ARTICLES

At Sacred Heart, Norfolk
‘The Gathering at the Table’ offered

By Sandy Grecco
Of The Catholic Virginian

Every six months families of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in the Ghent Historic District of Norfolk gather to study, reflect, and share a really good meal.

It’s known as “The Gathering at The Table,” and it has become a welcome way of bringing families together for an intergenerational whole community catechesis.

“Our hope was adults would want to come back in the church for a catechesis program if it was offered in a family-type setting,” said Tom Bosse, chairman of the Christian Formation committee.

Four years ago Father Daniel Klem, pastor, and the Christian Formation committee began looking for a format that they assumed existed elsewhere.

They visited several parishes, participated in their programs, and searched for things that would fit with Sacred Heart’s community.

They decided to model their gathering on “The Feast,” a program at St. Gabriel’s in Chesterfield that at the time was drawing 300-400 people over a two-night period each month.

“They are much larger, so we just scaled back on their idea,” said Tom Bosse. “We offer our program twice a year, and it has turned out to be a nice rhythm for us.”

In February 2006, Sacred Heart held “The Gathering at The Table” program for the first time, using the season of Lent to launch their first topic.

Since that time, they have presented programs every February and September and have included topics like “an in-depth understanding of The Creed” and “a two-part study of the seven Sacraments.” This month’s program was entitled “God the Father/God the Creator,” and is the first of a three-part series on the Holy Trinity.

Close to 150 people of Sacred Heart’s 650 parishioners attended this program on Sunday evening, and another 50 came out for the Wednesday night version.

The program is offered twice in an effort to make it as convenient as possible for people to attend.

One of the goals of the program is to build intergenerational fellowship within the parish. So after an opening prayer, the entire assembly sits down for a free home-cooked meal of pasta, salad, and bread served family style.

After dinner children leave to go to other rooms where they participate in similarly-themed programs designed for their particular age groups (k-2, 3-5, and middle school). This particular evening, the younger children left thumbprints in paint on a ceramic platter that told the Creation story.

The artwork will then be auctioned off during the parish’s wine festival and silent auction in October.

High school students stay and participate in the adult discussion.

“Our students appreciate being in the adult setting,” said Mark Moses, a high school catechist. “And this was an important discussion for them tonight because their initial images of God are still forming.”

In the main room, the adults move to numbered tables with a “group discussion facilitator.”

The program then begins with an introduction of the topic, followed by an opportunity for everyone at the table to share their initial thoughts. For this program everyone was asked to describe or draw their image of God.

Amy Woods is Sacred Heart’s Youth Minister. With a background in education and an undergraduate degree in writing curriculums, she is the one responsible for pulling it all together.

Topics are typically chosen, revised, and elaborated upon in committee. Amy then begins to write and rewrite, right up until a rehearsal of the program several nights before.

“We’ve discovered it’s important to engage people by starting each program with them sharing a personal experience,” she said. “We’ll then look at it from the church’s perspective and through Scripture, and then wrap it up with more personal experiences.

“This way people are faith sharing too, and this doesn’t become just a lecture series,” she explained.

A year ago round tables were purchased in an effort to facilitate even stronger conversation.

“This guy down here,” said Eloise Morton, pointing to one end of an imaginary table, “otherwise didn’t know who this guy down here was.”

A member of the parish since 1963, Eloise is one of about a dozen people currently on the Christian Formation committee, and one of the more than three dozen volunteers needed to help make this happen.

“‘The Gathering at the Table’ has enabled our parish to begin the process of faith sharing and building community on a deeper level,” Father Klem said.

back to top »