Family-Centered Faith Formation

"Believing parents, with their daily example of life, have the most effective capacity to transmit the beauty of the Christian faith to their children… The greatest challenge in this situation is for couples, mothers and fathers, active participants in catechesis, to overcome the mentality of delegation that is so common, according to which the faith is set aside for specialists in religious education."

- Directory for Catechesis, no. 124

Recognizing the irreplacable role parents play in the spiritual and religious formation of their children, many parishes are integrating family-based formation methods in their religious education programs.

In 2024 the Office of Catechesis produced "An Overview of Family-Centered Catechesis," a white paper defining family catechesis and offering potential models for pastorates to consider.

• Christ Our Life Family Catechesis (Loyola Press)
• A Family of Faith (Sophia Institute)
• Family Formation (FamilyFormation.net)
• Strong Catholic Families, Strong Catholic Youth (NFCYM)

• The Catholic Catalogue: A Field Guide to the Daily Acts That Make Up a Catholic Life by Melissa Musick and Anna Keating (Image, 2016)
• A Catholic Parent’s Tool Box; Raising Healthy Families in the 21st Century by Joseph D. White, PhD. (Our Sunday Visitor, 2014)
• “De-Romanticizing the Domestic Church: The Liturgical-Sacrament Vocation of the Christian Family” by Dr. Timothy O'Malley in Renewing Catholic Family Life: Experts Explore New Directions in Family Spirituality and Family Ministry (Our Sunday Visitor, 2020)
• Evangelizing the Parking Lot Parent: A Catechist’s Guide to “Casual-Catechesis” for Families by Sr. Patricia M. McCormack, IHM (Twenty-Third Publications, 2021)
• Family, the Church, and the Real World (Ligouri, 2015)
• Handing Down the Faith: How Parents Pass Their Religion on to the Next Generation by Christian Smith and Amy Adamczyk (Oxford University Press, 2021)
• Keep Your Kids Catholic: Sharing Your Faith and Making It Stick by Marc Cardaronella (Ave Maria Press, 2016)
• "A Report on American Catholic Religious Parenting" by Justin Bartkus and Christian Smith (University of Notre Dame, 2017)
• "The Spiritual Life: A Eucharistic Spirituality for the Family" by Owen Vyner (The Catechetical Review, April-June 2018)
• Sticky Faith: Everyday Ideas to Build Lasting Faith in Your Kids by Kara E. Powell (Zondervan, 2011)
• The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place by Andy Crouch (Baker Academic, 2017)
• Where Two or Three Are Gathered: Christian Families As Domestic Churches by Florence Coffrey Bourg (University of Notre Dame Press, 2004)