ADVANCEMENT

The Peyton Institute for Domestic Church Life continues to promote the Liturgy of Domestic Church Life, a new model of family spirituality and family ministry, through professional training, original research, and creative family resource development.

Over the last year, we’ve taken well over 100 diocesan and parish leaders through our 5 week webinar training in the Liturgy of Domestic Church Life. Likewise, dozens of graduates of this series regularly attend our monthly professional development calls where we explore different aspects of the Liturgy of Domestic Church Life and how to effectively implement the model in dioceses and parishes. It’s exciting to see the creative ways pastoral ministry professionals are using the framework to have a more significant impact on the families they serve.

The Peyton Institute had another opportunity to present the Liturgy of Domestic Church Life internationally (following last year’s keynote at the Vatican World Meeting of Families) when we spoke at Holy Cross Family Ministries’ Global Leadership Meeting in Knock, Ireland. Attendees from 4 continents gathered to learn how the Liturgy of Domestic Church Life could help them promote family well-being and spirituality.

After two years, the results of the Future Faithful Families Project are in. The Peyton Institute, together with the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown, identified families who successfully raised most, if not all, of their children to a faithful adulthood. We then interviewed the parents and the adult children to identify both the spiritual practices and family dynamics that lead to successful faith transmission across generations. This is the first study to show what specific family practices increase the likelihood that children will embrace their Catholic faith as adults. Dr. Mark Gray, the lead researcher at CARA said that this was one of the most exciting projects he has been involved with in 20 years. The Peyton Institute is planning a major press campaign to release the findings of this groundbreaking study beginning in January 2024.

The Peyton Institute is working with the National Eucharistic Congress to reprise our successful CatholicHOM Immersive Experience that we hosted at last year’s Atlanta Eucharistic Congress. The CatholicHOM Immersive Experience shows families how the Eucharist is the key to a loving, caring, and connected Catholic household. Through a live puppet show, activity stations, games, and family Eucharistic adoration, families experience how the Liturgy of Domestic Church Life can transform their daily lives and help them become dynamic domestic churches. Additionally, the CatholicHOM App is continuing to grow as we are accompanying more and more families who are interested in learning how to live the Liturgy of Domestic Church Life. Having tested our ability to provide this level of service to families over the last year, we have developed a parish roll-out process and are beginning to have conversations with dioceses and parishes about bringing CatholicHOM to their families.