For 19 years Diane Eriksen worked in the secular marketing, training and development industry. Her departure from the Catholic faith and her subsequent return led her to put her training and development skills at the service of the Church.

She serves as managing editor with Sapientia Press of Ave Maria University. As a way to teach adults the faith, she has served as editor of the first of several volumes in her faith-formation series Catholic Faith Explorers, co-published by Ignatius Press with Ave Maria University.

Eriksen spoke with Register senior writer Tim Drake from her home in Michigan.

What got you interested in doing research on adult catechesis?

Over the past several decades, we have witnessed a growing lack of understanding about fundamental aspects of the faith among Catholics. We’ve all heard the statistics from various surveys. Seventy percent of Catholics do not believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist; 23% think you can be a good Catholic without believing that Jesus physically rose from the dead; 76% believe you can be a good Catholic without going to Mass weekly and so on.

Certainly, there are many factors contributing to statistics like this. Yet, we can’t ignore the fact that this is in large part due to the limited catechesis many adult Catholics have received throughout their lifetimes.

Though I was aware of the great need for adult catechesis and was pleased to see that the U.S. bishops recognized this need in their 1999 pastoral plan for adult faith formation, Our Hearts Are Burning Within Us, I noticed that there really hasn’t been much done to address it. I felt that we needed to hear from potential users of the materials to be able to effectively meet this need. So we worked with a marketing-research firm to pull together focus groups with both people in the pews and directors of religious education  from two different dioceses, and we also mailed surveys to several religious-ed directors throughout the country.

What were some of the most surprising findings from your research?

Many participants in the “people in the pews” groups recognized they didn’t know as much as they should about their faith and were embarrassed to admit it. Yet they felt that, with all of their work and family demands, they don’t have the time to do in-depth study. They were overwhelmed by the Catechism or other books on the faith because they felt that they could never devote the time necessary to go through them. They wanted short, straightforward explanations of the most basic elements of our faith, and that’s why our 24-36-page workbook concept was so appealing. They wanted to come to one short session or have simple resources for individual study at home.

Time is also an issue for DREs. Though they recognize the need for ongoing adult-faith formation, they struggle with how to meet this need with all of their other responsibilities at the parish. Most often they would have to design these sessions from scratch, and because of that they rarely found the time to do it. The Catholic Faith Explorer concept attracted them because everything needed to facilitate an adult faith enrichment program was provided for them. Also they really liked the detailed leader’s guide because they could even feel confident to hand it off to a motivated lay person in their parish to facilitate it.

What are the aspects of Catholicism that adult Catholics want a clearer understanding of right now?

Overall, they want a clearer understanding of the faith and how to live it on a daily basis. Many of them feel that they were never given a full explanation of the faith. At our focus groups, we offered a list of many different topic areas that each participant individually ranked by level of interest. The topics chosen for the first seven Catholic Faith Explorer workbooks were based on those results: understanding the Mass, trusting Church authority, role of the laity, need for confession, significance of baptism, Mary, and understanding why Catholics follow Scripture and Tradition. Other areas of interest included how to raise your children Catholic, inviting God into your marriage and other aspects of applying the Catholic faith in your daily life.

Do Catholics feel they are getting different teachings and “opinions” from different priests — and seeking a once-and-for-all sureness about what the Church espouses and what it does not?

Yes, that was another part of the market research that tugged at my heart, particularly because of my own struggle to figure out what the Church really teaches. One scene from the focus-group sessions with the “people in the pews” sticks out in my mind. A man in his early 60s spoke up and said he’d be interested in coming to these sessions if they were facilitated by a bishop because he wanted to be able to trust that this is really what the Church teaches. He said he was sick of getting different answers from different people in the Church and that he missed the time when there was never a question about what the Church taught. He wanted it to be “really Catholic” and not just someone’s opinion. The rest of the group agreed.

When we explained what an imprimatur is, and said that we were going to have one for all of the workbooks, the response from participants was very favorable. These types of responses only further motivated me to get these workbooks published. I don’t want people to have to work as hard as I did to learn about our Catholic faith.

What are some of the “front-runner” parishes doing to educate — or re-educate — adult Catholics?

In short, they are meeting people where they are at in their life and in their faith walk. They integrate faith-formation sessions into existing groups that are already meeting at the parish, like the men’s group, mom’s club, young-adult or youth group. Most of these groups welcome the opportunity to integrate opportunities for members to grow in the faith.

There are many young-adult groups that meet in less traditional settings, like local restaurants or in people’s homes, which can make it more attractive and less intimidating. It also gives them an opportunity to establish new friendships that will encourage them to grow in their faith.

Other parishes have established small faith-sharing groups to encourage fellowship. They sometimes use certain books on the faith or Bible studies as a starting point, but often grow from there. These types of groups help the laity to not only be active learners of the faith, but also encourage them to share the faith with others.           

Another powerful opportunity is when people come to the Church to receive the sacraments. This does not just have to happen when adults want to join the Church or be married. Meaningful adult faith-formation programs can also be done for the parents of children preparing for baptism, first penance, first holy Communion and confirmation.

Often we find that the parents need to be catechized just as much as the children — and these are wonderful opportunities to reach out to them when they would be most receptive to learn more.

Tim Drake is based in St. Joseph, Minnesota.

Information

Catholic Faith Explorers (via Ignatius Press)

catholicfaithexplorers.net