Program Resources

Kitchen Table Gospel Family Menu

There is no doubt that the first catechists in children's lives are the parents. Recently, there has been a movement to formalize the catechetical ministry of parents. There has been more and more emphasis on what has come to be called "Family Catechesis."

Family life is messy. No two families are alike. The forms and manifestations of family make it necessary for parishes interested in family catechesis to take a new approach—an approach that draws on family life the way it is actually lived.

That is where the Kitchen Table Gospel comes in. The Kitchen Table Gospel is a program, a service, and a process for reestablishing warm, rich Catholic family traditions in your parish. It does this by helping to mobilize the families with children in the parish to make it happen. The Kitchen Table Gospel is a parish program. In the simplest form, that means the program comes from the parish into the home and flows back again.

Overview

The Kitchen Table is the place where hurts are healed, where tears are shed, where laughter is shared, where homework is done, where check books are balanced. It's the place where laundry is folded and coffee is spilled. Here, amid baseball cards, notes from the teacher, half eaten tuna sandwiches and pieces of broken toys, families recognize Jesus in their lives, and here is the foundation of Benziger's Kitchen Table Gospel: a program, a service, and a process for establishing warm, rich Catholic family traditions in your parish.

The Process

The Kitchen Table Gospelhappens in four seasons:

Waiting/Christmas: The "Waiting/Christmas" materials help the family go with the cultural flow of the season and capitalize on all the publicity the Gospel gets. In this busy and happy season, the family group takes extra time to make sure that the traditions and rituals are joined with some real reflection on the hopes and longings of all God's people—waiting for the reign of God, for freedom, and for justice.

Springtime/Easter: During the crusty gray days before the first robin, the Church asks everybody to celebrate Lent—a time of personal renewal, conversion, and community. In most families, Lent seems to take on the same grayness that hovers right outside the window. The Kitchen Table Gospel takes a different tack. The activities and conversations of "Springtime/Easter" are meant to push family life up a notch—to turn Lenten days into festival days of family love and reconciliation. The traditions, lessons, and rituals of Lent and Easter take on new sparkle, and they become a permanent part of family life.

Summer Vacation: Activity at the parish usually slows down during the summer—leaving the distinct impression that somehow sharing faith and proclaiming the Gospel are a little less important come June, July, and August. The Kitchen Table Gospel demonstrates that summer vacation is a perfect time for family catechesis. The extra daylight and more leisurely pace of summer are ideal for families to discover the love of Jesus all around—in nature, in people, on outings, and at barbecues.

Fall Festival: The Kitchen Table Gospel looks to fall as a time for families to get back into the school-year groove. Formal religious instruction picks up again, and family catechesis takes on the glow of chilly evenings and falling leaves. God's Word seems fulfilled in fall. The activities and experiences of the "Fall Festival" help build lasting rituals and expectations for this time of the year.

Summary

The Kitchen Table Gospel is, above all, an adventure. During the course of this adventure, the program will supply you with tons of ideas, Scripture study, prayers, spur-of-the-moment lessons, conversations, games, celebrations, and rituals. But the best way to get started with the Kitchen Table Gospel is to get started. Before you know it, you will be reaping the benefits of the Kitchen Table Gospel. Family catechesis will be happening. You will be getting more out of the religious education curriculum you have invested in. And, most of all, you will be helping your family bring the traditions of the faith to life at home. Your family will discover that God is always in their midst and that everything they do relates to God in some way. The World Wide Web provides a unique opportunity for family catechesis. Benziger is happy to provide Kitchen Table Gospel as a service that can go right into the home.

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