In many parishes, there seems to be a gap between those who offer adult programs and those who desire to participate. Bridging that gap is the challenge of creating adult formation programs today.

One of the primary principles of all education is that people learn best when they want to learn. So the first step in creating adult formation is to excite adults about deepening their understanding and appreciation of the faith, its doctrines, the Scriptures, moral issues and more.

Fortunately, there are ways to do that.

At our parish, we sat down several years ago and put together a comprehensive plan for adult faith formation. Knowing that different people have different starting points, interests and availability, we admitted that not everyone would fit neatly into a master plan. Nonetheless, we were convinced that certain steps were necessary.

Often an excitement for learning comes from a renewal program. Parish retreats, small faith communities, prayer groups and other such programs often allow adults to explore their faith in a way never done before.

One man, a life-long Catholic, said that only with the group that met in his house once a week did he ever take seriously what he always had professed as his faith. Realizing that his spirituality was alive and needed to grow, he requested a Bible study program as a continuation.

From such enticements, our parish started to plan ways to feed the spiritually hungry. Using a shot-gun approach with multiple possibilities, the parish started offering courses and presentations with various types of focus. A popular series of sessions was geared around the basic teachings of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Other minicourses addressed current moral issues or kinds of prayer.

The format of the adult programs has varied from use of videos to discussion or study groups or to speakers and presenters. Interestingly, several of our own parish staff members have been the most popular speakers.

Knowing that some adults are put off from adult classes because they dread being treated like know-nothing children, our parish always incorporates adult methods of teaching and learning.

---The setting for any presentation is comfortable, often with participants seated at round tables.

---The participants' experiences are taken into consideration.

---Dignity and respect is afforded each person.

---Finally, while participation is encouraged for discussions or questions, it never is forced or required.

Timeliness is another consideration in planning adult formation. Sometimes adults hear something or experience something that motivates them to seek more. Sessions on war and violence were well attended both before and after the invasion of Iraq. Likewise, presentations about the church, its structure and ministry drew many during the 2002 sex-abuse crisis.

Holding classes or leading minicourses, of course, is not the only way to reach parishioners. Making available articles or other reading materials is a regular part of our parish outreach. Many fine materials are now available from publishing houses.

Even with all these efforts, however, our parish realized that there are those who are significantly absent from adult-formation programs, namely, young adults and parents of school-age children. So we set about targeting them in particular ways.

While the first effort for the young adults has been to create a Theology on Tap program similar to others around the country, the challenge for parents is more intricate. Parents of schoolchildren often have very full schedules that hardly allow anything more.

However, in most parishes parents already are expected to participate in their children's preparation for various sacraments. Looking at those times, we found we could focus those parent sessions on the adults' spiritual growth and not merely on what to do to have the children baptized or receive First Eucharist.

Parents of first communicants or confirmation students attend a retreat in addition to several other sessions. The retreat is planned to provide inspiration, formation and new insights into adult spiritual growth. Knowing that the parents are making a sacrifice to be present, our team is committed to a quality program that won't be judged a waste of time.

In a similar way, parents of children preparing for the sacrament of reconciliation are given three sessions that treat this misunderstood sacrament along with an understanding of sin and the need for forgiveness.

At the end of the final session in the program's first year, a dad came up and said: "Now I get it. These sessions were meant for us and not simply for what we would tell our kids!"

As adults discover the excitement of continuing to learn, they, like that dad, "get it." It really is about how to live their faith more fully as adults.

Father Herbert Weber is pastor of St. Peter Church in Mansfield, Ohio.