Religious ed targets adults at St. Edward's

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At St. Edward the Confessor parish in Clifton Park, the adult faith formation program is - in the words of organizer Peter Avvento - "kicking it up a notch.

"We're really trying to step things up," Mr. Avvento told The Evangelist. "We want St. Edward's to become a model for adult faith formation and a center of education for the Diocese."

In addition to organizing the program for the past three years, Mr. Avvento is also a teacher for the parish's adult faith formation ministry. He received his doctorate in moral theology from The Academia Alfonsiana in Rome, Italy, and currently works as the coordinator of the Amazing God evangelization initiative for the Diocese of Albany.

Reworking idea
Though the adult enrichment program has been a presence in the parish for years, in 2009, Mr. Avvento approached Rev. Patrick Butler, pastor, about revamping it.

"The pastor and Deacon Kelenski really just let me run with the ball," Mr. Avvento recalled. "We really wanted it to become a multimedia presentation, so we're using PowerPoint, music and graphics. It keeps everyone energized about what we're teaching."

This year's program kicked off in September with a four-week series on the Gospel of Mark taught by Father Butler and returns Oct. 17 with "Jesus: The Story." That four-week multimedia course will take a detailed look at the person of Jesus as God, storyteller, healer, social prophet and mystic.

For parishioner Frank Geno-vese, the formation program has been a chance to relearn and expand on what was taught to him decades ago in Catholic school.

"It's a real eye-opener," he said. Both Father Butler and Mr. Avvento are "real theologians who bring a vast amount of information to each course. They teach the same things that I learned in my St. Joseph's Missal as a boy, but in a whole new way. They explain why we do what we do and they stimulate your thinking."

Teachable moments
"We're finding that a lot of people have limited theological education and have never probed into the teachings," said Mr. Avvento, "but their passion and desire to learn is very present."

In addition to learning more about their faith, Mr. Avvento explained that those attending the meetings are starting to form their own community.

"We have about 75 to 110 people each night and what we're finding is that they're getting to know one another and breaking off into small groups afterward when they want the discussion to continue," he explained. "It's great and we want to see those numbers continue to grow."

The program is even attracting participants from other parishes. Some come all the way from Glenville and Lake George on Monday nights to take advantage of the courses offered.

What Mr. Avvento and Father Butler hope to see next is a greater number of young adults in attendance.

"From mountaintop to Twitter, we want to make sure the message reaches across generations," said Mr. Avvento. "We're making the Gospel message relevant to today." For information, call St. Edward's at 371-7372 or email [email protected].[[In-content Ad]]