Adult Education: August 2011

It’s Time to Gear Up Again!

By Lorene Hanley Duquin

It’s August, and for most parishes, that means things will be gearing up for the fall. Program-planning will begin in earnest. New ideas will surface. Traditions will be resurrected. Annual events will begin to unfold.

For some of us, it’s an exciting time. But for others, planning is a little more stressful.

Our stress often comes from unrealistic expectations. We plan, we implement, and after the events take place, we complain because we didn’t get the number of participants that we had hoped to get.

Difficulties intensify when our disappointment turns to negativity. When that happens, we begin to lose our enthusiasm, our desire to do things and our volunteers. It can be a vicious cycle, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

This year, before you start planning, think about who you are trying to reach.

We know that, on average, about one-third of parishioners come to Mass at least once a month. It’s unrealistic to expect the two-thirds of parishioners who don’t come to Mass very often to attend parish programs and events.

But even if we’re trying to reach only the prime group of involved parishioners who come to Mass regularly we can’t expect that they will all come to everything. There are a lot of things competing for their time, and studies show that people have different interests and preferences when it comes to how they are going to spend their time.

While you’re planning, here are a few things to keep in mind:

Some people like small, intimate group sessions in which they can share with other people how faith impacts their lives and the lives of people around them. They like small faith-sharing groups, support groups and Scripture studies that focus on how the Word of God speaks to them personally.

Some people prefer information sessions. They like to attend lectures, educational programs or Scripture studies that offer concrete information. These folks like to hear from the experts. They like PowerPoint presentations, handouts and information on how they can find out more. They want to learn about their faith, but not through small-group sharing.

Some people don’t want to listen to a lecture and they don’t want to share with other people. These folks want to work on a service project or get involved in trying to correct an injustice in society. They want to live their faith by doing something meaningful to help the church, to change society or to help other people who are less fortunate.

Some people are not going to get involved no matter what you do. Some of them are too busy with jobs and kids and other activities. They make the commitment to come to Mass and that’s all they feel that they can do. It’s a good idea to keep inviting them, but we shouldn’t beat ourselves up when they don’t come.

Sometimes, the best advice for planners in parishes is to scale down your expectations. Everybody is not going to come to everything. Just make sure you have a variety of offerings for people with different preferences on how they want to experience their Catholic faith. Keep inviting everybody, and thank God for the people who do show up!