My friend Jonathan Sullivan is asking some good questions about adult catechesis.
In a post last week, he hit on something I’ve been thinking about as well.
Why don’t more people show up at catechetical programs?
Why don’t adults want to learn about their faith?
What I’m wondering and what Jonathan alludes to is, maybe the problem isn’t with them.
Maybe the problem is with you and me–the people doing the catechizing.
Is your catechesis filling a need?
Across the board, parishes have a hard time geting adults to catechesis classes. Nobody shows up!
Jonathan writes:
“Yet we’ve seen an explosion in recent years of Catholic blogs and podcasts seeking to promote and explain the Catholic viewpoint on a variety of issues. While I doubt that many of these bloggers would claim the label “catechist,” that is exactly what they are — they are, in their own way, evangelizing and catechizing to their readers and listeners.
These blogs and podcasts are obviously filling a need that our catechetical programs do not. Convenience may be one explanation — it’s certainly easier to read a blog post than get to the parish center for an evening — but I’m not sure that explains it all. I also wonder if bloggers and podcasters aren’t better at targeting the specific needs and questions of the faithful.”
Getting people to buy
There’s an rule in business–make a product people want to buy. If no one wants your product but you, there’s a problem.
If you make a product that fills a legitimate need, you’ll sell it.
Some people try to make what they want with the idea of creating a desire for it. You can’t create desire. You can only fill an existing desire.
Really brilliant people fill existing needs in new and completely innovative ways. That’s what Steve Jobs does. He also makes products that fill a need people didn’t even know they had. That’s genius!
How to draw in a wider audience
I think a lot of catechetical programming is geared toward the theology geeks and old regulars. It centers on teaching doctrines or other aspects of the faith. But to draw in a wider audience, it needs to tell people how to solve real problems.
I’m not saying that catechesis isn’t important (except if it’s boring). I’m saying that often it’s not perceived as important by the average person in the parish. That’s because it’s not filling a need.
If you take a look at what you’re offering, it might be the case that you’re selling what only you want to buy!
People are busy. If they don’t see a real value in your class, they won’t go. It doesn’t matter if it’s free. The currency they’re spending is time. They only have so much of it, and if you’re not giving them enough value, they’re not going to spend their time on you.
Catechetical takeaway
If you’re a catechetical leader, start evaluating how you’re approaching adult faith formation. I know I will.
Are you offering courses that fill a legitimate need in parishioner’s faith lives? Or, only what you think they want to hear?
Perhaps you need to do less talking and more listening to find out about those needs.
If you want to be brilliant, you’ll start figuring out how to fill the existing needs of your parishioners in new and innovative ways.
If you want to be genius (and who doesn’t), you’ll fill a need your people didn’t even know they had. Now that’s evangelization!
What do you think? What are some ways we can fill the needs of our parishioners?
Good thoughts, Marc. Willow Creek, of course, is the archetypal example of this approach. They begin with “self-help” offerings, and after people are coming for the sessions on how to fix my marriage or how to parent my kids, they gradually offer them more substantive things as they get into the habit of coming.
I really think we have to show them how Catholic faith has something for their lives right now, right where they are. And start simple. Our Adult Faith Formation directors report that their highest attendance is for book clubs and movie nights. That says something about what people understand as useful to them.
I didn’t know that was the model at Willow Creek. I’ve seen their affinity small groups and their discipling process “baseball diamond” but I didn’t make that connection with that being their strategy. That’s pretty darn smart. One thing about that Bill Hybels, he’s savvy and knows people!
I am the quintessential “theology geek” that wanted to go deeper quicker. I never wanted to water things down so to speak. I’ve always fought that idea of get them in with self-help or other simpler things like that, but I’ve changed my mind. I’m slowly understanding how to meet people where they are.
Book clubs and movie nights. That does say something. Good advice, thanks!
Marc,
Great post about how parishes should market their adult course offerings. You make great points about what is important and how we need to work toward reaching more people. My parish has a lot of great course offerings and our response is an average of about 35 to 40 people per offering but we have about 10,000 parishioners (that includes kids). I think our parish is doing pretty well, but we need to keep working on how to draw them in, especially through our approach to marketing.
Thanks William!
I think that those numbers are probably typical of most parishes. I still think we should continue to offer those kinds theological catechesis sessions. Like Joyce said, there are other ways to reach people not already engaged to draw them in deeper.
Hi Marc!
As you well know, we have found that making adult catechesis a required part of the religious ed and formation of their children a “ready” way to (re)catechize/(re)evangelize parents who, when they learn more about the Faith, naturally become interested in going deeper. Assisting parents in being the primary educators of their children, and providing them the tools to do so, catechizes them in a non-threatening way. With kids as the “carrot on the stick,” they are more willing to make the investment of time … even if it is unwittingly an investment in their own formation.
Hi Deb!
You guys are the model of adult education for me! It’s just integrated into everything there, especially the children’s religious education! Without a doubt, Family Formation is probably my largest and most successful adult education ministry! And, it’s a children’s religious education program…primarily. Like you said, it’s always been designed to be the carrot on the stick to get the parents involved and catechized. It’s working pretty good, but not as good as it does for you guys!
Thanks for commenting!