A Catechist Reflects

Its funny, in my ministry work I have shaped many spiritual formation exercises from my curious and questioning nature. When it came to those for sacrament preparations I would annoy the adults of those in formations life saying that up until and including when they are up there, they can still say no, it is the journey and the exploration that forms. I would have practicum students from more evangelical settings where the goal was conversion and the praxis one of altar calls, where I would shape the journey, teach tools, create times of quiet to enter into the Holy, but did not concern myself with the notion of a sinner’s prayer.

Yet would watch as youth, young adults and others from church and community would rest into sacraments, service opportunities, spiritual practices. Seek out the practice of holy belonging from where they selected to be apart of the church.

These ideas came from rebellious ideas ingrained in me from my own journeys. Being part of a Baptist street ministry, where the chaplain would rail against the ludicrous tracking of numbers to prove efficacy (baptism, conversion prayers, attendance, etc) and share stories of connection and belonging instead. Ideas I would bring into community building when students or volunteers or staff would be concerned by attendance numbers for events or programs, and I would dissuade and discourage this talk.

“Who was meant to be here, was here. Those who are not ready saw and seeds are planted.”

Formed differently for sure, not raised in church, but with simple understandings of common good, Jesus’ love, God as creator, a VBS kid, then exploring the other world religions as active participant, engaging with my world, being a part of it.

Serving. Building. Co-creating. Healing (not curing, but working to deconstruct the ills of societ, and rebuild from the individual to communal).

Then an echo, from my past one on oridnation, the loss into minutaie. Chuckling as for a season due to 4 on 4 off overnight shifts, I was part of the Roman Catholic Church, so many stories of formation for belonging, challenging processes.

But remember taking an RCIA course, and Father John sharing about core versus added. Core is creeds of belief, extra was catechism. Core vs optional.

Too often in the church, we trap ourselves within the optional.

As psychologically and philosophically humans dislike change, dislike being wrong, so seek out whatever confirms that to be held true…

And…

Where are we now?

How different would we be, if we focused on the Christian Testament, most specifically the stories and teachings of Jesus?

It is one of the reasons fluidity can exist for me in moving around into churches depending on call, or opportunities, but it also can connect a disconnect as it feeds itself into the idea of the business model of church that settled in through the 20th century and losing the concept of spiritual. Where numbers overtook formation, and living in community to heal.

not -30- yet.