Catechesis: Not Just for Theology Geeks

Posted by on September 13, 2011 | 10 comments

Marc Cardaronella has written a great response to my recent post on adult faith formation. Marc gets to the heart of the problem with this passage:

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…

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.

Here’s one example of what we’re talking about:

Imagine you’re looking over a list of upcoming catechetical offerings and trying to decide which to attend. Which course title sounds more appealing?

  • Ending World Hunger, Poverty, and War with the Power of Faith
  • Catholic Social Doctrine

Two courses that could have the exact same content — yet the first will be better attended because it promises to address real world problems that people encounter every day. The second one? The average person in the pew doesn’t even know what “Social Doctrine” is, let alone how it will help them.

People write what they know, and unfortunately many catechetical programs are written by theology geeks (I want that on my business card!) rather than people who are really interested in how the faith can work concretely in people’s lives to address their needs and questions.

If we expect people to give up something to attend our catechetical programs — and Marc is absolutely correct that, in today’s hectic world, time is a precious currency — than we need to demonstrate how our programs will benefit them. This isn’t something we can demonstrate during their time in our programs. It has to be part of the way we market catechesis and our programs.

If we want people to come, we have to demonstrate that it will be worth their while.

Image by Druid Labs/FlickrCC

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    • http://catholicservant.com Craig Berry

      Jonathan, love your course titles example.nnIn ‘marketing’, it helps to pitch things by solving real-world problems.nnFor example…here’s another one…nn”How to respond when the Mormons come knocking”

    • http://dreconnect.loyolapress.com/ Denise

      Kudos to you and Marc for engaging in this important conversation. nu00a0nI love that you point out in this post that the content can be the same, but the title has to draw in the people. Bloggers understand the power of good titles, so they may provide inspiration for in-person programming titles too.

    • http://catechesisinthethirdmillennium.wordpress.com/ William O’Leary

      Jonathan,nYou make a great point regarding how we market the courses we are offering.u00a0 I think you couldn’t be more correct about how time is the currency that people don’t have a lot of so if they attendu00a0a course offering itu00a0needs to be “worth it” in their minds; they need to perceive that it’s going to impact their lives not merely inform them.u00a0

    • Ashley Collins

      Thanks Jonathan!

    • http://marccardaronella.com Marc Cardaronella

      That is a great example Jonathan! That is exactly it!u00a0nnPerhapsu00a0going even one step further, the contentu00a0wouldn’t be exactly the same but tailored to a specific need, but itu00a0would include a call to action to direct the interested person into an existing program or some other thing that goes deeper.u00a0

    • http://www.jonathanfsullivan.com/ Jonathan F. Sullivan

      Quite right! (And Marc always has much better blog titles than me!)

    • http://www.jonathanfsullivan.com/ Jonathan F. Sullivan

      Thanks, William!

    • http://www.jonathanfsullivan.com/ Jonathan F. Sullivan

      nThanks, Craig! Of course, I let the Mormans in the house when I was three years old, so I’m not sure you’d want me teaching that class! ;)

    • http://www.jonathanfsullivan.com/ Jonathan F. Sullivan

      Well, I’m assuming that the content includes practical information and “take homes”, which I recognize is a dangerous assumption to make!

    • http://www.jonathanfsullivan.com/ Jonathan F. Sullivan

      You’re welcome, Ashley!