One of the key “tactics” that the House of Brigid has always employed is getting to parents through their children. It’s always amazing to see how many parents, many of whom would normally be uncomfortable in a church setting, turn up when their children have a role to play in Class Masses. The years when a child makes First Communion and Confirmation are, obviously, very big years in that child’s faith journey, and we’re trying to encourage parents to make them big years in their own faith journeys as well. As we’ve blogged about, we were very excited by the response to our offering of three Adult Faith Formation sessions, which we offered especially to parents of children in sacramental preparation this year. Many parents turned up to support their children or to be able to better answer their children’s questions throughout the year.
We’ve also been amazed at the response to the parish’s program of preparation for Confirmation, “You Shall be My Witnesses.” This year is just the second that the parish has run this evening program; preparation for the sacraments traditionally takes place during the schoolday here. While the teachers are still working very hard to make sure children are ready for the sacraments, we’ve added this supplementary program, which enables the parish and parents to become more actively involved in the preparation process. The program centers around parent leaders leading small group discussions, with topics given in a book that each parent leader receives. The number of parents willing to volunteer for this–even if they themselves aren’t entirely comfortable with the Church–has been truly awe-inspiring, and for me makes it very evident that the Holy Spirit is truly present in this community, and in the hearts even of those who don’t make it a point to come to Mass regularly.
All that being said, one of my projects this week has been to put together a little Parent Leader Newsletter to send out to our 40-ish parent volunteers. Feel free to have a look through it to get a better sense of what it is we’re doing in the Confirmation program!
