the spirit of fellowship (Build community), and bringing the faith to others through acts of mission and service (Act out). Through Family Faith Formation, we aim to engage our kids and their families to be active learners and evangelizers of our faith.

How do we achieve this mission?

1. Use of children’s language

We created an interactive website available 24/7 to the whole family. It is protected with a username and password. It contains our e-catechesis (online lessons) and other learning tools in the program. Each year highlights a particular theme (Year of the Fish; Year of the Light; Year of the Spirit) that holds FFF’s core lessons. The yearly theme is broken down into four fun chapters spread over weekly lessons and activities. At the end of each chapter, the children complete the exercises in the G.Y.M. (Godly Young Muscles) which is our digital tool to assess what the children have learned.

2. Kids as the prime movers of FFF

The Family Mass is a beautiful and lively liturgy for kids and young families every Sunday at 10am. The children become the ‘movers and the shakers’ of the liturgy (second only to the Holy Spirit, or course!). They serve as the lectors, greeters, ushers and as the choir, and families offer the gifts together.

On our website you will hear our children’s voices in the Bible reader. Children can listen to their peers proclaim the Gospel. Our 7th and 8th graders have their own website with lessons that are age appropriate for them. Their lessons focus on encountering Jesus through the lens of each of the 4 Gospel writers (Year A), and examining basic themes of our faith (How do I know God exists?, Jesus Christ – Who is He?, Conversations with God, and Noise vs. Silence).  

The Act-Out (Activities) for grades 1-6 is a resource for practical easy-to-do on how to make our faith alive and active. It contains activities for Family, such as making an Advent wreath, practicing forgiveness; or activities for community such as almsgiving, supplying needs for our Soup Kitchen, giving to Operation Rice Bowl, and more.

3. Encountering God in community

The General Directory for Catechesis states that the process of continuing conversion goes beyond what is provided by basic catechesis. In order to encourage this process, it is necessary to have a Christian community which welcomes the children and their family and one that sustains them and forms them in the faith. Families come to the parish once-a-month for our monthly gathering from September to May. Each month is either a scriptural play or a break-out session.

1. The Scriptural Plays make the Bible stories and Christian themes come to life. These live performances are run by our own children performers or adult parishioners as well as our own local production crew. Parents and kids are active collaborators– either onstage, backstage as well as in their viewing seats. During this communal affair, the participants are intended to experience the Catholic Christian teachings and lessons embedded in the scenes.
2. Break-Out sessions are by grade level (parents have their own session on these months) or are a break-out in which families stay together. This is where we unpack the thematic lessons of each chapter. It is also a time to interact with other families in the program.
3. Other fun-filled seasonal events.

Our volunteers consist of Moms, Dads, teens as well as committed parishioners. They help run our FFF events as catechists, performers, stagehands, photographers, etc.

In our website, the virtual community comes alive through ‘Postings’ within the lesson. ‘Postings’ is a textual messaging avenue for kids where they post their learnings, insights, or comments and learn from each other.

The goal of the program is personal transformation. Transformation happens ‘along the way’. It is not only meant to awaken the faith of the children, it is also meant to enliven the faith of their parents as well. Very often the most effective, greatest evangelizers to parents are their own children! Oftentimes, the kids are able to rekindle the parents’ waning spiritual fervor as well as keep the families on the road of faith. This is Emmaus relived!

The FFF program focus on children and they way they learn abides by Jesus’ own example when He said “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14)