A Word From ...
Fr. Jon Vander Ploeg,
the Current Pastor at the Church of Saint Paul
When I was assigned as pastor to the Church of Saint Paul in 2004, I was immediately impressed with the Family Formation program. Two things struck me very clearly:
- The first was how well the children knew their Faith and how much they enjoyed learning it. They could recite the names of the books of the Bible and had a good understanding of Scripture and Church teaching. They knew the color of vestments that should be worn during certain seasons because of activities they had completed in the program.
- The second thing that struck me was the comments I heard in ordinary conversations with parents. Many of them would tell me how much they had learned about their Faith through Family Formation. The teaching of the Faith to their children, and praying as a family through the lessons and activities in the program, had a deep impact on the life of the parents and the entire family. This, in turn, began to spread to others in the parish as more and more families were invited to learn and live their faith more deeply.
Coming into a parish as a pastor where Family Formation is established has been a great gift. I believe the program has been instrumental in forming not only the children of the parish, but also the parents. With families who are solidly formed in the Faith, they are eager to grow even deeper in the Truth found in Scripture and Church teaching. As a result, the parish as a whole is strengthened.
Fr. Jon Vander Ploeg
Pastor of the Church of Saint Paul
