Catholic Conversations: Where all are invited to discuss the faith in Layton

Friday, Oct. 21, 2016

LAYTON — In an effort to continue adult faith education, the Catholic Conversations program has been taking place every Thursday evening since April at Saint Rose of Lima Parish in Layton.

Kit and Kevin Cummings realized that many people think that after receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation there is no need to continue their faith formation, “so as part of the catechism formation for adults, but in a very informal way, we formed Catholic Conversations. There is such a joy in learning more about our faith,” said Kit Cummings.

The Conversations’ goal is to welcome every Catholic who wants to get together and learn and chat about different topics that affect today’s Catholics around the world.

“Every Thursday we get together and watch a video and have a conversation about the theme that is showed,” said Cummings. The themes have varied from mercy to the Gospel of Luke. The most recent discussions have been about Bishop Robert Barron’s latest release, “Catholicism, The Pivotal Players,” which focuses on eminent Catholic figures such as Saint Catherine of Siena, Michelangelo and G.K. Chesterton.

Rather than continue the conversation from week to week, “we try to make it so every time you come it’s a fresh conversation. You don’t have to have been there before to know what is going on,” said Cummings.

The videos presented always have subtitles in Spanish, “so if someone in the Spanish community wants to join, they can read in the video what they are saying. … We want to be inclusive. We are not totally bilingual but we are trying to include all,” said Cummings.

About 15 people gather every Thursday to be part of the conversation. Every other month a guest speaker who is knowledgeable about a particular theme is invited to make a presentation.

“We had Jean Hill (the diocesan director of the Peace and Justice Commission) talking about how to become politically active as a Catholic,” said Cummings.

The Nov. 10 Catholic Conversations will feature a special presentation based on end-of-life issues.

“Dying, and what that means for Catholics … We are going to have things like organ donation and how to say goodbye, and what is the Sacrament of the Sick, what is the Catholic position in extraordinary medical measurements,” said Cummings.

To select the topic for the guest presentations, Cummings listens to all the suggestions that they receive. Also, Father Clarence Sandoval, Saint Rose of Lima pastor, suggests  themes.

The selected themes “are interesting so when people come they can learn something, to take something [away] and live their faith more faithfully,” said Cummings, who invites every Catholic in the diocese to participate in these Conversations.

“There is always something to learn no matter your age. … There are always questions to be answered in our faith,” said Cummings.

The Conversations take place at St. Rose of Lima Parish’s social center. For information, call the parish office, 801-544-4269.