Finding a way to talk about faith while having fun

Intermountain Catholic

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Brother Michael James Rivera presents ?Heaven, Purgatory & Hell in Literature and Film,? during the third Theology-on-Tap program at Saint Catherine of Siena Parish/Newman Center.

SALT LAKE CITY – When young adults gather, faith isn’t a typical topic of conversation, especially with Catholics in Utah.

"As young adults in the diocese, we’re always looking for opportunities to find people of our own common faith," said Amee Garcia, young adult ministry coordinator at Saint Catherine of Siena Parish/Newman Center. "It’s really hard here in Utah to meet other people of our own interests."

To provide just such a venue, the Newman Center this year began Theology-on-Tap, five sessions of mixing faith with fun as speakers give presentations on a variety of theological topics while the audience mingles in a relaxed atmosphere.

"This is just one way for us to gather together as a community of believers and to socialize, get to know one another, so we can hopefully progress in our own faith and being leaders in our own church," Garcia said.

Theology-on-Tap started 30 years ago in the Archdiocese of Chicago and now has taken root in 48 states and seven countries, according the archdiocese’s website.

In areas with large Catholic populations, Theology-on-Tap often is held in a pub or bar, but St. Catherine pastor Father Carl Schlichte found, when he tried a version of the program with graduate students at Stanford University, that the setting doesn’t work well with smaller groups. At Stanford, they met in students’ apartments; here in Salt Lake, "we’ve fixed our own gathering space here at the Newman Center into our ‘bar.’ This is our pub, here," Garcia said.

Although they haven’t reached out much beyond their parish, the number of people coming each session has grown slowly, she said. "People who have come the first night keep coming back and bringing new people. That alone shows that this has been successful."

The final presentation of Theology-on-Tap this year will be given by the Most Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of Salt Lake City, who will speak on immigration Nov. 11 at the Newman Center.

"I think a lot of people just don’t know what the Church teaches on this. There’s a lot of misinformation out there," Bishop Wester said. "A lot of people don’t think the churches should say anything, that they should just stay out of it. We have to do some pre-educating. First we have to educate people on why the Church has not only the right but the obligation to say something, and then we have to say something."

Bishop Wester said he plans to address not only the Church’s position on immigration, but also issues such as immigrants breaking the law coming into the United States, the perception that they take jobs from citizens and bring crime. "I want try to give people a context so that when these things come up, they won’t just blithely go along with it," he said. "The Utah Legislature in January will consider several immigration bills… and I think it’s important that we educate ourselves on immigration. We have to keep pushing hard on immigration reform, and this is one more opportunity to do that. Young people can be very persuasive."

Theology-on-Tap likely will start again in the spring, said Les Fleming, another young adult ministry coordinator. "When people are talking about our faith, that’s a success," he said. "In this experience they can actually experience what others are feeling and seeing of their faith."