Role of the ministry
GIFT means Growing In Faith Together. The focus of this ministry is on adult faith formation. Members come together once a week to deep and grow in their understanding of the bible and the doctrines of the Church in an environment that allow each individual to to know and experience God.
What is Adult Faith Formation?
The Church’s catechetical mission aims to help the faithful of all ages to grow in both human and Christian maturity, enriching the whole of life with the leaven of the Gospel. Consequently, appropriate goals and content will embrace all the faith dimensions of an adult life — for example, understanding and communicating the faith, skills needed for personal growth, the experience of family life, relationships, public service, and concern for the common good.
GIFT engages the particular needs and interests of the adults in our parish community. To be faithful and effective it will offer, over time, a comprehensive and systematic presentation and exploration of the core elements of Catholic faith and practice — a complete initiation into a Catholic way of life. It will do so in a way that is accessible to adults and relates to their life experiences, helping them to form a Christian conscience and to live their lives in the world as faithful disciples of Jesus.
This integration of actual life experience, diverse adult learning needs, the study of Scripture, and the teaching of the Church’s tradition will create a vibrant learning environment. It will also challenge the creativity of those who establish the direction, plan the content, and provide programs of adult faith formation. Meeting the challenge will be both demanding and rewarding. For guidance, we offer the following goals, principles, content, and approaches.
Why you should join GIFT?
As adult believers, we learn and live our faith as active members of the Church. Our response to God’s call to community “cannot remain abstract and unincarnated,” but rather, “reveals itself concretely by a visible entry into a community of believers . . . a community which itself is a sign of transformation, a sign of newness of life: it is the Church, the visible sacrament of salvation.” People find this community of faith in the parish and diocese, as well as in their families, small church communities, personal relationships, faith-based associations, and in the communion of saints of all times and places.
Accordingly, faith formation helps you make “a conscious and firm decision to live the gift and choice of faith through membership in the Christian community,” accepting “co-responsibility for the community’s mission and internal life.” You not only receive the ministries of the Christian community, you also contribute to its life and mission through the generous stewardship of their gifts.