Faith formation (religious education) is as developmental for adults as for children: life-long maturing. In the words of the the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), adult faith formation “fosters a baptismal spirituality for adults…to embrace the invitation and challenge of an ever deepening faith in Jesus.”
It’s easy to recognize children and youth”s need for Sunday School, catechism, sacramental preparation (baptism, confirmation classes, etc.)…..
Continuing to mature as a faithful adult likewise requires ongoing faith formation (religious education).
On many levels, our human experience involves continuing emotional and mental development throughout our adult lives; likewise, our faith life can only mature through continued and intentional development. Just as we learn adult levels of emotional competence in how we related to one another and train as adults for workforce competence, adult faith maturation must move beyond Sunday School to mature. Further, the formation of children’s faith depends upon continued faith formation (religious education) of parents; parents provide children’s first exposure to faith. Parents who continue to grow and develop their faith are best positioned – and often most inclined – to support their children’s faith development.
Individuals who grow up in a faith tradition and then continue to develop their knowledge and perceptions about religion – and engagement with their faith – navigate maturing stages described by development psychologists and theologians such as James Fowler.
For those who grow up in a faith tradition, learning one’s faith tradition is experienced early in life with sacraments, attending services, learning prayers, learning basic tenet’s of one’s faith tradition. For those who come to a faith tradition later, on, faith formation happens….well, later. Teen years and/or the early twenties are often a time for faith reflection and perhaps struggle. Do I believe in and accept the faith tradition I have been raised in? Can I see a path to greater and deeper faith maturity in my current faith tradition or another tradition? For those who continue on within an organized faith tradition, the teen-to-early-adult period is also one of transition: figuring out religious meaning on new levels (what are the underlying concepts represented by the symbolism of my faith tradition?, etc.), taking a deeper level of new responsibility for one’s faith (i.e., “this faith tradition was given to me as a child, now I’m evaluating my decision about if and how to stay, how to participate.” “I was given A, B, or C religious concepts as a child….What do these concepts mean to me now? Am I seeing these concepts differently or on a new level??). beyond “taking things at face value” or just “reciting back what you’ve heard.”).
As we navigate adult faith formation (religious education), some adults need to navigate the faith stages of youth if those stages were not navigated earlier in life. Then – if we continue to grow in faith as adults – we surrender into additional levels of understanding faith and finding our way to new levels of relationship with God (and, therefore, with one another!).
The opportunity for faith to continue to develop and mature, however, is often stunted when there is no continued connection as an adult to faith formation. Adults can be surprised – if they take time away from religion or don’t engage with “beyond Sunday” faith formation within their religious tradition – to find out that their faith tradition offers a deeper level of understanding faith on a level of “come to weekend services and take faith concepts literally.”
An adult faith is one that continues to mature developmentally – deciding to take personal responsibility for one’s faith path, thinking through the faith concepts one was taught while growing up (if one grew up in a faith tradition), surrendering to new levels of understanding of religious concepts, etc. Many individuals who live an active faith as adults engage in – and experience – such maturing faith stages. Pastors recognize parishioners who navigate through such stages. Authors such as Jane Regan write about cultivating the maturing faith of adults (check out her book, “Toward an Adult Church“).
Further, there is the need for “life-long learning” of what faith traditions have to offer. If you didn’t graduate with a degree in theology, and even if you did, there is a boundless amount of religious content available for we lay people to learn – and an endless amount of ways for us to learn to bring that content into our lives.
It takes a lifetime to be faithful in all the ways we can do so. Welcome to this location that encourages adult faith engagement.
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