What if parishes were places where people not only came to know God, but did so as one spiritual family — adults and children together, learning and living out their faith?

The answer to that question was engagingly revealed by Timothy Mullner, who spoke to people from 25 parishes gathered for a May 18 diocesan workshop held at St. Ignatius Parish in Sacramento.

In a presentation titled “Lifelong Faith Formation: From Vision to Reality,” Mullner said Catholics need to shift from a “pray, pay and obey” model of parish life to one more in keeping with the spirit of the Second Vatican Council.

“We’ve catechized generations of Catholics but forgotten to evangelize many,” said Mullner, who explained the great lesson of Vatican II was discovering “we’re all connected.”

He said today’s Catholics need to take a step back from their “busy lives doing urgent things” to wake up to their baptismal call.

“What if we had a plan to help people discern their vocation in life…making a difference in the world, helping them discern what those gifts are,” he said, defining the concept of “whole parish catechesis” as “a commitment for womb-to-tomb faith formation.”

Mullner is general manager of Benziger Publishing at Macmillan/McGraw-Hill Publishing. He holds a bachelor’s degree in religious studies and youth ministry and a master’s degree ministry and spirituality. He has taught on the adjunct faculty of St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., and is pursuing a doctor of ministry degree.

Mullner suggested parishes use the General Directory of Catechesis and the U.S. bishops’ 1997 document, “Our Hearts Were Burning Within,” to evaluate how effectively they are catechizing adults.

“Jesus blessed children and taught adults,” Mullner said. “Today we teach children and bless adults.”

Topping the list of principles for effective adult formation, he said, is fostering good relationships within the parish community.

“We really do that best when we strengthen the role of the family,” said Mullner, who suggests that parishes offer families “a menu of options,” such as small faith community groups that provide child care for moms with young children.

“It’s like a well laid out marketing plan we just forget to do…a vision for lifelong faith formation,” he said.

To flourish, whole parish catechesis requires a healthy environment and a welcoming atmosphere that is tangible from the moment people first walk through the church door, Mullner contended.

He said the concept involves asking who is not included in current programming, such as parishioners with disabilities and others who may feel left out.

He said simply making some slight technical or environmental adjustments for the hearing or visually impaired can result in “people coming out of the woodwork who feel part of the assembly again.”

In addition, whole parish catechesis involves breaking open the word of God, then providing opportunities for parish ministries to come together for Scripture and faith sharing at churches and in home settings.

“We need to sit together at tables, eat our food and tell our stories. That is good eucharistic theology,” Mullner said. “We need to have intergenerational gatherings where toddlers and grandparents are being formed together.”

Linda Shumate, coordinator of English catechesis for the diocese, said several parishes have launched various models of whole parish catechesis and she hopes even more will be inspired to do so.

“We’re responding to that call at the (diocesan) synod to help parishes see how whole parish catechesis can be built on what they are doing,” Shumate said.

One of the eight pastoral initiatives of the synod, focusing on faith formation and evangelization, notes that the gathering of families for the Sunday Eucharist should be utilized to strengthen faith within the family, for catechetical moments before and after Mass, for family catechetical programs after Sunday liturgy and for family social events combined with Scripture sharing.

St. Patrick Parish in Grass Valley has been utilizing the concept of whole parish catechesis for the past three years. Every Wednesday night parishioners come together for a general religious education meeting, followed by smaller groups that meet according to age, from pre-school children to high school students and adults.

“We are one family coming together in faith,” noted Karen Burford, director of religious education at St. Patrick and one of several people from her parish attending the workshop. “Learning God is a lifelong process. We’re giving parents the tools to model that for their children.”

Father Timothy Nondorf, pastor of St. Patrick Parish, said adult attendance at the Wednesday evening meetings ranges from 100 to 150, with twice that many children in attendance.

“It’s a good first step we’ve taken,” he said. “These are folks who might otherwise not have been involved in religious education. I’m most proud of our high school students who are inviting each other to come.”

He left the workshop led by Mullner inspired “to build a team of parishioners” to ensure that every church group or ministry breaks open the word of God, sharing Scripture at faith formation activities throughout the week.

Michelle Pfister coordinates religious education for first through sixth graders at Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Rocklin. Three years ago she started a Family Intergenerational Religious Education (FIRE) program in which families come together at the church a few evenings each month.

“We have about 30 people involved who just love it and now go camping and bowling together,” she said. “It’s very good building community and faith.”

Saints Peter and Paul Parish also sponsors Living with Christ retreats, in which more than 100 adults have participated, to share their faith and bond with one another.

Darcy Wharton, coordinator of adult formation at Saints Peter and Paul, said Mullner’s presentation at the workshop convinced her that whole parish catechesis can be implemented easily in parishes.

“There’s a tendency to think it means chucking everything you have and starting over,” she said. “We can work with what we have and expand.”

Among other parishes offering the whole parish catechesis approach to religious education is Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish in Fairfield.

Persons involved in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults have intergenerational faith experiences monthly, when they gather at church with their children and teenagers. After dividing into groups to discuss a theme from Scripture, adults, teens, and children then come together for faith sharing.

“The challenge is how are we as a family going to live out the Beatitudes, so everyone is challenged, not just the children,” said Sharon Laitinen, RCIA coordinator at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish.

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