It’s a Good Time to Think about Your Adult Catechumenal Practices!

Yesterday we celebrated the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession in which the various Lutheran territorial leaders confessed their “pastors’ and preachers’ teachings” as well as their faith on the basis of Holy Scripture. This commemoration—in many ways the most important commemoration for the evangelical-catholic reformatory movement of the church—calls us to think about how we teach and form people to believe and live as those “justified as a gift on account of Christ” (AC 4, 2). What better time to think about our adult formation practices than in these northern hemisphere middling days of summer, a waning time before the “restart” of adult formation in the fall.

A tool that can help you to think through your approach to adult formation and instruction are the “Ideas, Questions, and Reflections for Getting Started with the Catechumenate in Your Parish” that compose Appendix 2 of Paul Hoffman’s Faith Forming Faith. I commend all the appendix to you to stimulate your thinking about your adult catechumenal practices. But I am going to draw attention to the section entitled “Even with Just One Inquirer.” As Paul observes,

Often the idea of the catechumenate sounds very appealing, but especially in smaller parishes, the objection often arises that there are simply no new people to lead to the waters of baptism and life in Christ….Even if you have just one person who is inquiring about life as a disciple of Jesus, this process could be ideal for both parish and newcomer. Moreover, it places a structure in motion that makes your congregation more visitor-friendly and inquirer-ready (94).

Hoffman’s questions encourage reconsideration of your current process and the possibilities for adopting faith-formation practices:

1. Are there persons in your community who might be more open to exploring a life of discipleship with Christ if they heard that there was a process of study, mentorship, and prayer in place in your congregation to support them in their time of inquiry and preparation for baptism?
2. Are there spouses in your congregation who attend worship or other parish activities occasionally but have never been baptized?
3. Could a single parent or a couple coming to inquire about the baptism of their child be your first catechumenal candidate(s)?
4. Can you imagine people in your parish’s service area who are baptized but still seeking adult renewal of their faith?
5. Can you envision two persons in your parish who could sit with one or two persons inquiring into the faith and, with pastoral supervision, offer them Bible study and mentorship in the basics of Christian faith: worship, the Scriptures, prayer, and ministry in daily life? (95)

Hoffman’s questions convey that the steps toward revitalized adult formation don’t need to be gargantuan. One small step can lead to much greater things for inquirers and for the parish. I encourage you to consider the other questions he asks in order to give thought to your adult formation practices during these mid-Summer days before the time is nigh.