Stronger faith lives, closer relationships with God, family and community, and even increases in the weekly collection are among the results gained through the implementation of whole community catechesis, according to parish leaders who have been using the faith formation process in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Their testimonies were part of a day-long celebration and modeling of whole community catechesis at the Cathedral Conference Center Sept. 6, attended by more than 300 local and out-of-state church leaders and hosted by the archdiocese.

Heading the 11-member team presenting the immersion program of prayer, song and "promising practices" on this lifelong faith formation process for all ages were Twenty-Third Publications president Bill Huebsch and Ohio-based pastoral associate Leisa Anslinger, author of "Here Comes Everybody! Whole Community Catechesis in the Parish."

In his opening remarks, Huebsch, author of three books on whole community catechesis, said there is a real need "to light a fire" in churches where traditionally more than half of the parents of parish school children and religious education students are not active.

"Our goal is creating households of faith," said Huebsch. Whole community catechesis meets this goal, he noted, by providing intergenerational activities and food-sharing assemblies with a liturgical feel. "Catechesis has to be more like Mass than class. It has to feel more like liturgy than school," he said. "The purpose is to send people out with a mission."

"Many of our parishes have been child-centered when it comes to catechesis," said Anslinger, a nationally-renowned speaker on catechetical leadership, adult faith formation and youth and liturgy. "We're going to start making a shift into a way of visioning all of us as disciples who are on a life-long journey of conversion.… All of the catechesis that we do is going to hopefully help people to keep those open minds and hearts so the Holy Spirit can work with them and help them to live more deeply their lives in Christ."

What she and her fellow parish team ministers at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church have learned since making the shift to whole community catechesis 11 years ago is that "one size does not fit all" and parishes can incrementally adopt practices such as circulating a Gospel-inspired "question of the week," or holding a parish-based retreat or assembly.

Local implementation of whole community catechesis has been "in bud" for over two-and-a-half years, said Religious Sister of Charity Edith Prendergast, archdiocesan Office of Religious Education director. "We started in response to the [2003 archdiocesan] Synod which talked about changing structures. We saw a vision in which we could 'hang' many of those initiatives," she explained.

Sister Prendergast then introduced five archdiocesan faith formation leaders who have implemented whole community catechesis in their parishes.

Kathy Viele, director of religious education at Beatitudes Church in La Mirada, urged participants not to be overwhelmed at bringing the parish community into faith formation. "You're already doing lots of the pieces in your parishes," said Viele. "You don't have to throw all that out. You just need to put on new eyeglasses and look at what you're already doing and tweak it a little."

For example, she suggested, when parents come to a meeting, it's advisable to hand out prayers and "blessings" that they can do at home with their children. "We keep telling parents, we're here to support you. We're not going to make your child a Catholic Christian loving person, you will," declared Viele.

Dave Smith, director of formation at St. Julie Billiart in Newbury Park, talked about the success his parish has had with parish-based retreats which allow parishioners to hear each other's personal testimonies. Originally beginning with the question of the week, St. Julie Billiart now offers the retreats and has revamped its baptismal program under the whole community catechesis model.

Father David Velázquez, pastor of St. Rose of Lima Church in Maywood, told how the whole community catechesis process has revitalized his parish. When he came to the parish five years ago, he suspended the religious ed program for a year in order to communicate the idea to the numerous parish groups that faith is "not something only that you learn; it's something that you live, that you share."

Now, St. Rose of Lima holds 18 parish-based retreats a year serving 3,000 parishioners. In addition, hundreds of parents of children enrolled in religious education attend weekly faith formation activities. According to Father Velázquez, whole community catechesis has led to many "inner conversions," greater Mass attendance, an increase in parish ministries, and even contributed to increased weekly collections.

Msgr. David O'Connell, pastor of St. Michael Church in Los Angeles, told The Tidings following his panel presentation that he is impressed with how implementation of whole community catechesis has helped his parishioners get closer to their families and to each other.

"For years working in South Los Angeles, I used to see people going to different movements in order to get that experience of the encounter with Christ and total transformation of their lives," said Msgr. O'Connell. "What whole community catechesis has done for us is to give people that experience of the encounter with Christ in the actual parish in the things we do week in and week out, especially in the Sunday Masses and the catechetics program. I've seen something which gives me life and hope because I see lives changing."