Weekly talks on faith, followed by fellowship, begin at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish

Friday, Jun. 21, 2019

PARK CITY — Faith and fellowship will go hand in hand during the weekly talks that have begun at St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church. The presentations will be followed by a potluck dinner.

On June 13, Father Christopher Gray, pastor, began a series using “The Way of Christ,” a text by the St. Phillip Institute of Catechesis and Evangelization. The book has 16 chapters, each two pages long, covering topics such as the Trinity, the four last things, culture of life, and going to Confession. Copies of the text were available without cost; Fr. Gray suggested that people also bring a Bible and a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

While the talks will cover the chapters sequentially, Fr. Gray said he doesn’t expect everyone to attend each week.

“Come when you can,” he said.

Each Thursday, he will lead a 45-minute discussion on the topic, but said he doesn’t expect it will be a lecture. 

“This is a conversation, this is not just me talking,” he said.

The talks are in response for faith formation, which is one of the objectives of the diocesan Pastoral Plan, which was released last year. Also, Bishop Oscar A. Solis’ 2017 Pastoral Letter, “Springtime of the New Evangelization,” encourages people to talk about their faith.

Primarily, though, Fr. Gray said as he began his talk, “Why are we doing this? Because it’s fun.” 

About 80 people attended the first talk. Fr. Gray said he was pleasantly surprised by the turnout because he didn’t expect so many to attend a lecture at the beginning of summer.

Among those who attended was Beverly Perreault, who said the talks are “much needed to understand the faith in a better way.”

Similarly, Kathy Mickler, a member of the parish council, said that as a convert to the faith she has missed the study of Scripture and constantly learning about the faith, so “this excites me to no end.”