2025 Catechesis Supplement

Family of Faith program builds community, helps parents catechize

Father Jegan Peter, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Bedford and St. Mary Parish in Mitchell, poses in St. Vincent de Paul’s school gym with some of the children involved in the two faith communities’ Family of Faith catechetical program. (Submitted photo)

By Natalie Hoefer

When Kim Getman was hired as director of religious education for St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Bedford and St. Mary Parish in Mitchell in 2022, the parishes’ pastor Father Jegan Peter gave her a mission.

“He wanted me to create a program that would do two things,” she says. “One—that brought all of our different family groups together, including public school, home school and St. Vincent de Paul School families. And two—that provided the tools, knowledge and confidence for parents to catechize their family.”

Thanks to the Holy Spirit, Getman says, she discovered Sophia Institute’s “A Family of Faith” catechetical program that summer and implemented it that fall.

The four-year program centers on a different pillar of the Catechism of the Catholic Church each year. Families of the two faith communities meet twice a month. The first meeting focuses on age-specific catechesis, and the second involves a topic-related group activity.

“The books and material have lessons for parents to do with their children at home on the off weeks,” says Getman. “The program is really geared toward catechizing the parents and making sure they’re comfortable catechizing their children.”

Before each meeting, all parishioners—whether participating in the program or not—are invited to a pitch-in meal for fellowship.

Getman says she and Father Peter “both feel very pleased that we see the two directives being met.

“There’s really good fellowship and relationships being formed between parishes and among all of the family groups. And we also have parents who feel more comfortable catechizing their children at home, feeling more confident about their ability to share their faith with their family.”

‘Everyone has a place to go’

Father Peter says his desire for such a program stemmed from his observations when he became pastor of the two Lawrence County parishes in 2020.

“In a religious and social context, [Lawrence County] is mainly dominated by many non-Catholic and Pentecostal churches,” he says. “Hence, our presence here is vital to evangelize Christ and bring our Catholic faith and identity.

“It is a growing community where many spiritual warfare and social challenges exist and come into play in our ministry as a united faith community and in [St. Vincent de Paul’s] school. I could sense a great need for faith formation to define and distinguish our identity in this county.”

Plus, with the isolation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, he realized the need to strengthen the bonds within and between the two parishes that form the Catholic Community of Lawrence County.

The task of creating such a program was daunting, Getman says.

When she attended the 2022 St. John Bosco Conference on catechesis in Steubenville, Ohio, shortly after being hired, she turned the mission over to the Holy Spirit.

“Very quickly,” she says, she met a representative at the conference from Sophia Institute who shared about its “A Family of Faith” program. It perfectly met Father Peter’s vision.

The program’s two monthly meetings focus on a given catechetical topic of that year’s theme.

The first meeting is focused primarily on catechesis. With catechists in six breakout groups providing age-specific instruction, participants “show up as a whole family, and everyone has a place to go,” says Getman.

The second monthly meeting involves a group activity related to the month’s catechetical lesson.

“Sometimes it’s a service project, like going to a park and talking about care for creation, then picking up trash and hiking,” Getman explains. “Or it could be a family prayer service. Or sometimes the large group session might involve a craft project where each child or family will make a craft to take home that affirms the lesson.”

Parents use the program’s books and material between meetings to continue catechizing their children on the month’s topic at home.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see how eager the parents are to do the lessons and say, ‘Yes, I need help explaining this teaching to my child,’ ” says Getman. “This is a wonderful way for them to grow in knowledge of the faith, but also how to share it with their children.”

‘Families model the faith for each other’

Community- and relationship-building are a core part of Family of Faith, not just in the group activities but also in the pitch-in meal before each meeting.

The meal was initially intended for the program’s participants. But it “has just grown and blossomed and taken on a life of its own, which is beautiful and what you want to have happen,” says Getman.

That growth began when two older women “heard about the program, and it touched their hearts,” she says.

“They said, ‘Oh, these working parents don’t have time to prepare a meal. Send us the sign-up sheet!’ And they got many volunteers from people not involved in the program—retired people, grandparents—to start making meals.”

When they noticed other groups met at St. Vincent de Paul at the same time as the Family of Faith, the two women invited the groups to share in the dinner.

“We’re now feeding between 90 to 95 people at every meal,” says Getman. “The older parishioners really enjoy helping in this way. It’s really neat to see the different generations get involved.”

She calls the fellowship time during the meal “just essential” for several reasons, one being the strengthening of community.

When Krisana Martine and her mother Joan Martine enrolled in the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) at St. Vincent de Paul in the fall of 2023, they appreciated eating with the Family of Faith participants before going to OCIA classes.

“A lot of the Family of Faith members were encouraging and helped with all the information we were taking in,” says Krisana.

Joan agreed, noting that they got to know their OCIA instructor better during the meals.

“He and several other people we met at the dinners are friends now,” she says.

Now as Catholics, the duo is teaming up to coordinate the nursery room for the Family of Faith program this fall.

That room will soon include Anthony and Jackie Baratta’s weeks-old newborn—their sixth child.

As catechists for a similar parish in Ohio, the couple was familiar with Family of Faith.

“So, when we moved to the area here, it felt natural to join [Family of Faith] and meet new people” through the meals and classes, says Anthony.

“It’s hard to get to know parishioners in the few minutes after Mass. So, we’re grateful for this opportunity not only for our kids to get to know other kids at St. Vincent de Paul and the Catholic Community of Lawrence County, but also for us to get to know the parents. We’ve made many friends from Family of Faith.”

He believes one of the program’s “most important benefits is kids seeing other Catholics practice their faith and feeling comfortable speaking about their faith.”

Getman says the meal and program activities are valuable in that sense.

“Our end-of-year surveys show the value of children interacting with other families and seeing those parents model the faith for them,” she says.

Offering catechesis classes where “parents drop off their children” are beneficial, too, Getman notes.

“But there’s value in children coming together and seeing, ‘These are my friends, and these are their families, and this is important to them.’ The families model the faith for each other, and the fellowship component is vital for that.”

‘Knitted together in Christ’

Father Peter says the two faith communities “have been blessed” as the they begin the fourth year of the program.

“Many young families have shown great interest and made a significant impact on the life of the parishes,” he says. “We can see the fruits of this program through the knowledge of our kids and the participation of parents in adult catechism classes.

“And many of our parishioners have expressed their joyful moments of being in this community experience and knitted together in Christ as the Catholic family in Lawrence County.”

Getman attributes the program’s success to the Holy Spirit.

“When Father first told me about his idea, I told him I didn’t think I could make it happen until the next year,” she says.

“But then I met the Sophia Institute representative at the conference. And the Holy Spirit said, ‘The time is now, and here’s how we’re going to make it happen.’

“And it all came together.” †