Faith Formation fosters ongoing lifelong learning and has the following tasks: promote knowledge of the faith; understanding the meaning of liturgical and sacramental life; promote moral formation in Christ; teach Christians how to pray; foster a life of service in community; and cultivate an evangelizing and missionary spirit. Our goal at St. John Neumann is to nurture and enliven a mature faith in which we live in discipleship with Christ and his Church, and which we live out in our families, in the workplace, in the community and in the world. We offer intergenerational activities to engage the whole family and we also encourage parental involvement in all aspects of our parish school of religion.

Our approach is to create a faith formation network that addresses the diverse tasks & situations, spiritual, religious & cultural needs, & interests of adults in the church by offering a variety of content topics & learning activities out of which adults can develop their own personalized learning pathway. We utilize a variety of learning models to address this, incorporating both face-to-face, interactive learning activities & virtual, online learning activities.

Director of Faith Formation: Catherine Combier-Donovan, 803.788.3252, ext. 326

The Church has always considered catechesis one of her primary tasks

 . . . the name of catechesis was given to the whole of the efforts within the Church to make disciples, to help people to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, so that believing they might have life in his name and to educate and instruct them in this life and thus build up the Body of Christ. (Catechesi tradendae, #1)

At St. John Neumann we believe that forming disciples is a lifelong process – the more you know, the more you can love God through liturgy, daily life, and within each other. We also believe that parents are the primary educators of their children and work to support families in their mission. We offer intergenerational activities to engage the whole family and encourage parental involvement in all aspects of our parish school of religion.

Pope Francis and the Bishops remind us that Parents are the primary catechists of their children. We are taking a family-centered approach where parents & children work together alternating between in-person and at-home sessions. Sacramental preparation will occur on alternate Sundays.

Our goal as a parish is to partner with parents in the building of Households of Faith through a wide range of opportunities and to make disciples.