Catholic Coffee Club

The Catholic Coffee Club is a group of home-school high-school students that join together to discover and discuss the Catholic faith. We are in the area around Spring, TX. We gather once a week during the school year to discuss what we learned while reading that week’s chapter. We base our discussions on the books printed by the Midwest Theological Forum in the Didache Series. We are a group of teens that gather together to explore the faith and become friends in Christ. The teens are guided in these discussions by a few adults that also love the faith in the fullness and beauty, love the teens for who they are, and own the answer books.

Years ago I decided that I wanted my daughter to have one class that was with her peers. I believe that once a child is in high school that social time together is very important. I didn't want the study of our Faith to be reduced to just another "class" with a "grade" given. The solution was to join with some others to study religion while also accomplishing the goal of sharing my love of my faith with my high school daughter and her peers. I worked up the idea that has grown into the Catholic Coffee Club.

The group has always met at a Coffee House or somewhere that sells a good cup of Joe. As moms we both loved our daily cup and wanted our daughters to learn to let the study of their faith be a part of every aspect of their lives, even the social aspect. At first it was two young ladies and one friend from traditional school that would meet once a week and dive into a wonderful set of books teaching the faith. My goal is that these teens will learn that their faith doesn't stop when they leave school. It is up to them to continue their learning. It is a great idea to start a catholic book club. I hope and pray that as they mature into adults they will encourage their peers by inviting them to have a cup of coffee with them and discuss an great teaching of the church.

The moms purchased the answer book and we went from there. Those three girls graduated last year. We now have about 17 teens that join us. The older one stick around and do a Bible study on their own. We have grown and I have learned so much. I just hope that the teens have also. The really exciting news is that a few cyber friends from around the country have copied this idea. We also have a second group in our own area filled with another group of teens. Across town two other groups formed and pretty much follow our format. I try to keep my group organized by using a free yahoo group. This allows us to send reminders and share information very easily.

We all come prepared having read the latest chapter. We pray and invite the Holy Spirit to guide our discussion. We share any surprises that we learn from the chapter. I am amazed that I still have those "no way, I didn't know that" moments. (Pretty sad considering this is my second time through this year.) We then turn to the back of the book and spend an hour discussing the questions that are listed. This isn't so bad considering the adults have the answer books/teacher additions. We then wrap up our discussion with everyone listing their prayer request. I love hearing what is on the mind of the teens.

It is a simple and wonderful way to share your faith with your highschool kiddos. I recommend this approach to my friends with kiddos in traditional highschool as well. Meet with your son or daughter once a week in a warm setting where you can discuss the faith. Encourage them to learn and to fall in love with the study of our Catholic heritage.

Hich School Books for Catholic Faith Study

In our home we really believe that the study of the faith is not a subject. It is more of a way of life. That being said it is very important to understand that faith and to push your faith to grow. For the high school years it is very appropriate to take courses to study the faith in an in depth manner. I believe that the high school years is the perfect four years to offer a deep study of the faith.

Finding the right text is very difficult with this one. I felt so blessed when my friend found this serious of books from the Midwest Theological Forum. This is from their website:

"More about The Didache [DID-uh-kay] Series:
The Didache Series presents the life and doctrine of the Catholic Church in the context of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the teachings of Vatican II as witnessed by the pontificates of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. The Didache Series also draws from Sacred Scripture, the lives of the Saints, and the Doctors and Fathers of the Church. It is ideal for high school and adult education, seminaries and colleges, RCIA, catechism classes, and home schooling."

My children and I have found that the books are very well written. They are not dry. They bring the faith to life. It is exciting and yet readable. They are engaging and yet very much in line with Rome. I just love these books. I would encourage any individual that is wanting to study their faith more to pick them up. Start a group and study them with friends. You might not know as much as you think you do about your faith.

What I don't love about the books is that they are long. The one on Scripture and the one on the Church are not broken down very well to use to in a homeschool setting. I would love them more if they could have broken the chapters that were 50 pages long into more digestible bites and give us around 25 chapters.
What I love about the books is that they are easy to teach with. They give so much information and the answer/teacher books really help in leading a discussion on the books. We have developed our own club based on these very texts and I will discuss those in another post.