I love this degree of ongoing faith formation by your parish!
But parishes tend to "program" to the youth and to the elderly. I'm a middle-aged male who owns a business. Anything in the morning is automatically off limits. And evenings? Hit-or-miss. No one develops programs for people like me.
I love this degree of ongoing faith formation by your parish!
But parishes tend to "program" to the youth and to the elderly. I'm a middle-aged male who owns a business. Anything in the morning is automatically off limits. And evenings? Hit-or-miss. No one develops programs for people like me.
I wish more parishes offered content asynchronously -- online learning modules, recorded talks, private online discussion groups, &c. But the elderly struggle with technology, so most parishes aren't willing to make the investment.
There are a lot of online/book resources available for cheap/free, I'm not sure why you would want the parish to be offering it, except to combine it with the community/social aspect. Personally, I prefer that sort of thing simply because classroom-style learning tends to irritate me, as it hardly ever goes anywhere close to my speed, but this same problem tends to show up in online learning modules and recorded talks that are purchased by parishes. If you have to sort through a lot of stuff to find something that suits anyway, and you aren't connecting with the people in your parish, why limit yourself to parish offerings?
The scheduling problem and the variety of different levels was why I was trying to go for something unorganized.
My parish has a monthly talk (short, by a layperson) followed by discussion/questions, followed by clarifications by a priest, interspersed with snacks. Announced in the bulletin & at Mass, with the topic. Attendance ranges from 10-50 people, depending on the topic. Some regulars, but they are typically not the same people. If you can't come to most, you can still come to one or two and be just fine.
The private online asynchronous discussion groups sounds great. I wish that was a widespread thing. Although I expect the moderation could be a big problem.
I love this degree of ongoing faith formation by your parish!
But parishes tend to "program" to the youth and to the elderly. I'm a middle-aged male who owns a business. Anything in the morning is automatically off limits. And evenings? Hit-or-miss. No one develops programs for people like me.
I wish more parishes offered content asynchronously -- online learning modules, recorded talks, private online discussion groups, &c. But the elderly struggle with technology, so most parishes aren't willing to make the investment.
And thus the cycle repeats itself. :(
For asynchrous learning but without group discussion & sharing, Ascension Press can be used: https://ascensionpress.com/pages/bible-studies
Similarly, Cornerstone Bible Study and Little Rock Bible Study can be adapted to asynchronous self-study:
• https://thecornerstonescripturestudy.org/about-us/
• https://litpress.org/LRSS/About-Us/Index
I have contacts at Cornerstone - if you need them PM me. Thanks
There are a lot of online/book resources available for cheap/free, I'm not sure why you would want the parish to be offering it, except to combine it with the community/social aspect. Personally, I prefer that sort of thing simply because classroom-style learning tends to irritate me, as it hardly ever goes anywhere close to my speed, but this same problem tends to show up in online learning modules and recorded talks that are purchased by parishes. If you have to sort through a lot of stuff to find something that suits anyway, and you aren't connecting with the people in your parish, why limit yourself to parish offerings?
The scheduling problem and the variety of different levels was why I was trying to go for something unorganized.
My parish has a monthly talk (short, by a layperson) followed by discussion/questions, followed by clarifications by a priest, interspersed with snacks. Announced in the bulletin & at Mass, with the topic. Attendance ranges from 10-50 people, depending on the topic. Some regulars, but they are typically not the same people. If you can't come to most, you can still come to one or two and be just fine.
The private online asynchronous discussion groups sounds great. I wish that was a widespread thing. Although I expect the moderation could be a big problem.