Noting a faith formation gap for families between the baptism of their children to six years of age, Alan and Joanne Foley of St. Peter in Richfield developed Early Catholic Family Life, which can be offered by parishes.
In the nonprofit program, the Foleys train parish volunteers to offer eight, two-hour classes with fun, faith-based activities in the first hour that can be presented weekly, monthly, on weekdays or weekends. That is followed by an hour for the children to play without their parents present, while the adults meet to talk about their faith and build supportive relationships within the parish.
The next training sessions for offering the classes are July 13, Aug. 10, Aug. 20 and Nov. 19, the Foleys told “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley for an episode debuting 9 p.m. July 1 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
“For parents, they’re just getting started with family life, and we assist them in sort of bringing faith into that early family time,” said Joanne Foley. “We talk a lot about building faith-based traditions to bring an awareness of God into their daily lives.”
To learn more about the benefits of ECFL, and how to get a program started in a parish, tune into the full episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which also repeats at 1 p.m. July 2 and 2 p.m. July 3. The website for ECFL is earlycatholicfamilylife.org.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with Father John Echert about religious freedom in the U.S., and a talk with Katie Anderson, communications coordinator at St. Michael and St. Mary in Stillwater, with Will Peterson of Modern Catholic Pilgrimage, who describe a pilgrimage taking place in the archdiocese in honor of Blessed Solanus Casey’s feast day July 30.
Listen to their interviews after they have aired:
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