Episode 073 – Reimagining Faith Formation: Teach the Parents, Too with Patrick Donovan

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"Teach my children the prayers, but teach me how to pray." That is what parents in the Diocese of Bridgeport told their Church.

Every parish says it wants to innovate, and then the first real change meets resistance. Dr. Patrick Donovan, director of the Institute for Catholic Formation for the Diocese of Bridgeport, has spent eleven years helping Bishop Frank Caggiano try new things. He explains why innovation makes good, faithful people nervous: people don't hate change, they hate being asked to change, especially when it sounds like their years of volunteer work have failed.

Patrick shares what the diocese learned from surveying about 15,000 parents. Parents want to pray and talk about their faith, but they lack the language to do it. He walks through the "womb to tomb" renewal process now starting in 75 parishes, the case for short, bite-sized formation people can take anywhere, and how the bishop's animated series, daily prayer texts and careful use of AI are reaching families where they are.

In This Episode

• 0:00 Cold open: "family formation" as a hostage situation
• 0:54 Welcome and introduction
• 2:31 Meet Patrick Donovan
• 5:42 Why innovation makes the Church nervous
• 15:03 How Bishop Caggiano recruited him
• 17:54 A "womb to tomb" parish renewal process
• 23:01 What 15,000 parents said: "Teach me how to pray"
• 26:04 Bite-sized formation and a school without walls
• 32:13 Bishop Frank Teaches the Faith, an animated series
• 40:00 Using AI responsibly
• 48:04 What gives Patrick hope

Key Takeaways

• People don't hate change; they hate being made to change. Name the problem as "we," accompany long-serving volunteers, and soften the language without softening the goal.
• Teach the adults. For decades parents did what the Church asked: drop the kids off. Every catechetical document says to form the adults too.
• Give parents the language. Most parents want to share their faith; they were never given the words. Formation that ends at confirmation leaves them unfinished.
• Listen before you plan. Bridgeport spends four months listening to parents, catechists and young people before planning anything, and keeps the DRE as an observer so people speak freely.
• Make formation bite-sized. Three- to fifteen-minute pieces people can watch on the train or at soccer practice reach more people than a 90-minute session.
• Let the method serve the content. Used responsibly, AI and animation can extend the Church's reach; used carelessly, they replace the formation they were meant to support.

About Patrick Donovan

Dr. Patrick Donovan is the director of the Institute for Catholic Formation for the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he has served for eleven years at the invitation of Bishop Frank Caggiano. He previously served in youth and young adult ministry in the Diocese of Wilmington and in youth ministry in the Diocese of Knoxville, and he served on the board of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry. He holds a doctorate in theology and teaches at Sacred Heart University.

Resources Mentioned

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• Formation Reimagined, the Institute for Catholic Formation, including the LEAD platform and the Catequizem app
• Start with Sunday, home of Bishop Frank Teaches the Faith
• The Face of Prayer: text PRAY to 55778 for a daily prayer from Bishop Caggiano
• First Witnesses
• Ron Rolheiser, The Holy Longing (affiliate link)
• Episode 072: What Parents Really Want From Youth Ministry with Robert Feduccia

Connect with Patrick

• Formation Reimagined
• Start with Sunday

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Recorded on Riverside (affiliate link).

The Church Podcast is produced by Marathon Youth Ministry and Stephen Herrera of Be Well Creative.

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