Domestic Church Project Podcast

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast!

This week we are chatting about practical and meaningful things that you can do in your Domestic Church to more fully enter into the Triduum. And in case that term is new to you, the Triduum is the time when we mark the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. The Triduum begins on the evening of Holy Thursday and concludes the evening of Easter Sunday.

How do we mark these days? Well, before we get into that, we want to stress our #1 tip. TAKE THE WHOLE FAMILY TO AS MANY OF THE LITURGIES AS POSSIBLE. If possible we take the whole crew to the Holy Thursday Mass, to the Good Friday Service AND to the Easter Vigil. And yes, our kids are regular bad kids. But, they usually really like to go to these special liturgies. They are unique and interesting! Feet washing! Candles! Touching the cross!

Anyway, it’s hard, and this year George is at a really tough age, but we plan to take everyone to everything anyway. And so, that is our number one tip!

Here is a quick list of possible things to do in your Domestic Church (meaning at home) each day of the Triduum:

• Holy Thursday

  • Seder Meal 

  • Wash Feet

• Good Friday

  • Fasting (even the kids)

  • Do all the miserable jobs

  • Pray the Stations of the Cross at 3pm

• Holy Saturday

  • Day of quiet and preparation

  • Decorate Easter eggs 

  • Bake and cook for the following day

• Easter Sunday

  • Sing Alleluia! 

  • Enjoy all the new life you can.

  • Feast! 

You, of course, are not limited to doing these things during the Triduum. We just hope this was helpful!

And, from our home to yours—have a blessed Triduum!

In Christ Jesus,

Nancy and Bill

https://www.domesticchurchproject.com

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast. We hope that your Lenten journey is going well. We have had lots of good times and hard times, and we are all collectively yearning for Easter!

This week we are joined by Amanda and Chis Costello. They are a military family. They have two children and they are currently homeschooling. They are also graduates of the DCP Bootcamp.

We wanted to talk to the Costellos and just basically hear about their Domestic Church. After all, we all are called to lead a Domestic Church but that doesn’t mean that they are the same! They way we teach the faith, pray and have fun together can will be radically different and it’s beautiful to peak into another Domestic Church and observe how they do things!

We talk about a lot of things including their individual backgrounds, things that ignited their Faith and how they teach the faith in the home.

One powerful part of the conversation was when Chris shared how going through the DCP Bootcamp actually prompted him to go to confession. He hadn’t been to confession in years. Although he had undergone a reversion, something was stopping him from actually going to confession. And so, it took a ten year old daughter to get him there. Pretty amazing.

We aren’t currently enrolling families in the DCP Bootcamp or app, but we plan to open up enrollment right around May 1. so, if you are listening around that time frame, we invite you to click here to join us: https://app.domesticchurchproject.com/feed

In Christ Jesus,

Nancy and Bill

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast. Today we are excited to welcome Jonathan Strate to the podcast. Jonathan is Ascension's New CEO and, as you will hear in this interview, he is passionate about Parish Life.

We found this conversation with Jonathan super refreshing. Across the Catholic World we have heard 2 pretty major extremes: that Parish Life is dead, and that all of our Faith Life should be lived in the parish (and we should ignore the Domestic Church). Jonathan, the father of 5 ages 8 and under, took a more balanced approached and challenged us all to reinvest in both our parish life and the life of our Domestic Church because it is only when we see these things as working together that they will thrive.

Our conversation covered topics from his own parish experiences, Faith Formation and small groups in the parish. In the end, we spent time discussion the ultimate small group: Our Family and how we evangelize the souls that God has entrusted to us.

We hope you enjoy this interview!

And, while you are at it, we encourage you to check out the new life of kids products from Ascension. We own everything, and we highly recommend them! https://ascensionpress.com/pages/kids

Have a blessed Lent!

Nancy and Bill

Welcome back to the DCP Podcast! Life has been NUTS for us lately, and we are working hard to get back into the swing of things right now. What is craziest of all is that we have yet to talk about Lent on the podcast (WHAT!), and so, it is time to do just that.

But first, let’s acknowledge something. We are a little over 2 weeks into Lent, but if you are like me, you likely had the wrong goals in mind with your Lenten resolutions. At the start of Lent I always see Lent as an opportunity to curb some bad habits…but that is NOT the point of Lent.

The point of Lent is simple: Jesus.

Everything that we do this Lent should be about making Christ MORE the center of our homes and our hearts. And so, if you are taking a minute to reevaluate your Lent (like we are), here are some ideas about making Jesus the Center of Lent…because there is still a lot of Lent left.

Ideas:

• Read the Daily Gospel as a Family

• Do the Jesus Tree! https://shop.catholicsprouts.com/collections/jesus-tree

• Watch the Chosen or Jesus of Nazareth

• Do a Family Adoration Hour

These are just a couple of ideas and we pray that they help you lead your family closer to Lent this year.

In Christ Jesus,

Nancy and Bill

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast. We are thrilled to be hosting the Sequieiras this week! Lourdes and Glen are the parents of two young boys, and they are also graduates of the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp. Along with roughly 100 other families the Sequieiras went through the DCP Bootcamp, a 6 week experience for the whole family, as par of our Beta test during the fall of 2020. we currently have over 500 families going through the DCP Bootcamp and in today’s episode they share about their experience. As you listen we invite you to ponder if this program is right for your family right now!

The Sequieiras live in California, and like many families there lives have been reshaped by COVID. Glen is a teacher, so he now works from home. The boys were both in public school and are home as well. During the first shut down the family started to listen to the Catholic Sprouts Podcast and it was through that that they become interested in doing the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp.

One of our favorite things to discuss with families is how the parents grew up—meaning did they grow up in a Domestic Church, or is this all new to them too!? And just so you know, both Bill and I had wonderful childhoods, but we can’t really say that we grew up in a Domestic Church—although we hope that our kids will say that one day! If you feel like you have NO IDEA where to even start when building a Domestic Church, you are not alone. Anyway, we also touched in this conversation on what Glen and Lourdes grew up seeing in their homes, and how they have worked to carry over some of those things and transcend others.

The Sequieiras families can say that the DCP Bootcamp was transformative for them, and they invite other families to come of this journey with them! We are currently enrolling families in our DCP app, which houses the Bootcamp. If you are ready to build and lead your Domestic Church, then I invite you to check out all of the details. Just head here: https://www.domesticchurchproject.com

We will be closing enrollment on Friday at midnight, and we don’t plan to open back up until roughly May 1.

Thank you for listening, and we hope to walk this journey with you. After all, we are all called to build and lead a Domestic Church, even you!

Have a blessed Lent!

In Christ Jesus,

Nancy and Bill

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast! We are excited to share today about the 3rd week of the Domestic Church Project. During this week we ask families to get to work building their Domestic Churches by putting in place the key pillars that will support their little church. These are Obedience, Unity, Prayer, Seeking Holiness and Trust.

Now, that is an awesome list of virtues, all of which would define the ideal family. And, we are far from an ideal family. In our conversation we talk about out thoughts on each of these topics and how we strive to move toward these ideals, but we also talk about about how hearing about these virtues is hard! It’s hard because if you are like us, you can’t help but measure yourself up against the ideal and see how far you are from that ideal.

And this is where we remind ourselves of one super important point.

The world of building a Domestic Church is not really our work. It is the work of the Holy Spirit. Through the goodness of God we are invited to be co-workers in the vineyard. He has placed our children in our care and we need to take that seriously, but when it comes to virtue, we need to rely on God for these gifts.

Also, it is important to note that when we seek to achieve these virtues, the best way to do that is through remaining close to Jesus. After all, He is the source of all goodness.

And so, if you too are an imperfect family struggling to measure up, know that we are right there with you. But even more than that, know that God is there with you, and that He can do all things.

And His grace is sufficient!

Finally, keep in mind that we will be opening up the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp for enrollment February 15th-19th, so if you would like to take your family through this remarkable program, I encourage you to do that! To sign up when the doors are open, just head here: https://www.domesticchurchproject.com/dcp-community

It is just such a joy to be here with you!

In Christ Jesus,

Nancy and Bill

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast. This week we were delighted to have Matt Pinto, the founder of former president of Ascension Press, on the podcast. Although with his work at Ascension, Matt is also the father of six kids.

Having Matt Pinto on the podcast felt like the perfect time to tackle an important topic: Scripture. More specifically, how do we make Scripture a bigger part of our families and our homes.

This was an especially fun topic to talk about right now due to Ascension’s smash-hit new podcast, The Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike. Are you listening to this podcast? We are! And so are a LOT of other people. In fact, this simple podcast, which is mostly just Fr. Mike reading the Bible, was the TOP PODCAST on apple for several weeks at the beginning of the year. Crazy. With Matt Pinto we talk about where the idea for the podcast came from and what lasting impact he thinks this podcast will have on the world.

In our conversation we also covered ways to weave Scripture into life at home. Matt shared that his family uses Jesus Calling at the dinner table. Nancy shared that one of the instrumental tools in her own journey with scripture has been the scripture studies created by Jeff Cavins for Ascension Press. She heartily recommends the Walking Toward Eternity that Jeff Cavins wrote with his wife Emily (https://ascensionpress.com/collections/walking-toward-eternity-the-struggles-of-your-heart) and, of course, the Great Bible Timeline (https://ascensionpress.com/collections/the-bible-timeline-the-story-of-salvation).

We had such a fun time talking with Matt and soaking in all of the wisdom he had to share about falling in love with Scripture and raising a good and holy family.

If you are interested in finding even more tools to lead and guide your family, we encourage you to join us inside of the Domestic Church Project app, which will be enrolling new families February 15th-19th.

Head here to sign up: https://www.domesticchurchproject.com/dcp-community

Thanks for being here!

Bill and Nancy

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast. Once again, we are Bill and Nancy, the parents of five kids, ages 9 and under. We are the creators of the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp, a six week experience for Catholic Families that enables them to set up and live in their Domestic Church. Zero Prep, and designed to help ANY Catholic Family.

Well, although we are the creators, we are FAR from perfect in this regard, so Bill and I are taking our family through the Bootcamp for the second time right now. And, guys, it’s been so good for us! Last week we finished up the 2nd week of the Bootcamp. This week asks you to take a close look at the wounds that exist in your family, and then take those wounds to Christ in the sacrament of confession.

In this episode we discuss what it was like for our family to go through this content and the things that came up for us. We cover:

• The PRIDE we have to confront as we realized that only God can heal us…that we on our own we can’t heal ourselves.

• The major sin we struggle with as parents: yelling

• How it’s tough to go to confession…and yet it feels so good to have gone!

• The beautiful practice of taking young kids to confession.

And so much more!

We currently have over 400 families going through the DCP Bootcamp, and it has been a GIFT to hear about their experiences as they confront the wounds in their own families.

If you would like to join us, we are opening up enrollment again the week of Ash Wednesday. We will only be open for a few days, so to make sure that you don’t miss it, sign up for our email list at https://www.domesticchurchproject.com/dcp-community 

If you are listening to this episode during your enrollment week, head here to sign up!

https://www.domesticchurchproject.com/dcp-community 

It is such an honor to be building our Domestic Church with you!

All the very best,

Nancy and Bill Bandzuch

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast. This week we are kicking off our family’s journey through the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp, a 6 week experience for the whole family that will train you to establish and lead your own Domestic Church. We currently have about 500 families going through the Bootcamp inside of our app, and we are taking our family through the Bootcamp for the 2nd time.

The first week of the DCP Bootcamp is called “Demo.” We spend this time looking around our home and wondering, do we really have room for God here? Next, we look at our calendars and wonder if we are making any time for God. Each night the family takes on a small challenge designed to help them make lasting changes that will allow Jesus to dwell in their home.

So that’s the content of the DCP Bootcamp. In this episode Bill and I talk about how all of this played out (and continues to play out) in our home. We talk about our prayers space, how we deal with over commitments and clutter and distractions. We are definitely a work in progress, but we are here to share our small victories and struggles because we are all on this journey together!

If you are interested in taking your family through the DCP Bootcamp, we will be enrolling new families right around Ash Wednesday. Head to https://www.domesticchurchproject.com for more info and to sign up for our email list so that you don’t miss this small window of enrollment.

We can make space and time for Jesus. We can!

In Christ,

Nancy and Bill

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast!

In case you missed it, our new app launched on January 1, and we’ve had a wild couple of days welcoming families and parishes into the app. We closed enrollment on January 6th at midnight, and we are looking forward to guiding over 500 families through the DCP Bootcamp. On top of this, we are also preparing to take our family through the Bootcamp for the second time.

To this end, we are taking about all the key things that need to happen to get ready to build your Domestic Church. In this episode we talk about a few key prerequisites for building your Domestic Church. These include:

• Committing to personal prayer

• Making time for your family, that is distraction free.

• Adopting an attitude of willingness to TRY, and awareness that you will fail, in one way or another.

• Accepting that everyone in your family is a sinner, and this might not be easy.

• And, above all else, opening yourself up to the Holy Spirit and acknowledging that this is HIS work.

It’s a simply little list, but nothing here is simple.

And so, whether you are planning to build your Domestic Church with the Bootcamp or another program, please know that you are in our prayers.

If you missed this enrollment window for the DCP Bootcamp, we invite you to prayerfully consider joining us at the start of Lent when we will be welcoming families into the program again.

Thank you for being here, and God bless!

In Christ,

Bill and Nancy

Today we are sharing one of our favorite people with you. Deb is a single mother to one sweet little girl and she was part of our Beta test of the DCP Bootcamp this fall. What was unique about Deb and Emma’s experience of the DCP Bootcamp is that Deb shares custody with her ex-husband, so she had to get creative about when and how she and Emma would complete the 6 week course. But finish they did! And she plans to go through the Bootcamp again with Emma, maybe once a year, just so that they can continue to work on the Domestic Church.

One of the really important things to use as we created the DCP Bootcamp, is that we created a program for ALL Catholic Parents, because ALL Catholic Kids deserve to grow up in a Domestic Church. Currently there is little to nothing for single parents, and that is unacceptable! Every home should be a Domestic Church!

I hope you enjoy listening to Deb as much as we enjoyed talking to her. She is the type of person that is totally open and ready to talk about anything. She is also a 3rd grade teacher at a Catholic School, so she explains things in a way even I can understand ;).

Like so many other women, Deb has been called to raise her family as a single mother, and yet she takes serious her calling to still build and lead a Domestic Church. She offers so many beautiful insights that any parent will be able to relate to.

A big thank you to Deb for coming on and sharing her wisdom with us!

If you are interested in signing up for the DCP Bootcamp, it is offered exclusively inside of our app. We are enrolling families right now, but we will be closing enrollment on January 6th at midnight. To sign up and get access to this transformational program for Catholic Families, head here: https://www.domesticchurchproject.com/dcp-community.

In Christ,

Bill and Nancy

The process of creating the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp has forced us to really analyze our own experience. We thought really hard about the major thing we felt just before diving into this work. And that major feeling was fear.

Here are just a few of the fears we experienced:

1. The fear that if I try I might fail.

2. The fear that if I invest in my faith, I might have to confront my own sins and failure to trust.

3. The fear that I might not be enough for my family.

4. The fear that God doesn’t have a plan for my family.

5. The fear that radically trusting God will mean I am taken down a plan I don’t want to go.

I know that when we hear someone else say all of these fears aloud it is easy to identify them as lies. Of course God has a plan for your family! Of course you are enough for your family!

But….in the quiet, secret places of our heart, it is hard to hear the lie. It is hard to know that these lies come from Satan, the Father of lies, and they aren’t reality.

And so, in this episode we talked through all the ways fear was part (and still is part) of building a Domestic Church.

Of course, we don’t let fear stop us! Through God’s grace we can be liberated from Satan’s lies and we can know the Truth. There, if you too are struggling with fear as you stand upon the brink of building your Domestic Church, please know that you aren’t alone. We are there with you. Also, this is BIG, Important work! It only makes sense that Satan would try to throw some roadblocks in your way. The LAST thing he wants you to do is to build your Domestic Church.

But we can do this, together.

Our app will be live on January 1st, and we will be welcoming parents into the app through January 6th. If you would like a blueprint for building your Domestic Church and a community of parents engaged in the same work, I pray you join us!

domesticchurchproject.com

In Christ,

Bill and Nancy

Especially this last year, there has been LOTS of talk about the Domestic Church within Catholic Circles. We know we need to be the primary educator of our children’s faith, we know that we need to be leading homes that are centers for holiness, but, you are anything like us, there are a number of things holding us back.

Over the years Nancy has been held back from fully embracing her role as a Catholic Mother due to “idea overwhelm”. Over and over again she would read a great book or talk to an experienced mom and come back with all these ideas…only to have them flop when she tried to make them work in her house.

Bill has felt paralyzed in his role as a Catholic Father due largely to comparison. Many of his close Catholic male friends have advanced degrees in Theology. Many of them went through seminary only to discern out toward the end. Bill does not have an advanced degree in Theology, he can’t quote the Suma and sometimes he feels ill-equipped to teach the faith.

So, these are the things that have held us back, and we still struggle with them, but we have been liberated by this one truth:

GOD KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING WHEN HE MADE US PARENTS.

And if He thought we were up to the task of parenting (with His grace, of course) then we are, and we should stop all of the constant researching and second-guessing and comparing and just focus on the kids in front of us!

Therefore, if you are interested in moving past the things in your life that have kept you from building your Domestic Church, I invite you to join us inside our new app, available January 1, and lead your family through the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp.

The doors will only be open January 1st-6th.

domesticchurchproject.com

Join us, and let’s build our Domestic Churches, together!

In Christ,

Bill and Nancy

Welcome back to the Domestic Church Project Podcast. Today we are excited to share another super awesome Catholic Family with you: The Vitals. Chris and Gian Vital and their seven children live in California. They went through our Beta Test of the program the fall of 2020, and they have some beautiful things to share with us all.

A few quick notes about what we discuss in this conversation.

First, we will be opening up enrollment for The Domestic Church Project Bootcamp, which is located in our beautiful new app, on January 6th, but we will only be enrolling until the 6th. At that time we will close the doors and focus on the families ready to start building their Domestic Churches.

If you are reading this during that enrollment window, please head to domesticchurchproject.com to enroll.

We plan to open up enrollment once again for a few days around Ash Wednesday.

Next, Bill and Chris speak quite a bit about the Men’s Group that Bill ran to support Fathers taking their families through the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp. If you decide to join us in the app, we will be encouraging all fathers to dedicate themselves to a small group. The small group will meet weekly and encourage each other to keep going and to be the man that their family needs.

Finally, if please stay tuned for more information about all of the improvements that we made the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp, based on the feedback from the beta families. Again, this will be open for enrollment from January 1st-January 6th, 2021.

Thanks for listening! Have a blessed Christmas Season!

In Christ,

Bill and Nancy

Hi! We are Bill and Nancy, and we run a ministry for Catholic Parents that you can learn all about right here: https://www.domesticchurchproject.com

We'd also LOVE for you to join our new app for Catholic Parents! Enrollment will be open from Jan 1-6th! More details here: https://www.domesticchurchproject.com 

Today we are talking about Community, but before you tune us out, I want to challenge you to really evaluate the role community plays in your life. And I bet you are actually starving for real community.

But first, a little background:

As you might know, we were spurred on to created the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp through the utterly transformative experience of competing for and winning the Our Sunday Visitor Catholic Innovators Challenge. Through that challenge mentors really pushed us to investigate what Catholic Families REALLY needed. So many things exist, and yet the Catholic Faith is not being transmitted to the next generation. So, what was missing?

Through prayer, research, conversation and lots of hard work, we realized that parents need the HOW. We need to stop talking about teaching the Faith at home, and start showing parents HOW to teach. They need a program that trains them “on the job, at the speed of life” and that is what we created through the Domestic Church Project Bootcamp.

In order to validate the Bootcamp, however, we decided to test it. And so, 100 families signed up and went through the whole program. Overall, it was a great success…but it was missing something: a community.

Now, for the Beta testers were offered a FB group, but we soon learned that this just wasn’t enough. And lots of people didn’t want to be on FB (including me!)

So, while I was scratching my head, Bill and the fathers were busy teaching us an important lesson. You see, the men started to meet each week for a “Happy Hour.” They simply jumped on a zoom call and shared how the Bootcamp was going in their home. And guess what, that simple element of community, authentic sharing and accountability was pivotal for the men that joined.

And so, in the end that was our MAJOR learning from the Beta test: Catholic Parents need community.

But, there is an even deeper problem here. Most of us have completely forgotten what community is!

Community is not a 10,000 member Facebook group.

Community is not scrolling on IG.

Community is a group of people who share a goal and share the truth of their experiences openly.

Therefore, half way through building the app we turned everything on its head. We abandoned our original plan and (through the grace of the Holy Spirit) found a must better platform that is private and an beautiful place to build this community for Catholic Parents.

Listen to hear more about it.

And, as always, thanks for being here!

In Christ,

Bill and Nancy

Welcome to the Domestic Church Project Podcast, a podcast for Catholic Parents. We are Bill and Nancy from Catholic Sprouts, and we aren't starting this podcast because we have it all figured out. Not at all. We are very much in the trenches of parenthood, with five young children. We worry too much, and yell too much...and rely on God too little.

BUT!

We want to do better, and we want to link arms with you as we embrace the greatest calling of our lives: to RAISE SAINTS and to BUILD DOMESTIC CHURCHES.

It is our hope that by sharing the REALITY of our lives was parents struggling with our own issues as we attempt to raise saints and build a Domestic Church that you will be inspired to get to work in your own homes.

And so that's what this podcast is. This podcast is a place for us to discuss what it means to be Catholic Parents, a place where we can share our struggles and insights, a place where we can challenge each other to be just a little bit better and rely on God just a little bit more each and every day.

And so, welcome!

If you are a REAL Catholic Parent who loves the Church but struggles to know HOW to teach the faith and engage the hearts of your kids, then you are in the right spot.

And we hope that you not only listen but that you commit to getting to work in your own home and that you consider sharing your unique story with us! We are each called to be a unique Domestic Church, and the more stories we hear about what is going on in other homes the better!

In future episodes you can look forward to Bill and I sharing our own struggles as parents and the small insights that we can gain. We also plan to bring on other Catholic Parents of all types including single parents, parents married to non-catholics and Catholic parents from all over the country and the world.

It's going to be epic!

Because no matter who you are, God knew what He was doing when He made you a parent. Even if your formation was terrible (or terribly received), even if you are super busy, even if your marriage is imperfect, even if there are wounds in your family.

Even then! 

No matter what the situation might be, God is STILL calling YOU to raise saints and build a Domestic Church.

And with His grace YOU ARE UP TO THIS TASK! Believe it, and let's get to work!

Join us as we travel this path together. 

You remain in your prayers, and we happily welcome any and all prayers you can offer for this little ministry! 

To find our more about The Domestic Church Project, a program for Catholic Families, head here: https://www.domesticchurchproject.com

And, to listen to the daily podcast for Catholic Kids, Catholic Sprouts, head here: https://catholicsprouts.com

Finally, if you are looking for some easy yet meaningful activities to do in your home to help teach the faith, check out our resource library for Catholic Families. It is 100% free for our subscribers. Just sign up here: https://catholicsprouts.com/abcs-of-the-catholic-faith-new-and-improved/

Thank you for listening! 

And remember, God has a plan for your family. Yup, even your family.

In Christ,

Nancy and Bill

Welcome to our podcast! We are Bill and Nancy Bandzuch. We live outside of Minneapolis, and we are busy raising 5 young kids. We certainly aren't experts, but we are passionate about building our own Domestic Church, and helping other parents do the same.

More than anything else, we'd like to invite you to join us. Join us in this hard but important work of raising saints.

On the podcast we plan to talk about everything involved in teaching the Catholic Faith at home. We will share our struggles and small victories. We also will have lots of other Catholic Parents on to share about their families. 

Tune in each Thursday for new episodes! 

Welcome to the Domestic Church Project Podcast, a podcast for Catholic Parents. We are Bill and Nancy from Catholic Sprouts, and we aren't starting this podcast because we have it all figured out. Not at all. We are very much in the trenches of parenthood, with five young children. We worry too much, and yell too much...and rely on God too little.

BUT!

We want to do better, and we want to link arms with you as we embrace the greatest calling of our lives: to RAISE SAINTS and to BUILD DOMESTIC CHURCHES.

It is our hope that by sharing the REALITY of our lives was parents struggling with our own issues as we attempt to raise saints and build a Domestic Church that you will be inspired to get to work in your own homes.

And so that's what this podcast is. This podcast is a place for us to discuss what it means to be Catholic Parents, a place where we can share our struggles and insights, a place where we can challenge each other to be just a little bit better and rely on God just a little bit more each and every day.

And so, welcome!

If you are a REAL Catholic Parent who loves the Church but struggles to know HOW to teach the faith and engage the hearts of your kids, then you are in the right spot.

And we hope that you not only listen but that you commit to getting to work in your own home and that you consider sharing your unique story with us! We are each called to be a unique Domestic Church, and the more stories we hear about what is going on in other homes the better!

In future episodes you can look forward to Bill and I sharing our own struggles as parents and the small insights that we can gain. We also plan to bring on other Catholic Parents of all types including single parents, parents married to non-catholics and Catholic parents from all over the country and the world.

It's going to be epic!

Because no matter who you are, God knew what He was doing when He made you a parent. Even if your formation was terrible (or terribly received), even if you are super busy, even if your marriage is imperfect, even if there are wounds in your family.

Even then! 

No matter what the situation might be, God is STILL calling YOU to raise saints and build a Domestic Church.

And with His grace YOU ARE UP TO THIS TASK! Believe it, and let's get to work!

Join us as we travel this path together. 

You remain in your prayers, and we happily welcome any and all prayers you can offer for this little ministry! 

To find our more about The Domestic Church Project, a program for Catholic Families, head here: https://www.domesticchurchproject.com

And, to listen to the daily podcast for Catholic Kids, Catholic Sprouts, head here: https://catholicsprouts.com

Finally, if you are looking for some easy yet meaningful activities to do in your home to help teach the faith, check out our resource library for Catholic Families. It is 100% free for our subscribers. Just sign up here: https://catholicsprouts.com/abcs-of-the-catholic-faith-new-and-improved/

Thank you for listening! 

And remember, God has a plan for your family. Yup, even your family.

In Christ,

Nancy and Bill

The Church tells us that as Catholic Parents we are the “primary educator of our children’s faith.” But…what if we don’t feel qualified to teach the Faith? What if our own formation was poor (or poorly received)? What then? And what if we are busy…can’t we just out source teaching the Faith to our parish or school.

Well, here’s the hard truth. No matte who you are, what your life looks like or what you’ve been through, YOU need to be the primary educator of your child’s faith. Why? Because you have access to your children in a way that no one else does or ever will. Because God intended that the Faith should be taught in the family.

But, don’t worry! We don't have all of the answers, but we do have some ideas. And we also are right there with you. We wonder all of the time, who am I to teach the Faith?

Rest assured friends, God knew what He was doing when He gave you these kids, and He will equip you to lead your Domestic Church.

Join us for a conversation about being the primary educator of our children’s Faith.

You remain in your prayers!

Nancy and Bill

We are all busy. Too busy, in fact. And teaching the Faith in our homes is just one more thing. Plus, when will I have time to prep the lessons, gather the craft supplies and scroll for ideas on Pinterest?!?

okay, stop and take a breath.

We told you last week that you need to be the primary educator of your child’s faith…and this week we are going to tell you HOW you can do this without prepping and crafting. In fact, teaching the faith this way can be accomplished in the little pockets of time you already spend with your kids: over meals and in the car.

The solution is: TALK ABOUT THE FAITH IN YOUR HOME.

Don’t lecture, don’t craft (unless you want to). Instead, engaged in regular, authentic conversations about the Faith in your home. It’s that easy! And, if the kids ask you a question that you can’t answer, find the answer together.

Simple—but so powerful! Research shows that having Faith Conversations is the most effective way to pass the Faith onto you kids.

Listen for some ideas and let’s get to work teaching through conversations!

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