August 10, 2022
Dear Parents and Students,
Welcome to Faith Formation!
We are very excited to start Faith Formation in person once again this fall! Physically meeting with the student and families is so important as we gather to teach and learn the faith. Again this year, we are planning somewhat of a hybrid program: we will mainly gather in person, except for a few Wednesdays this year when we will meet by Zoom (These will be listed on the schedule, and I will post it on Flocknote). As always, our main objective – along with yours – is to help our children get to heaven. So, as we learn our Catholic Faith, we also want to think and focus on the family as well.
As we move forward with another year in the “A Family of Faith” curriculum, we will focus on our Life In Christ. What is it like to have a Life in Christ? To have a Life in Christ we must focus on our relationship with Christ. A relationship strengthened by getting to know him through the church and through a life of prayer. Of course, we all know the ultimate prayer is the Mass; therefore, we highly suggest that you make it a point to attend Mass. (We will be working on something to help with the wiggles during Mass so stay tuned.) Mass is truly the first part of catechesis for us to teach as a Church, for parents to guide their children in the practice of the faith, and for students to learn and practice the rich traditions of our Catholic Faith. We are obligated as Catholic Christians to lead by example just as Jesus himself did; as He, in obedience to the Jewish faith, attended temple or synagogue each week. Yes, our Lord often withdrew by himself to pray, yet he also spent time in communal prayer each week. This should be an indication to us of the importance of gathering for Mass weekly. Jesus’ life as a faithful Jew is quite an example for us!
If you have been in our Faith Formation program in the last two years, you know we focused on the Creed two years ago and the Sacraments last year. This program is not intended for any particular class year or grade but for the entire family. Therefore, our classes will not be in a 1st, 2nd, etc. grade level but for a family along with other families in one room. There will be activities and/or projects (with different age levels for students) to help reinforce what is being taught in that week’s lesson. Each week, lessons will begin in the home along with the family/parents, which will be reviewed in class during the next week’s session. What better way to learn the faith, than as a family at home and then as a parish family as well.
This year, to help our youngest students, we will be making a slight change: instead of having K-5 in the same class, we are going to have a K / 1st grade class and a 2-5th grade with families together. The younger group will spend their time focusing on the Bible stories that are used in the weekly lesson. The one thing we have learned over this past year is that many children do not know the stories of the Bible. I’m sure this is partly the children not wanting to share what they know, however, Bible stories are not necessarily shared much in the home. Therefore, this is very important to work on in the younger years while still focusing on that week’s lesson.
The second part of our catechesis will be a presentation to the parents each week on the following week’s lesson. These presentations are to help you as you work on the lesson in the faith with your child. They will be presented by Fr. Tyler and Fr. Michael, along with other guest presenters, and held at the same time as the Family Faith Formation sessions. You will want to be present so that you are ready to help your student as they learn their faith.
All Students in Faith Formation and at All Saints Catholic School who wish to receive sacraments will also be part of the three-year sacramental preparation process. The information on these additional parent and family sessions will be forthcoming.
On September 14 we will begin our Faith Formation year at St. John the Baptist Church of All Saints Parish. Because we are expecting parents to do some of the teaching at home, and we know that many students need to be in bed early, our class time is only an hour long. Classes will begin at 6:00 pm and we will join together for a short prayer at 7:00 pm. At the first week’s session, we will begin with Mass. After Mass the “A Family of Faith” Parent’s guide will be distributed to the parents in the church. The student will go to their classroom with their catechist and their activity books will be distributed to them there.
In order to be ready for Faith Formation we will need you to fill out the registration form. You can go to the link https://alpenacatholics.org/faith-formation/grades-k-5/faith-formation-k-5-registration-form/ or to our webpage, alpenacatholics.org and go to Evangelization/Grades K-5/Faith Formation K-5 Registration Form and register so that we are prepared for each student/family. The registration fee is $35 for one student or $50 for a family. If you are in need of a scholarship, we do have those available. Please call me to request a scholarship.
When you fill out the registration, please supply an email address that is visited frequently. It is also important that you sign up for Flocknote by going to alpenacatholics.flocknote.com. I will be communicating by email but mainly through Flocknote. If you are already signed up and have received my Flocknotes in the past, you do not need to sign up again; however, if you have a change of email or phone number, please let me know so that can be changed. If you do not sign up for Flocknote yourself, when I receive the registration form, I will sign you up so that you will receive the messages. You can decide if you want to receive Flocknote messages by email or by text, but if I sign you up, it may be both.
You have the option to pay the registration fee online; however, if you do pay online, please make sure you put the first and last name of each student in the “note” section. If you choose to send a check to the parish office or drop it in the collection on the weekend, please make sure you put the names of each student on a note so that I know who has paid.
If you would like to do all Faith Formation from home by way of Zoom classes, please let me know by sending an email. We will try to offer this to anyone who is in need of this service.
We are so looking forward to working with you and your family! Please register as soon as possible.
More details will follow in the coming weeks.
God bless you, In cooperation with,
Jackie Benson Fr. Tyler Bischoff, Parochial Administrator
Catechetical Leader Fr. Michael Lingaur, Parochial Vicar
jbenson@alpenacatholics.org
office 989-354-3019
cell 989-590-8649