Great Expectations: A Pastoral Guide for Partnering with Parents

It s no surprise that most adult Catholics remain active in their faith because they were formed by their parents. This is the kind of faith formation that lasts a lifetime! Parents are the key players. And the fact is, no one else can do this particular work of faith formation.

Study after study highlights the importance of parental example. People experience less difficulty with drug and alcohol abuse, depression and suicide, and family tension when they regularly come to church; children and teens are more likely to do well in school, stay close to their families, and experience a greater sense of wellbeing when they regularly participate in Mass and parish activities with their families.

All of this leads to the important conclusion that those who work in parish ministry as volunteers or leaders must find a way to bring parents into the learning experience of their children. They must have great expectations of those parents, expectations the parents will meet if they partner with them and coach them to form their own children.

In this book then, we will guide catechists, teachers, pastors, principals, and parish catechetical leaders to take a secondary role (as coaches), to help parents play the primary role (as teachers) in the faith formation of their children. These leaders will then learn to expect parents to take the primary role in forming their own children. The feedback they get from parents as has been witnessed so often through this coaching method will be overwhelmingly positive.