(Jeff Kurowski | On Mission)
Dominican approach used this year in young men’s group at St. Therese
By Jeff Kurowski | On Mission
APPLETON — Catechist Joseph Walkowski prepared a full page of notes for his Feb. 21 faith formation session at St. Therese Parish. The evening’s topic for the group of young men (eight high school students and one middle-schooler) was “How the enemy gets to us,” based on the work of 14th-century French writer Jean de Gerson.
During his introduction, Walkowski suggested he wouldn’t need most of his notes for the discussion.
He was right.
Continuous questions, answers and lively discussion about the devil, confession, Lenten commitments and combating sin filled the allotted one-hour time period before closing in prayer.
The small group format for the upper grades is now in its second year at St. Therese Parish. Previously, all the students were in one group.
The path for change from a large group of students to small groups (primarily gender-based) began during COVID, said Andy Pethan, coordinator of religious education at the parish.
“We had smaller numbers of high schoolers, 15 to 20, coming out of COVID,” he said. “Because of restrictions, we had an every-other-week format — seven to eight kids per week. We had some really good discussions. As we got near the end of the year, as things opened up, we started doing the whole group together. I noticed immediately, the quality of what we had going died.”
Walkowski served as the main instructor for the large group and was implementing the curriculum he had created at his former position as the high school and young adult coordinator for the Quad Parishes in Green Bay.
“The content Joseph was teaching was excellent,” said Pethan. “I was learning a lot. It was deeply Catholic and solid teaching, genuinely interesting, but not what these kids wanted at the time.”
Another turning point for the religious education program happened after students returned from the St. Therese Parish-sponsored Steubenville Youth Conference trip in the summer of 2022. Good engagement and communication with the young people who traveled to Ohio for the experience provided direction for religious education moving forward, said Pethan.
The decision was made to move to small groups, but how would the makeup of the groups be determined?
“We realized, ‘We don’t really know our kids,’” said Pethan. “We found volunteers to help interview all 100 teens that we ended up tracking down in the parish.”
The interviews provided information on their social groups, Mass attendance habits and faith engagement — which were all considered as the small groups were formed.
“We learned that they are in a lot of different places, different social circles,” said Pethan. “We have kids from Menasha, Oshkosh, all the schools in Appleton, public and Catholic, Greenville. Because of our Spanish Mass, there is a very far regional reach.”
Moving to the small group format also required “an army of catechists,” said Pethan. Some young adults in the 20- to 21-year-old age range were recruited.
“They have a heart for God and were willing to shepherd a group of six or seven young people,” said Pethan.
Walkowski also stepped forward to lead a small group.
“Joseph, who had been teaching the large group, was humble enough to say whatever is more fruitful, let’s do that, which is so cool,” said Pethan.
Walkowski said he incorporates his faith into the direction of his group as a member of the Dominican Third Order, a lay association founded by St. Dominic.
“Following a near death experience, after all the studying I did scrutinizing what was true — history, science, philosophy, theology — everything pointed to the Catholic faith,” said Walkowski. “I knew that, for the rest of my life, my faith could not be ‘a hobby.’ I knew that I wanted to fill as many extra hours, without taking away from my wife, of course, with things of God.”
Earlier, Walkowski discerned the priesthood, but found himself called to married life. But the draw to a deeper faith life led him to the Madison Chapter of the Third Order Dominicans.
One of their mottos is ‘Veritas,’ meaning ‘Truth,’” he said. “No matter what your opinion might be, if you truly hold to the way of St. Dominic, it doesn’t matter what you believe. You must teach ‘Truth.’”
Walkowski was received into the Madison Chapter in 2018. He and his wife, August, are leading a sub-fraternity of Lay Dominicans in Appleton, which he describes as “slowly growing.”
Last year, his small group was more information focused, he said. This year, his approach is that of a young Dominican group.
“Essentially, I teach them by bringing up a point and then debate that point until (we) find what’s true,” he said. “I don’t bring lesson plans. I will bring prompts for discussion.
“One of the first questions I used is, ‘Can videogames be considered a sport?’ I did it to practice. One person would bring up something. That’s the definition. Stand by your viewpoints. We are now talking about things comfortably that I wouldn’t have expected.”
Topics discussed in Walkowski’s group have ranged from the providence of God to vincible and invincible ignorance.
They have been received well by the young group members.
“I’ve been learning a lot. I enjoy talking about God. I’ve wanted to become closer to God,” said sophomore Oscar Baeza. “I like that we can ask questions. (The hour) really goes by fast, especially when you have all your friends with you.”
Sophomore Maverick Popelars was in Walkowski’s group last year as well. He said he appreciates the change to a format of small-group discussion.
“It makes the course a little more personal,” he said. “I like that he teaches us about saints, and one topic that we kind of go back to is sin. It’s comforting to know that other people struggle with similar things. We talk about actual experiences. We have a lot of participation.”
“They have a voice,” said Walkowski. “A lot of them were friends before the group, so they will rib one another. I tell them, ‘I want to hear what you have to say. This is important to me.’”
Walkowski, who is also teaching confirmation this year for the linked parishes of St. Patrick, Stephensville, and St. Denis, Shiocton, said he is open to serving St. Therese Parish’s faith formation in any way that is needed moving forward.
“Whatever year, whatever group that is given to me, that’s what I will take,” he said. “The curriculum I built is good as long as you have a lot of time for discussion.”
St. Therese Parish has approximately 100 high school students in faith formation this year, said Pethan. While most small groups have progressed throughout the year, some have encountered struggles, he added.
“I’m excited about working with Kately (Javier, director of the Office of Religious Education for the Diocese of Green Bay) to figure out the places to add a little more formalism or rigidity to our program,” he said.
This summer’s St. Therese Parish Steubenville Conference trip already has 56 young people registered, which Pethan said is a testament to the relationships built in the faith formation program.
“A large fraction of our high school catechists want to come on the trip,” he said. “We have too many chaperones. It’s amazing to see. They care about these kids. There is a hunger for God. There’s a hunger for the church.”
If interested in information about the Third Order Dominicans in Appleton, contact Joseph Walkowski, OP, at [email protected] or visit https://laity.opcentral.org/our-lady-of-good-help/.