Workshops guide parishes in meeting family needs

Read about other Family Life programs HERE.

With two working parents, soccer practice, dance lessons and other commitments, today's families are finding they have less time on their hands than the generations before them.

Parish staffs know what it's like planning activities for those busy families. When few people show up for adult education classes or workshops, some parishes find themselves creating new offerings that they hope will be more attractive to parishioners.

But there is another solution, suggests Sister Kay Ryan, CSJ, director of the Family Life Office for the Albany Diocese. Rather than offering more activities, parishes should take a look at the life of modern families.

Limits on time

To help parishes and clusters better understand these pressures, the Family Life Office offers several programs to redirect pastoral energies (see box). The programs can also be offered to volunteers or as a part of parish adult education programs to help people deal better with today's more hectic pace. The workshops also serve to educate people as to the sacredness of family life.

"The paschal mystery happens in the home," Sister Kay said. "It's lived daily. Everyday activities are spirituality -- like getting up at two in the morning to feed a child. We need to recognize the importance of the Church of the home."

Eye-opener

The pull of modern life on today's families is something Mrs. Simcoe, the mother of three, understands personally and professionally. She described her parish community as consisting of a large number of families who live outside of the geographic boundaries of the parishes. Those families come to church on Sunday for Mass, religious education and choir rehearsals; some families with high school-aged children must then return on Monday night for religious education.

"To add adult education to this is too much," she said.

Demands pile up

"Families are in different places," she explained. "We need to be able to deal with multiple issues at the same time. Someone may come wanting their child baptized but have other children enrolled in school and they can't get to a baptismal preparation class. How do you accommodate the family and not place obstacles? We need to make smooth transitions with the community."

Another key time parishes need to be flexible is when working with engaged couples, Mrs. Simcoe learned in the Family Life workshops. She explained that couples are trying not only to do their marriage preparation, but also to appease their future in-laws and include other family members so that no one feels left out.

The workshops available from the diocesan Family Life Office include:

* "The Home That I Build," which helps participants see that the home one grows up in affects the patterns of relating and expectations of how the present household "ought" to function.

* "All This and Faith Too," which helps participants find the sacred in ordinary life.

* "Adapting to Changes," which helps participants identify the transitions in their life and explore the developmental and emotional tasks of families in transition.

* "Am I Really Running In Place," which focuses on the roles that families now share with religious and social institutions. It deals with negotiating family responsibility in an age of specialization and technology.

(Programs are also available to support parish and cluster staffs and councils as they strive to serve the needs of their communities. For more information on these workshops or other programs offered by the Family Life Office call 453-6677.)

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