Home Life is way for faithful to nurture faith in their homes
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
By Rose O’Connor | Correspondent
In the gathering space in St. Gregory the Great Church, there is a Home Life alcove located near the baptistery. In the alcove are shelves containing informative pamphlets that address the challenges and trials that surround family life. Topics are geared for engaged couples, marriage preparation, getting ready to welcome a child, addiction issues and, for parents, dealing with the empty nest syndrome.
But the Home Life program in the Hamilton Square parish is much more than pamphlets, as Father Ian Trammell, pastor, explained in a letter to parishioners on the parish website.
“While the Home Life ministry of St. Gregory the Great Parish does aim to strengthen the Sacrament of Marriage and empower families to pass on the faith to children, it is not limited to this goal alone. Home Life is designed with married people, separated and divorced people, single people, and even consecrated religious and clergy in mind! This campaign is designed to help any and all disciples of Christ to grow in friendship with the Lord and in service to all those whom we encounter,” stated Father Trammell.
The Home Life Ministry began in St. Gregory the Great in 2010 and was instituted to strengthen marriages and provide parishioners the tools needed to help families become stronger and healthier.
For spouses, ideas are offered on how to communicate more lovingly and effectively with one another, children and extended family members. There are tools on how to rekindle the romance for couples and suggestions on how to nurture faith at home as a family.
As one of the Home Life point persons, Mary Ann Isaac, explained the program “originated from the evangelical mega-churches, and we took the ideas and brainstormed how we could challenge our congregation.”
The Home Life Ministry has sponsored the campaigns that are all designed to create “an intentional, faith-filled family at all stages of life,” she offered.
Isaac stressed, “The Home Life challenges are a concentrated focus on the relationship with your spouse and the couple with their children. The seeds of faith are planted at home.”
Since its inception, the Home Life Ministry has sponsored campaigns including: IT STARTS@HOME; 7-5-2 PRAYER CAMPAIGN; SUMMER@HOME; FAITHFULLY CATHOLIC@HOME, and MEALS@HOME.
In the past, campaigns such as “MEALS@HOME” included placemats with conversation starters with the intent to bring families closer together at dinner.
“It was a real challenge,” Isaac admitted to implementing a campaign. “We are all so incredibly busy so it takes a real effort. We challenged them to turn all devices off so that there were no distractions.”
On the Home Life home page of the parish website, Father Trammell noted how the “SERVING TOGETHER” campaign reflects the call to discipleship.
“Jesus Christ calls us to follow him by imitating his model of service and by heeding his command to love. The first goal of this campaign is to help you to grow in discipleship. This new campaign is about service. Service is about giving, of our time, of our attention, of the words we say, of the things we own, of our very selves. This is not something that happens naturally or without planning. This campaign is designed to help you to be more ‘intentional’ about your commitment to service and to discipleship,” stated Father Trammell.
The Home Life Ministry employs the use of multimedia to provide additional resources, updates and information for those parishioners who participate in the campaigns throughout the year.
The Home Life Ministry section of the St. Gregory the Great website includes videos, blogs, podcasts and additional resources for families who participate in the programs.
While the ministry cannot determine how many families truly participate in each challenge at home, Isaac is pleased with the feedback the parish has received on the campaigns and acknowledges about “1000 families enroll and receive information for the different campaigns.”
For more information on the Home Life program, visit www.stgregorythegreatchurch.org or contact Mary Ann Isaac at 609-587-1131, ext.224 or email: [email protected].
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By Rose O’Connor | Correspondent
In the gathering space in St. Gregory the Great Church, there is a Home Life alcove located near the baptistery. In the alcove are shelves containing informative pamphlets that address the challenges and trials that surround family life. Topics are geared for engaged couples, marriage preparation, getting ready to welcome a child, addiction issues and, for parents, dealing with the empty nest syndrome.
But the Home Life program in the Hamilton Square parish is much more than pamphlets, as Father Ian Trammell, pastor, explained in a letter to parishioners on the parish website.
“While the Home Life ministry of St. Gregory the Great Parish does aim to strengthen the Sacrament of Marriage and empower families to pass on the faith to children, it is not limited to this goal alone. Home Life is designed with married people, separated and divorced people, single people, and even consecrated religious and clergy in mind! This campaign is designed to help any and all disciples of Christ to grow in friendship with the Lord and in service to all those whom we encounter,” stated Father Trammell.
The Home Life Ministry began in St. Gregory the Great in 2010 and was instituted to strengthen marriages and provide parishioners the tools needed to help families become stronger and healthier.
For spouses, ideas are offered on how to communicate more lovingly and effectively with one another, children and extended family members. There are tools on how to rekindle the romance for couples and suggestions on how to nurture faith at home as a family.
As one of the Home Life point persons, Mary Ann Isaac, explained the program “originated from the evangelical mega-churches, and we took the ideas and brainstormed how we could challenge our congregation.”
The Home Life Ministry has sponsored the campaigns that are all designed to create “an intentional, faith-filled family at all stages of life,” she offered.
Isaac stressed, “The Home Life challenges are a concentrated focus on the relationship with your spouse and the couple with their children. The seeds of faith are planted at home.”
Since its inception, the Home Life Ministry has sponsored campaigns including: IT STARTS@HOME; 7-5-2 PRAYER CAMPAIGN; SUMMER@HOME; FAITHFULLY CATHOLIC@HOME, and MEALS@HOME.
In the past, campaigns such as “MEALS@HOME” included placemats with conversation starters with the intent to bring families closer together at dinner.
“It was a real challenge,” Isaac admitted to implementing a campaign. “We are all so incredibly busy so it takes a real effort. We challenged them to turn all devices off so that there were no distractions.”
On the Home Life home page of the parish website, Father Trammell noted how the “SERVING TOGETHER” campaign reflects the call to discipleship.
“Jesus Christ calls us to follow him by imitating his model of service and by heeding his command to love. The first goal of this campaign is to help you to grow in discipleship. This new campaign is about service. Service is about giving, of our time, of our attention, of the words we say, of the things we own, of our very selves. This is not something that happens naturally or without planning. This campaign is designed to help you to be more ‘intentional’ about your commitment to service and to discipleship,” stated Father Trammell.
The Home Life Ministry employs the use of multimedia to provide additional resources, updates and information for those parishioners who participate in the campaigns throughout the year.
The Home Life Ministry section of the St. Gregory the Great website includes videos, blogs, podcasts and additional resources for families who participate in the programs.
While the ministry cannot determine how many families truly participate in each challenge at home, Isaac is pleased with the feedback the parish has received on the campaigns and acknowledges about “1000 families enroll and receive information for the different campaigns.”
For more information on the Home Life program, visit www.stgregorythegreatchurch.org or contact Mary Ann Isaac at 609-587-1131, ext.224 or email: [email protected].
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