With summer programs faith formation becomes year-round activity

Published: 2006-06-28

METUCHEN, N.J. (CNS) -- Summer means more than a break from schoolwork for many children; it usually also means a break from religious education. Many parishes fill the void with optional programs that help children strengthen their faith lives while still leaving time for all the other activities that occupy young minds between June and September. Many adults are familiar with vacation Bible schools, but there is now a popular alternative in several parishes of the Metuchen Diocese. The program provides the religious education that typically occurs over the course of a school year into a two-week summer program. Such summer programs "have been building," said Mary Kay Cullinan, director of the diocesan Office of Religious Education. "They start with one or two grades with families that are very involved and add a grade from year to year."

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