Acting On Faith Main Focus Of Vianney Series

Lent, the 40 days of fasting and preparation before Easter, has traditionally been a time of sacrifice.

For most, though, that sacrifice meant giving up something, but not necessarily giving something of themselves. Jan Meyer, the religious education director at St. John Vianney Catholic Church, is trying to change that.

“Faith isn’t something you know,” Meyer says. “It’s something you do.”

Starting March 8 at 5:45 p.m., the church is offering a weekly family centered intergenerational religious education program.

“The goal is to enable families to be able to share faith together at the level where they are,” Meyer says.

The program’s aim is get people of all ages to explore ways to live out their faith in a real way. Meyer says whether it results in setting good examples for co-workers and neighbors or giving a complete stranger a hand, faith is something to be lived in the real world.

Meyer wants people from all professions and walks of life, clerks as well as clergy, to know they can make a big impact on their community through faith.

“People need to know how to situate their own experiences around faith,” she says. “We really feel that all of life is holy, and a lot of people don’t realize that.”

That’s why the program has such an emphasis on family. The classes are held with all ages at once, so parents and children learn together.

“The goal is to enable families to be able to share a faith together at the level of where they are,” Meyer says.

And the more they share, she contends, the more they receive.

“Your Easter is going to be in proportion to your Lent,” she says.

The text for the class series, which in its entirety can run for four years, was written by Kathleen Chesto.

St. John Vianney’s sessions will be held at 5:45 p.m. each Wednesdays during the four weeks prior to Easter and four weeks after. The classes last just one hour, followed by soup dinners and group singing.

For more information and to reserve texts and materials, call the church’s parish services office at 926-5553.

Prophecy seminar offered

Spokane Valley Grace Brethren Church, 124407 E. 16th, will hold a Bible prophecy conference from March 8 through 12. Meetings will begin each evening at 7 p.m. Slides of Israel will shown the first day at 6:30.

The featured speaker will be Mike Wingfield, international president of Conservative Grace Brethren Churches.