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Slow Walking Series

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Community Building over Meals

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Slow Walking Series

Ritual scholars remind us of the universal experience and meaning of shared meals—that they do more than nourish the body with the food. By their corporate nature, the meals build community; the feast celebrates an important event, present or historical; the food and drink can take on symbolic meaning, whether it’s a champagne toast by the best man or the favorite dessert served at a loved one’s funeral lunch. Phillippe Rouillard, a Benedictine monk and theologian of sacramental theology, wrote, “The meal taken in common seals belonging to a same group. It implies an idea of communion and sharing … and the fact of inviting someone to eat with one is perceived as an efficacious sign of integration and communion” (“From Human Meal to Christian Eucharist,” in Living Bread, Saving Cup, 133). The early months of the Pandemic, when large gatherings with food and drink were dangerous places we were told we must avoid, instilled in us the need of shared meals, both ordinary and extraordinary, to be fully human.

Recognizing the intrinsic value of meals, some resources on adult catechumenate models encourage the practice. “Simple refreshments available as people are gathering will provide a welcoming environment, even just one or two beverage option and a tray filled with small pieces of fruit” (Go Make Disciples, 82, emphasis added). Describing the full meal that his parish practiced in their adult faith formation process, Paul Hoffman offers three values of a shared meal: “Our goal with the meal is to help people feel welcome, offer them a place to belong, and create a space in which relationships with other Christians can begin to form and take shape” (Faith Forming Faith, 9).

Of course, meals play a major role throughout Scripture, especially in the ministry of Jesus. Jesus “ate with tax collectors and sinners” and responded to that criticism with the parable of the Lost Son, who was welcomed home by his father with a feast of the fatted calf. To serve food at adult faith formation gatherings, whether “simple refreshments” or a full meal, recognizes the power of a shared meal and the potential sign that it may be “a foretaste of the feast to come.”

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Image:  The miracle of the five loaves and two fish

By Lucas Cranach the Elder – Wuselig, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=85228885

Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden

JLC windows 3

Church Tour: Informing and Forming Seekers

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Slow Walking Series

This is the second blog post based on my participation in an ecumenical working group associated with Journey to Baptismal Liturgy tasked to adapt the catechumenal process appropriately for those already baptized. One section of “A Guide for Walking with Spiritual Seekers” is a detailed description for leading a “church tour” with two or more baptized seekers wishing to re-connect or connect more deeply with your faith community. For faith formation leaders, the church tour is a way to learn about the seekers and help establish the maturity of a seeker’s faith. At the same time, it is an opportunity to inform (teach) and form seekers.

The “tour” is not modeled on the kind of architecture tour one might experience at a grand cathedral in Europe or a major public building like the US Capitol; rather, it is an interactive “tour” in which the “tour guide” (ideally, according to the Guide, a member of the catechetical team) invites participants to share their experiences of worship. Suggested questions are provided for the various liturgical furnishing, the overall layout of the nave, and for other aspects of the space (windows, processional cross, etc.).

The Guide recommends sharing these goals with the participants prior to the tour (quoted verbatim here):

  • To increase your level of comfort in the worship space and with what goes on in our Sunday worship;
  • To help you feel more connected with the worshiping community; and
  • To point out ways in which our worship space reflects what we believe about God, Jesus Christ, and the people of God, the church.

These goals for the seekers illustrate the dual purpose of information and formation within the catechumenal process, with the third goal functioning to inform and the first two intended to form the seekers, reorienting their lives to the essential gathering of the community, Sunday worship. By walking through the worship space, touching the furnishings, and pointing out specifics, the tour leader’s imparting of information will be more effective than a classroom lecture. The space and furnishings will lead organically into teaching the faith. A triangular-shaped font call for teaching about the Trinitarian name in which the church baptizes; a cruciform font invites teaching based on Romans 6. Formation happens by inviting participants to share their experiences of worship, and the Guide provides examples of questions. Consider first the overall layout of the space, inviting input on these questions:

  • What does the space remind you of?
  • Does it bring back any memories?
  • What objects in the space draw your attention? Why?

After the tour is complete, the group “debriefs” together in a classroom setting. Questions asked here include What did you learn? What surprised you? In worship what draws you into prayer? Participants’ answers will help the tour leader address the two formational goals—increasing seekers’ level of comfort in worship and connecting them to the worshiping community.

The responses of the seekers throughout the tour are intended to help the catechumenal leader(s) to assess the maturity of each seeker’s faith. In a fully developed faith formation process, that assessment will “place” a baptized seeker into one of the “official” stages of the catechumenal process: inquiry, exploration, or intense preparation for baptismal renewal. For those “slow walking” into an adult faith formation process, the tour can be both an interactive teaching tool and a means of assessment to help the leaders shape an appropriate process for the group and individuals within it.

Ultimately, we want Christian disciples to have this understanding about encountering God (quoted verbatim from the Guide): “Although we know that God can be encountered in our homes, in nature, yes, even in pubs and malls and bowling alleys, church buildings are constructed to help us focus our thoughts, words, and prayers on what God has done for us in the person of Jesus Christ.”

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Photo: Side chancel window, Jehovah Lutheran Church, St. Paul, Minnesota, 2020

By Rhoda Schuler (permission granted to use the photo with description and attribution)

Catch of 153 fish

“Sorting Fish” Stories

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Slow Walking toward an Adult Faith Formation Model

For nearly two years I’ve been part of an ecumenical working group associated with Journey to Baptismal Liturgy tasked to adapt the catechumenal process appropriately for those already baptized. We meet regularly via Zoom and are getting close to finishing “A Guide for Walking with Spiritual Seekers,” intended to be used by a catechetical team as the members work with “seekers” who are already baptized and are at a point in life when they wish to re-connect or connect more deeply with a faith community. This week and next I’ll be sharing some of the wisdom from this working group. The full document should be available online soon; what follows are slightly adapted excerpts from an opening section of the Guide.

The title for today’s post, “Sorting Fish,” relates to three distinct categories for the baptized seeker whom pastors may encounter; the spiritual needs and faith formation process for each seeker will vary, depending on which type of “fish” each one is. To each category we gave a specific naming phrase and description:

  • Those seeking to be received: These “fish” have been raised and formed (more or less) as members in another Christian tradition and now wish to explore joining a new community/denomination.
  • Those wishing to return to participation in the same community in which they were raised: In our discussions we agreed that there are many reasons why people’s faith journey has taken them off the path to life in Christ—such as being hurt or scandalized by the church, or having drifted away out of apathy. In each situation, the pastor or catechetical team member needs to explore those reasons with an individual without being judgmental.
  • Those seeking renewal: These “fish” are like the elder brother in the Prodigal Son—they have never left “home” but now wish to explore ways of deepening their participation in the community’s life.

Once a baptized seeker has expressed interest in connecting with your faith community, a good starting point is having a personal conversation with the seeker to determine where the person fits in the above taxonomy. The next step is to establish the maturity of the seeker’s faith, which is the topic for next week’s blog.

As Christians of the twenty-first century, called by Jesus to be “fishers of people,” developing relationships with seekers—whether already baptized or not yet baptized—is vital to drawing people to the riches of life joined to Christ and His Church.

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Image info (public domain)

The Catch of 153 fish by Duccio, 14th century; Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, Museo dell’Opera del Duomo (Siena, Italy)

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_miracle_of_the_Catch_of_153_fish.jpg

Puzzle-piece

Narrative Catechesis

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Assembling the Pieces of the Puzzle

In this video conversation on adult faith formation, the Rev. Dr. Adam Filipek, pastor of Holy Cross and Immanuel Lutheran congregations in Lidgerwood, North Dakota uses the analogy of a puzzle for the biblical narrative, noting that lay people may know many of the “pieces of the puzzle.”  Through narrative catechesis Pastor Filipek works to assemble the “puzzle” with his congregational members and seekers so that they see the narrative sweep. With these words he summarizes his catechetical process: “Here’s the story; here’s where I fit into the story; here’s what we do on a regular basis in the service and out there in the world.” This video is about 6 minutes long.

Narrative Catechesis

Image: Pieces of a puzzle

Author: CrazyPhunk

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Puzzle-piece.jpg

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.