Take Out Leaders Guide

Partner in Catechesis

Looking for new ways to catch parents’ attention? Do you need an easy-to-manage program that can be facilitated by just about anyone? Ready for a contemporary series that connects the sacred with the secular? Then look no further than Take Out, the monthly mini-magazine from Our Sunday Visitor. Take Out is a built-in resource for family catechesis.

One easy way to use Take Out in your adult faith formation ministry is to offer a monthly series for parents to gather in small faith communities and discuss one article from each months’ issue. I know from experience that adults today are often searching for ways to connect with other people who share common values, are at the similar place in life and, of course, share the same faith beliefs.

At our parish, this series is titled, “Conversations that Matter.” It is a series of eight to 10 sessions – one per month – to which parents are invited to connect with other parishioners and talk about the topics that matter most to Catholic families today. Participants are asked to register in advance.

At the beginning of each month, all registrants (one per family) are sent a copy of Take Out magazine and asked to pay close attention to one particular article in each issue. Then the registrants are invited back for an evening at the end of each month to come together and discuss that article. Or order a subscription to Take Out for all of the families in your parish with young children and print the “focus article of the month” in the parish bulletin.

Reserve a room in your parish that is large enough to accommodate 25-50 people (or more!) Set up tables with five to seven chairs at each. (Having people sit at tables is an easy way to divide them into small groups.) Several sets of the discussion questions should be in the middle of each table along with a few copies of that month’s Take Out magazine.

Refreshments are always welcome and need not be fancy or time-consuming to display. Decaf coffee and cookies are usually a welcome after-dinner treat.

Check this website each month for small-group discussion questions, tips and tools to help facilitate your Conversations that Matter series.

A sample “Conversations that Matter” evening schedule:

7:00 p.m. Opening Prayer and Greeting (we use Sr. Janet’s prayer on p. 2 of Take Out)

7:05 p.m. Brief overview of the article to be discussed

7:15 p.m. Refer participants to discussion questions on each table and begin small group discussion. (Make sure participants understand that the questions are a beginning for their discussion – they can discuss one of them or all of them. Remember to make room for the movement of the Spirit in these discussions that may take a group in a new or unexpected direction.)

8:00 p.m. Break for refreshments

8:10 p.m. Come together as a large group and discuss article (write important thoughts and contributions on a white board or flip chart)

8:30 p.m. Close with prayer or Scripture reading (see optional closing prayer at the end of this article)

How to order

To order Take Out in bulk for your parish, or to request a sample, please call 800-348-2440, or email osvsales@osv.com. To order an individual subscription, please click here»

For editorial questions or comments, please email York Young at yyoung@osv.com.

This month's questions, tips and tools

See navigation at left for the current month's guide