St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Destrehan kicked off its Family Faith Formation program last month, with more than 175 lunch plates served.
Now in its fourth year, the program invites families to learn about the Catholic faith together at special gatherings once a month.
The program is open to families with children attending both Catholic and public schools in St. Charles Parish who want to deepen their understanding of the Catholic faith. The program, which costs $80 for one child, $130 for two children and $160 for three or more children, includes lunch and faith education.
Jason Lacoste, a director of religious education at St. Charles Borromeo, said the family-based approach grew out of discussions throughout the Archdiocese of New Orleans about new ways to provide religious education.
Unlike traditional CCD programs that primarily focus on children, Family Faith Formation recognizes parents as their children’s first teachers of the faith, Lacoste said.
“Family Faith not only helps to educate families, but also builds and strengthens our SCB community,” Lacoste said.
Jason and his wife, Lori, are longtime members of the church. They both stepped in as directors of religious education this year.
LIFT, or Learning in Faith Together, is held one Sunday each month. Families are encouraged to attend the parish’s 11 a.m. Mass before gathering for lunch around noon. Music plays in the gym while families eat and socialize, and family photos and multiple-choice questions from the previous lesson are displayed on a projection screen.
“We feel this is special and necessary when trying to find the best way to not only educate the small children of our faith community, but continuing to educate the parents as well,” Lacoste said.
At 12:45 p.m., children head to classrooms based on grade level while parents remain in the gym for an adult presentation. The program ends at 2 p.m.
Children can begin classroom instruction in kindergarten and continue through 10th grade. Childcare is offered for babies and Pre-K children during LIFT. Eleventh-graders preparing for Confirmation participate in a separate program but are also invited to attend LIFT.
Parents receive a guide and activity book designed to help families continue the lessons at home. Materials include activities, vocabulary words, prayers, saints of the month and monthly discussion questions that can be hung from a vehicle’s rearview mirror to encourage conversations throughout the month.
This year, the parish added another component called SOAR, or Seeking Our Awesome Redeemer. The once-a-month Monday night program is just for children and gives them additional classroom time with their catechists.
Lunch is also part of each LIFT Sunday and is typically provided by one of the parish’s ministries.
Beyond teaching Catholic doctrine, Lacoste said the program is intended to encourage children to see their faith as something that extends beyond religious education classes and receiving the sacraments.
“Our Catholic faith is to be lived out everywhere we are, not just in school,” he said. “The goal is not only to teach prayers, vocabulary words, and prepare children to receive their sacraments, but to show them that it does not end there.”
For Lacoste, that means teaching children that faith is something practiced in ordinary moments of everyday life.
“Religious education and receiving the sacraments are just the beginning of our faith journey,” he said. “We are called to be disciples of Christ everywhere we are, at the grocery store, in traffic, at work, everywhere.