GROWING IN
KNOW
Sunday Morning Fa
F
or many who have grown up in the Church, after years of Catholic school or religious education classes, Confirmation may unfortunately be regarded a “graduation” of sorts, at least when it comes to actively learning about our beliefs and teachings. For many “cradle Catholics,” our practice of the faith may easily slip into being more of a routine or habit, rather than a deep and meaningful relationship with Christ and His Church. However, as Catholics, we believe that our journey of faith is one that lasts our entire lives, with each day being an opportunity to grow closer to God and deepen our understanding of the faith that He has given us. With this in mind, here at St. John Before the Latin Gate, we hope to encourage our adult parishioners to continue to strengthen their faith, especially by learning more about it. For the past 30 years, parishioner Hank Hankinson has worked tirelessly to help his fellow parishioners come to understand the riches of Catholic teaching and Church history. Raised in Protestant churches, Hank and his wife, L yla became Catholic in 1975, after discovering the beauty of the faith, and there has been no turning back. Although his background and career is in engineering, Hank’s love of reading turned to a love of learning about the Church and sharing his discoveries with others. Taking various forms over the years, Hank has offered many classes to fellow Catholics wanting to go deeper in their understanding of the faith. “I’ve always enjoyed doing it because I felt it was really important for people to have a broad background of the faith,” Hank says. In recent years, the classes have been offered on Sundays, from 9:15-10:15 a.m., in between Masses. They have covered a variety of topics, from the early Church, to the Crusades, to Christology and Scripture, and much more. 4
Parishioner Hank Hankinson has offered faith formation opportunities for adults in the parish for the past 30 years.
Hank’s criteria for the classes, which typically run in 10-to-12-session series, is that they are topics that people have requested to learn about. They consist of short video presentations with time for discussion and questions, and there is always plenty of coffee! “I believe that with any kind of learning, you have to ingest it into your heart and mind — it can’t just be given to you, you memorize it and walk away,” Hank says. “People have questions and I think it’s often the unanswered questions that drive people from the Church. “The Church offers good answers to almost any question, but not if people don’t ask them,”
