Faith formation classes give adults more education

North Little Rock instructor volunteers countless hours to teach the laity

Published: May 23, 2016

By Aprille Hanson
Associate Editor

Aprille Hanson

Debbie McCollough (with microphone) answers a question during her catechism adult faith formation class May 10 at St. Anne Church in North Little Rock. Others pictured are Fran Cook (left), June Parsley, Ramona Bourdo and Jean Zehler, all parishioners at Immaculate Conception Church in North Little Rock.

Aprille Hanson

Asking what does Catholic adult faith formation and the story of “Frankenstein” have in common sounds like the set-up to a joke, but not to Debbie McCollough.

“As I was studying ‘Frankenstein’ last night,” McCollough said on May 10 to her Catechism of the Catholic Church class at St. Anne Church in North Little Rock, launching into a thought about an coming adult faith formation class that will be focused on literature.

Though the book is not Catholic nor is the author, McCollough explained, “It’s an amazing piece of literature that people have no idea about. It’s often misunderstood and misrepresented; it teaches amazing Catholic truths. I don’t want to give away too many hints. I want them all to feel the shock when we get into it. It’s so powerful.”

Faith formation is far from scary and doesn’t create a monster, but with the concept of pulling together and learning various aspects of the Catholic faith in order to build a renewed person in the spirit of Christ, the frightening tale isn’t so far off base.

“Many times adult Catholics are running on a seventh-grade education in their religion. ... To try to function in your faith in that low understanding of your faith, you really aren’t getting all the Church has to offer.” Debbie McCollough

“If you had asked me three years ago about what books we’ll be studying, ‘Frankenstein’ would not have been one of them,” said June Parsley, with laughter from the more than 20 other adults who were waiting to learn more about the catechism.

It’s a class they’ve been going to for several months, as it’s a nine-month course, meeting Tuesdays from 9 to 11 a.m. To get through all the mysteries that the catechism holds, it’s a four-year course, said McCollough, who began teaching adult faith formation classes at Immaculate Conception Church in North Little Rock in the spring of 2012.

“I taught ‘The Discernment of Spirits’ (‘An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living’) by Timothy Gallagher,” she said. “It put a whole different spin on how to live your Christian life.”

Since then, a spiritual snowball has been rolling fast, collecting more people along the way. In the past nine months, about 10 adult faith formation classes, many led by McCollough, were taking place at Immaculate Conception, St. Anne and St. Jude the Apostle Church in Jacksonville. The topics include biblical roots of the Mass, discernment of the spirits, catechism, prayer and transformation in Christ. This summer, McCollough will start classes on the catechism and a history on the life and times of Martin Luther at St. Joseph Church in Conway. In the fall, Immaculate Heart of Mary in North Little Rock (Marche) will host a discernment of spirits course.

“Many times adult Catholics are running on a seventh-grade education in their religion. Many times after confirmation, people don’t do much else, that was it,” McCollough said. “To try to function in your faith in that low understanding of your faith, you really aren’t getting all the Church has to offer.”

Though Joseph de Prez, a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, has had solid faith formation his whole life after going to a Jesuit school and now as a lay member of the Carmelites, he and his wife still find the catechism class enlightening.

“You can never learn enough about Jesus,” he said, adding, “I think in today’s culture, those that don’t know their faith can’t” defend themselves against attacks.

McCollough, 60, is a convert, single and once taught at the former St. Mary School in North Little Rock. She now provides live-in care for her mother, allowing her to forgo a job to volunteer for the Church and helping to train service/therapy dogs, which she brings to some of the formation classes to get them acclimated to people. Between classes, leading individual spiritual direction and daily Mass, she is busy six days a week, with Saturdays as her day of rest.

“As an adult you’ve had experiences, you’ve had life experiences. You experience a real deep need for God,” McCollough said. “What we do in adult faith formation, we go into a deeper theology than a teenager can understand … In discernment of spirits you have to learn how to identify the movements in your soul. Pray in a deep way in silence. Even for adults it’s really hard. God speaks to our soul through our emotions, through movements in our spirit.”

For Parsley, who started coming to a discernment of the spirits class at Immaculate Conception after her twin sister Jean Zehler invited her, the class was a gateway to her new life in the Church.

“Five years ago, I would have told you I’ll never be Catholic,” Parsley said. “It was a life-changing course for me … Either you’re moving toward God or away. I wanted to be one of those people moving toward God.”

She and her husband Jim joined the Church May 3, 2015. This past year, Parsley and others taught a class at St. Jude.

“I think it’s important because even in your personal and work life, you’re a continual learner,” she said. “It’s the same with faith life too.”

McCollough said most of the classes require just a book or reading material, and there is never homework or reading ahead. All the work is done in class. She said the most important parts of adult faith formation include learning to pray on an adult level, Church history and building up a faith community.

“Without a faith community where people can express their own doubts, things they’re dealing with … it wouldn’t be possible. The experience of going through all this together makes a world of difference,” she said.

Though McCollough said she enjoys teaching, she’s always ready and willing to pass the opportunity onto others.

“It may be that God is calling them to work with the poor more or other ministries in the parish or assist adults” with faith formation, she said. “God’s always calling us. (Faith formation) helps them be responsible for their parish. This is our parish too. Not just the priest.”