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April 26, 2007
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‘Stump the Priest’ education for pastor, parishioners |
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Event during Lent held in Slinger, Allenton |
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SLINGER — While the answers to questions didn’t require quick wit or edgy responses, nor did they result in large cash prizes, Fr. Rick Stoffel, pastor of Resurrection, Allenton, and St. Peter, Slinger, admitted that he was almost stymied a couple of times during the “Stump the Priest” contest, an informal quiz revolving around anything Catholic, offered through the adult formation series at both parishes during Lent.
“People gathered for adult formation topics such as teaching on prayer, fasting and almsgiving during Lent, and a teaching on justifiable warfare and the current conflict. With the last one, we invited people to write down questions that they wanted to ask about our faith, but don’t ordinarily get the opportunity to ask,” Fr. Stoffel said.
Members were invited during the week to place their questions in a box to be answered during the sessions which were held after Stations of the Cross on Fridays in the rectory at the Allenton parish and on Sundays at St. Peter. With all topics fair game, the idea was to ask the priest worthwhile and interesting questions, even to the point of grilling Fr. Stoffel on topics he may have a bit of trouble answering.
“We have done this before with much success and I think it’s because most people don’t learn unless they are interested in a subject,” he said. “People asked great questions on topics such as formation of Scripture, questions pertinent to the church, and about recent scandals. We also had questions and discussions about the more aggressively assertive churches that do proselytizing and fundamentalism.”
Fr. Stoffel also addressed topics such as who can perform baptisms, the necessity of baptism for salvation, and a few tricky questions.
“Someone tried to catch me on something from St. Thomas Aquinas’ ‘Summa Theologica,’ but I found the book and was able to answer it,” he said, obviously amused. “It was fun and good and all of the people seemed to be really interested in it; it was very fruitful.”
With 12-15 people in the Allenton group and 20-25 at the Slinger parish, Fr. Stoffel said that the intimacy during each of the three sessions added to the civility, and consisted of thoughtful people who wanted to learn more about the Catholic faith.
But, how close was he to being stumped?
“I have to say that the Allenton parish didn’t really stump me,” he chuckled, “Once they heard how Allenton went, Slinger became more competitive and tried even harder. I just said that if they won, I’d serve them wine — but I decided to serve them wine either way so they wouldn’t become whiney. If you would ask them, they would declare victory and I’d say I won — but I’ll leave that to God and just say that everyone won.”
While he enjoyed the questions and a bit of the bantering, Fr. Stoffel was happy to know what people were thinking. Because of the questions, many of his homilies will reflect their interests and curiosity.
“Oh, I know it will affect my preaching during the Easter season,” he said. “People listen attentively and don’t always have the opportunity to get extended dialogue.”
Stump the Priest could become an annual event.
“Oh, more than likely we will do this again next year,” said Fr. Stoffel. “We have a couple of Christian formation meetings coming up to discuss it, but so far, looks like everyone thought it was a good thing.” |
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