Growing Faith
by Bill Huebsch
edited by Sr Maureen Shaughnessy SC

Twenty-Third Publications
Serving the Church for more than 40 years!

“We’ve been meaning to do this for a long time,” one parish religious education
director told me. She was talking about bringing adults into the learning circle
of her parish.

“Catechesis for adults,” the General Directory for Catechesis tells us in article 59,
“…must be considered the chief form of catechesis. All other forms, which are indeed
always necessary, are in some way oriented to it.”

Is this true in your parish?

All of us who work in parish ministry today want to do a better job of reaching
adults, of offering them faith formation. We attend conferences and read excellent
resources. We talk among ourselves in the hallways and cloak rooms of diocesan
meetings. We plan and study and invite and cajole -- and sometimes even plot –
to find ways to interest adults and help them grow in their faith.

We have learned a few things over the years.

First, adult formation is a two step process. Pope John Paul II has made a
tremendous contribution to our ministry by articulating so clearly that the “first step”
for most adults will not be actual instruction in the faith, but conversion to
Jesus Christ.

The sad fact, however, is that, within our parish communities, many if not most adults
have not turned their hearts to Christ, have not “put on Christ like a garment,” as St.
Paul suggests. This lack of conversion produces a lack of real heart for the faith.
A lack of enthusiasm. Even a lackluster presence in the Sunday Assembly, or no
presence there at all.

To help you establish programs in your parish which give rise to the possibility of
conversion for you and your people, we recommend most strongly Dreams and
Visions: Pastoral Planning for Lifelong Faith Formation. In it, author Bill
Huebsch lays out the Catholic theology of conversion (chapter 3), rooting it in
papal teaching, and also a parish plan to implement the vision (chapter 5).  These
two chapters alone are worth the modest price of this book. Find it here.

Once conversion is beginning in our lives as Christians, the second half of the process
of growing in faith is to study it! To know Christ is to know the church. Because of
this, studying our faith is one of the ways we come to know Christ better.

And that’s where Growing Faith comes in. Here at last is a product designed for the
youth, young adults, and adults of all sorts in today’s church. It’s beautiful in design,
easy to use, easy to facilitate, and absolutely Catholic! People will want the booklets
as keepsakes and they will read and re-read them for many years! They will give them
to family members and friends; they will refer to them when questions arise.

Growing Faith is designed to support the journey of faith that so many Catholics are
on today. If used from front to back, it provides a systematic and comprehensive
presentation of the Catholic faith. Divided into Mini-Courses, it is possible for every
leader, newcomer, young adult, confirmation candidate, catechumen, parents with
children in faith formation, and others to examine their faith closely.

Whether used in groups or in privately, it presents the beauty and deep meaning of
our faith in language which is common and with illustrations which touch the
heart.
Let Christ touch your
heart through Growing
Faith resources.
Click above to find the Spanish
Growing Faith resources