Bats in the Belfry 

Many pastors have faced the challenge of discovering colonies of bats making themselves at home in the belfry of a church steeple. One ingenious pastor, after trying every exterminator he could find, hit upon a novel idea. He telephoned the bishop and asked him to make an informal pastoral visit to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation upon the bats. It worked, just like many newly-Confirmed young people, he never saw the bats again!

Apocryphal, certainly, but rooted in a sad truth! Once we confer the Sacrament of Confirmation upon our teenagers, it is oftentimes a long period of time until we will see them again at church on a regular basis. Their next contact is many times a visit to the priest or deacon to schedule a wedding more than a decade later!

Does it have to be this way? Obviously, we do lose contact with most of our young people during their college years when they spread over many campuses and are hopefully being effectively engaged by the Catholic Campus Ministry at their college or university. What happens, however, when they come home and find that their parish church seems to have little to offer them in the way of targeted initiatives for young people in their 20’s and 30’s. We made an initial attempt to reach out to these young adults, married and single, with some summer sessions of ‘Theology on Tap’ two summers ago and we were quite pleased with the response. Theology on Tap is an attempt to provide an informal setting for young adults to come together to consider various issues of faith. Many years ago, I was part of coordinating a vital young adult ministry for the Archdiocese of Boston. We numbered Young Adult Ministry Groups in more than forty parishes. My impression at the time was that young people who may have put their practice of the faith ‘on hold’ following Confirmation were often-times ready to take a fresh look at faith issues during the period of their late 20’s and early 30’s when they were making important decisions about careers and relationships. ’Theology on Tap’ offers engaging speakers and an opportunity for shared reflection and discussion on important young adult issues while they enjoying libations and refreshments.

The ‘kick -off’ session of our reactivated ‘Theology on Tap’ will take place in a second floor function room at the Eagle Brook Saloon in Norfolk on Sunday, March 19 from 6:30- 8:00pm. The Eagle Brook Saloon is located right on the Wrentham/Norfolk line on Route 1A. While located in Norfolk, it is within ‘spitting distance’ of Wrentham, but spitting is frowned upon in both Norfolk and Wrentham!

The topic for the session will be Balancing the Basics: Career, Relationships and Faith. Father Tom Olson, who coordinated a highly successful ‘Theology on Tap’ in Brighton, will serve as Moderator of a panel of single and married young adults who will share their personal experience of trying to balance the demands of career, relationships and faith. General discussion will follow. Mr. Chuck Horne, the owner of Eagle Brook Saloon, has graciously offered a complimentary pizza and salad buffet for this first session. Participants can purchase their own libations. 

We will plan to begin at 6:30 so that those who find it convenient can participate in the 5 o’clock Mass at Saint Mary Church, Wrentham prior to the gathering. We are maintaining a ‘target group’ of young adults in their 20’s and 30’s, single and married, for ‘Theology on Tap.’ We will soon be introducing another opportunity for adults of all ages to attend sessions of Faith Matters at the Unlikely Story Bookstore and Café in Plainville with a similar format and informal café atmosphere.