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The Ordinary Path to Holiness

Author, Ministry, Presentations and New Video Series

A New Service for Fidelis: Parish Consultations and Presentations offered by Thomas and Deborah Richard

Pastors and other church leaders: You can Provide Adult Faith Formation!

from the USCCB document, Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us, A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the United States, 1999:

§ 42 § ... the Church wisely and repeatedly insists that adult faith formation is "essential to who we are and what we do as Church" and must be "situated not at the periphery of the Church's educational mission but at its center." § 43 § Yet despite the consistency and clarity of this message, the Catholic community has not yet fully heard and embraced it. While most Catholic parishes place a high priority on the faith formation of children and youth, far fewer treat adult faith formation as a priority. This choice is made in parish staffing decisions, job descriptions, budgets, and parishioner expectations. Our Hearts Were Burning....

Effective, substantial Adult Faith Formation is "essential" to the mission of the Church!

• Pastors need and want to provide substantive Adult Formation and Education in the Faith.
• Pastors often don't have the time personally.
• Pastors often cannot afford a permanent staff position for adult formation.
• Parish volunteers have not proven sufficient in providing substantive adult formation.

What, positively, can you do? You can "hire a consultant"! You can "contract" on an as-needed basis with well-prepared, knowledgeable and experienced ecclesial lay ministers who want to help you form the adults and families in your parish.

(To read more of Thomas and Deborah Richard, and some of their past Presentations, and some Comments of participants, click here.)

(To see some sample Presentations videos, click here.)

The table below suggests some of the ways that Thomas and Deborah Richard can help in your work of adult formation. Complete resumes provided on request

Participants	Offerings; Possible Themes
Parishioners: Weekend or Day Retreats, Short Series, Parish Missions	Growing In Prayer Praying The Our Father Lectio Divina: Listening to Scripture Foundations of Catholic Faith The Crucial Vocation of the Laity
Series for Catechists and/or Parents	The Foundational Four Pillars of Catholic Life and Faith: Creed, Sacraments, Morality, Prayer
Day retreat for Couples (married or engaged)	Marital Communion and fellowship in Prayer. Living our "Reciprocal Complementarity" (Compendium 71)
Parish School Teachers	Integrating the Faith into the Curriculum Preserving Catholic Identity.
RCIA Sponsors (recommend 2 sessions)	Sponsor Formation: the fundamentals of the faith; Mentoring and Companioning: the human dimension. Being a facilitator of Catholic Life
RCIA Candidates and Catechumens (recommend 4 sessions)	Four presentations on the crucial four Pillars of the Faith: Creed, Sacramental Life, Moral Life (spread over the Catechumenate), and Prayer (during Lent).
Parish Organizations (K of C, St. Vincent de Paul, Parish Council, ….)	Parish Renewal and Personal Renewal: inseparable components for Consecration to the Mission of Christ.