Center for Children and Theology

Grace Space Famlies

Grace Space Families will support Christian parents, caregivers, children, and congregational leaders as they grow in their faith together. It will empower them to create spaces in homes, congregations, and other settings in which children and adults together can form and nurture relationships with God marked by joy, simplicity, wonder, and love.

Rooted in the pedagogy of Maria Montessori and the theology of Sofia Cavalletti, the Center for Children and Theology has worked for more than 30 years to provide resources and training for ministry leaders in the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, an approach to faith formation that has at its center a profound respect for young children’s capacities for relationships with God. CCTheo represents the growing edge of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, working to bring CGS to new contexts. Our new projects will work to bring this signature approach to new contexts in churches, homes and online communities.

Our projects include:

-Community Atrium - shared space for faith formation for children from parishes that can no longer sustain their own Sunday school programs or other contexts that spark a creative, communal approach.

-Baptism Classes and Post-Baptism Groups - a curriculum for parish leaders to deepen parishioners’ understanding of baptism and commitment to Jesus.

-Beloved Community – A podcast series on Anti-bias and Anti-Racism (ABAR) and Gospel Nonviolence, born out of listening to children and trusting that they can put the darkness of some parts of history into perspective, trusting in the redeeming light and hope of cosmic communion.

-Neurodiversity and Church Life - Interviews with autistic children and adults and resources to provide theological and practical support to autistic and other neurodiverse families in the church.

-Music & Books - Sharing beloved age-appropriate songs of praise and worship in ways that parents can easily access (online or streaming services) and thoughtful children’s book recommendations to foster family faith.

-Orientation to shared faith - Videos that will inspire and equip parents to share faith at home with topics like prayer, wondering questions, and ‘Who is God?’

-Integrating Faith and Science through Creation Care A creation care curriculum for adolescents. “Just our Common Home” will help them articulate how humans are integrated with ecosystems and how this relates to their faith. Essays on faith and science and reflections for catechists to make with children, distinguishing these two types of knowledge and holding them together.

-Parents and Toddlers: Growing in Faith Together Resources and satellite parent-toddler learning labs to nurture the spiritual development of the very youngest children, create community and peer support for parents and caregivers, and to equip caregivers and ministry leaders to live out our Baptismal promise to nurture and build faith in our communities.

-Catechist Action Research in the Atrium (CARA) A program to teach basic qualitative and quantitative research methods and support catechists in establishing habits of action and reflection informed by the disciplined gathering of data in and beyond the atrium.