Saint Theresa Rom an Catholic Church
GROWING TOGETHER ON THE FAITH
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o matter your age, there is always something new to learn about our faith! It’s never too early to start building a strong faith foundation so that our children can understand what it means to be Catholic. Here at St. Theresa, our Family Faith Formation program teaches children the building blocks of what we believe, and gives parents the tools to be faith educators for their children. Together, the program helps families to grow on their faith journey together. “I love that we call it ‘Family Faith Formation’ instead of just ‘religious education,’ because that’s really what it’s all about,” says Meredithe Gera, who serves as a catechist with the program. “The family — especially the parents — are the main teachers, and should be the leaders on the children’s spiritual paths. I think it’s really important that they’re involved in the program.”
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Family Faith Formation provides one-hour classes to elementary school children every Sunday, between the 7 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. Masses. These classes include teaching catechism, sacramental preparation, and the Order of the Mass. “I really like that we have our classes on Sunday mornings in between the two Masses,” Meredithe says. “I’ve seen a huge increase in families attending Mass since we started doing classes on Sundays. Not only are they coming and learning more about their religion, they are actually participating in the Masses. If they don’t understand what is going on, they’re not going to be able to participate — I spend a lot of time talking about what Mass is, the two main parts, and what they see and hear.”
