Theology on Tap

Last Thursday I spoke to the Theology on Tap group here in Lawrence County, at the Four Brothers Urban Bistro in beautiful downtown New Castle.

New Castle sparkled that evening with its annual pre-Thanksgiving parade.  Our St. Vitus school children led one of the 50 floats in the parade.

The parade was a problem for me, however.  I visited two parishioners in Jameson Hospital, just north of the city, around 5:00 pm.  At 6 I drove back into the city.  I found I couldn't get through the smallish business district to where the bistro was located.  Just about every street was blocked by police to direct the parade.  I tried going around the city--and found I couldn't.  I drove for miles outside the city (halfway to the Grove City shops).  My GPS was useless, as its route was blocked by the parade.  There are no bridges over the Shenango River--who knew?  As 7:00 pm approached and the scheduled start I had the panicky thought that I'll miss the talk in my own city.  Finally I decided to dump my car illegally next to a bank, and just walk the six or so blocks to the pub--and through the parade route.

Theology on Tap was started by two Chicago priests thirty years ago, as an attempt to reach out to young adults (ages 20-39).  The thinking was, if the young adults don't come onto church campuses for meetings and adult formation, the church will go to where the young people are--bars!  If that sounds heretical, well, it works.  Theology on Tap has spread to cities all across the country.  In our diocese we have several groups associated with parishes.  This was the third time I spoke to a Theology on Tap group in western Pennsylvania.

Eleven not-so-young adults were gathered to listen to me.  They knew each other, and gave me a warm welcome.  I am on a kick to present the U.S. Bishops' document, Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.  (See my blog post of October 10.)  This document was first issued in November 2007, prior to the 2008 presidential election.  A month ago it was reapproved as the bishops' effort to educate Catholics and others about our values and principles going into another presidential campaign.

I talked for 20 minutes or so, and then took questions.  We jumped around a wide range of issues:  the loss of "community" in our country; who can/can't tell you whom to vote for; gun control; abortion and abortion politics; taxes; the environmental issues around Marcellus Shale drilling.  If there was a down-side to our lively discussion, it was that almost everyone spoke from their experience, but couldn't use the church's principles and social concern messages to challenge their experience. 

I don't think we resolved anything.  But when we departed at 9:30, it was clear, as one participant said, that Catholics have to do a lot more to learn about their faith after receiving the sacrament of Confirmation at age 14.  These folks, and Theology on Tap, were doing just that--learning about the church's social teachings, to be better and faithful Catholics.    I hope they invite me back.