An Introduction to the Project
In the following video, John Roberto, Executive Director of the National Community for Catechetical Leaders (NCCL), welcomes you and offers a detailed look at Parents & Families at the Center of Faith Formation.
Parent Café
Parent Café is a way to listen to parents on a specific topic of importance to them and to the parish community. It is an opportunity for parents to be heard and an opportunity for parish leaders to listen and gain valuable insights into the values and practices of parents.
The following documents will assist you in organizing and conducting a Parent Café.
PARISH GUIDES
PDFs offered to support your leaders and teams in research and planning.
Guide: Vision & Practices of Family Faith Formation
An introduction to the goals, vision, and practices of family faith formation that provide a foundation for the Parents and Families at the Center of Faith Formation Project.
Guide for Parish Coordinators
This Guide is written to assist the Parish Coordinator in leading the parish team in creating and implementing a plan for parent and family faith formation in the parish. The Guide includes the following information and tools:
- Project Timeline
- Responsibilities: Parish Coordinator and Parish Team
- Characteristics of a Strong Project Manager
- Developing a Meeting Agenda
- Meeting Agenda Form & Follow-Up Meeting Report Form
- Facilitating a Meeting
- Running Church Meetings Skillfully and Carefully
- Brainstorming Guidelines
- Team Covenant: Responsibilities to Each Other
- Team Diversity: Characteristics that Complement Each Other
- Trusting Building Activities
- Characteristics of Strong Teams
Guide for Parish Teams
This Guide is written to guide Team Members in working together as a team to create and implement a plan for parent and family faith formation in the parish. The Guide includes the following information:
- Project Timeline
- Responsibilities: Parish Team
- Team Covenant: Responsibilities to Each Other
- Team Diversity: Characteristics that Complement Each Other
- Characteristics of Strong Teams
Guide: Family Research
The Research Phase of the Parents and Families at the Center of Faith Formation Project involves a parent survey and parent listening sessions – focus groups or interviews or both.
The Parent Survey is conducted online using SurveyMonkey. Each parish will receive a link to SurveyMonkey that can be shared with parents. The national project staff will produce a survey report for your parish that you can review and analyze. You will find the survey questions in the third section of this Guide.
The Listening Sessions – interviews and focus groups – are conducted locally in the parish. The goal is to develop a deeper understanding of the lives of families in your parish community—and their religious and spiritual needs and practices—that can form the basis of developing new initiatives. A parish team can choose to do parent interviews or parent focus groups or both. This Guide provides instructions on how to conduct interviews and focus groups.