EXCERPT: What can we do about the perception that Catholicism is for kids? For too long we have sent that message by design. We established the largest private school system in history, and even where schools declined or were not built we’ve made school age kids our number one educational priority despite Vatican policies to the contrary. We've even transformed Confirmation into the Catholic equivalent of graduation. The result? Millions of adults aged 20 to 60+ walking their life journey equipped with only a teenager's faith. Is it any wonder they find Catholic faith deficient? It is!
This is not Never-Neverland. We all grow up sometime, and so must our faith. When John-Paul II called for the Church to be an “expert on humanity” he did not mean an expert on childhood.
What can we do?
We can brand a grownup Catholicism where adult baptism (not teen confirmation) is the standard, and where people seek the kind of "faith-fitness" that comes from regular workouts.
I write CrossCurrents, for example, precisely to confront readers with a faith-view of current events that can stretch people’s thinking and build a more mature and muscular faith. Religious education curricula like "Generations of Faith” also flex adult faith, as do ministries like "Theology on Tap."
These are ready resources to firm up a flabby faith, so others begin to admire how strong and fit Catholicism is to face current challenges. Such rebranding can make the Church appear a source of wisdom rather than mere childish storytelling.
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