Adult Spiritual and Faith Formation
The Diocese of San Jose has an Adult Spirituality and Faith Formation Focus Group. The mission of the group is to deliver formation processes and resources to parish ministerial leaders to help adults deepen their ongoing conversion to Christ.
The members of the group are comprised of adult faith and spiritual formation leaders of the Diocese of San Jose. Membership is open to those who are interested. Currently the following are members:
Joy Aspenall, St. Martin of Tours
Br. Bill Bolts. S.M., Marianist Center
Andrea Giovannoni, Diocese of San Jose, Associate Social Ministries
Rose Higashi, St. Mary, Los Gatos
Janice LaMotte, St. Joseph of Cupertino
Rosemarie Peoples, St. Catherine
Janet Perruca-Kleinhofer, Bellarmine College Preparatory
Nancy Royal, Church of the Resurrection and St. Clare
Wendy Scherbart, Diocese of San Jose, Director, Catechetical Ministry
Sr. Rebecca Shinas, St. Simon
Sr. Eloise Rosenblatt, theologian
Sr. Patricia Galli, spiritual director
Resources for Adult Spirituality and Faith Formation
Recommended Websites:
Janet Schaeffler, OP ...Faith Formation Matters...
GEMS- Great Endeavors Mined & Shared
These newsletters are brought to you by a small group of people who
have been involved in ministry, especially adult faith formation ministry, for
years. The convener/facilitator of this group and principal author of the
newsletters, Janet Schaeffler, OP, has been deeply involved in adult faith
formation since 1971 as a coordinator in parishes and as an archdiocesan
director of adult faith formation, as well as author, national presenter,
facilitator, consultant and one of the authors of the Leader’s Guide of Our
Hearts Were Burning Within Us. The members of the committee are longstanding
pastoral ministers and experts in adult faith formation in parishes,
universities, and business.
Adult Spirituality and Faith Formation Publicity Plan and Marketing Strategies
Here are some strategies recommended by the Adult Spirituality and Faith Formation Focus Group and the diocesan Department of Communication:
- Target your audiences for publicity, it is important to discern who the workshop or gathering is for.
- Parents will come for their children, provide Adult Spiritual and Faith Formation that helps parents pass on their faith to their children.
- Put the Valley Catholic banner on your parish website, so parishioners can easily access the Valley Catholic for Adult Faith Formation
- Encourage collaboration between parish school and parish by advertising in school newsletter the parish AFF opportunities
- Choose common experiences for the Adult Spiritual and Faith Formation opportunities: for example: Mom’s Ministry
- The elderly prefer an afternoon or morning rather than evening for AFF.
- Family movements like Focolare and Communion and Liberation have engaged participants
- Provide hospitality (food)
- Annual events should use the same logo, don’t need to depend upon a lot of text, people will recognize the event by the logo
- Suggested timetable for marketing: 2-3 months in advance- Save the date, with registration available online
One month ahead- add to upcoming events, 2 weeks ahead- reminder to register - Fan page on Facebook, create account, create fan page under accounts, link with DSJ fan pages to parish website, especially for youth and young adults, email contacts link