Welcome to the Adult Ministry page! My name is Rich Harter, the Director of Adult and Family Ministry. My role is to provide the vision, leadership, and coordination for a wide variety of offerings that promote adult faith growth. I invite you to participate in our wonderful Adult Ministry Programs.

Staff Contact: Rich Harter, Director of Adult and Family Ministry (262) 781-3480.

Adult Ministry Vision Statement

The vision for Adult Ministry is driven by six core beliefs:

• We believe the Sunday Gospel and Eucharist provide the central focus for living our faith in our daily lives.

• We believe in building strong households of faith.

• We believe adults committed to learning and sharing their faith create strong households of faith.

• We believe growing in Catholic understanding is a lifelong process.

• We believe in forming the whole person, intellectually, spiritually, and relationally.

• We believe we are called to continuing conversion toward the words and ways of Jesus Christ.

Lifelong Faith Formation Opportunities

In keeping with these six core beliefs, we offer a wide array of faith formation opportunities. I hope you will take advantage of these offerings as your personal commitment to lifelong growth in faith. See the weekly bulletin for our current Adult Ministry programs.

Connecting the Gospel with your Daily Life

Please also see the weekly bulletin for my reflection, “The Gospel in Daily life,” and the corresponding “Adult and Family Discussion Question of the Week.”  These tools are specially designed to help individuals and households connect the Gospel with daily life and work.

Overview/Links for Adult Ministry Programs

• Becoming Catholic/RCIA

• Adult Confirmation

• Marriage Preparation

• Social Activities

• Lifelong Faith Formation Leadership

  • Adult and Family Ministry Team - Envisions, oversees, coordinates, and evaluates all Adult and Family Ministry programs in concert with the Director of Adult and Family Ministry.

  • Bear the Torch of Faith! - Current and potential parish leaders willing to become “Torchbearers” for the faith participate in the two-year Theology on the Mount Program at Mount Mary College. This program is a sequence of basic theological courses designed to train and empower parish leaders. For those willing to make the Torchbearer Commitment of participating in the entire program and committing to provide parish leadership upon completion, the parish will pay one-half of the $60 per class tuition. Past participants have found this experience to be helpful, interesting, and rewarding.

• Sacramental Faith Formation

  • Marriage Sponsor Couples - Parish couples prepare engaged couples for marriage through a series of five sessions on key topics related to marriage and family from a Catholic perspective.

  • Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) Teams - Parish members act as catechists and sponsors, walking with candidates and catechumens through the various stages of the RCIA journey.

  • Adult Confirmation - A collaborative program with area parishes designed to prepare Catholic adults, who have already received Baptism and Eucharist, for the Sacrament of Confirmation.

• Intellectual Faith Formation - Theological and Biblical

  • Catholic 101 - An occasional offering introducing participants to the basic precepts of Catholicism.

  • Donut Discussions - Occasional sessions on Sunday mornings after the 9:00 A.M. Mass featuring speakers connecting their faith with their daily lives.

  • Adult Formation Library - Located in the Parish Center, this library features a variety of books on a variety of topics, available for checkout, to foster the faith growth of parish members.

  • Theology on the Mount - A series of courses offered in conjunction with Mount Mary College to form members in the faith, and empower them for parish leadership roles.

  • Book Club - Parish members gather every 6-8 weeks to discuss a spiritual book.

  • Theology on Tap - A weekly program for 4 weeks in the summer specifically designed to address the spiritual questions and needs of Young Adults (18-35).

  • Scripture From Scratch - An eight-week video-based series introducing participants to various parts of the bible.

  • Quad Metro Bible Study - A 24 week in-depth study of a particular book of the bible on Wednesday evenings and Thursday mornings.

  • Fall Scripture Series - A yearly program on a particular scripture topic sponsored by the area Quad Parishes.

• Relational Faith Formation -  Support Groups

  • Harry Hawthorne 40 Plus - A support group for the unemployed over the age of 40.

  • Divorce Recovery Program - A six-session program offered twice a year.

  • Quad Single Again - Sponsored by area parishes and located at St. John Vianney, this group for those recently divorced meets twice a month to discuss topics of importance to participants.

  • Social Singles Network - Singles in their 40s and 50s gather together for social, service and worship.

• Spiritual Faith Formation

  • Advent and Lent Fairs - After all the Masses on the weekend before Advent and Lent begin. These special opportunities provide adults and families with a wide variety of resources for entering into the true meaning of these holy seasons.

  • Scripture Faith Sharing - This group meets every other Wednesday morning at 9:15 A.M. to reflect on the Sunday Gospels.

  • Quad Date Your Mate - A series of four Friday evening sessions at 7:00 P.M. designed to provide marriage enrichment and support.

  • Ministry of Mothers Sharing (MOMS) - Moms gather on Monday or Tuesday morning twice a month from 9:15-10:45 A.M. for mutual support and spiritual growth.

  • Quad Men’s Group - Men from area parishes gather on Saturday morning from 7:00-9:00 P.M. to reflect on the Sunday Gospel.

  • Quad Men’s Retreat - Men from area parishes go on retreat at the Jesuit Retreat House in Oshkosh on the third weekend in January.

  • Lenten E-Mail Retreat - An online retreat during Lent featuring brief daily reflections and prayers in keeping with the Lenten season.

• Web Sites for Building Faith