Making it Personal with Bishop William Joensen

Faith That Crosses Generations: Inside Intergenerational Faith Formation with Jenni Lihs - 06/20/2026

Episode Summary

Jenni Lihs, Director of Faith Formation at Saints John and Paul in Altoona, joins Bishop William Joensen and co-host Jean Thill to unpack intergenerational faith formation — a whole-family model the parish has run for 23 years. She shares how a shared meal, community-building, and side-by-side learning draw parents, kids, grandparents, and even unchurched and interfaith families into deeper discipleship together. Bishop Joensen also previews a graced weekend across the Diocese of Des Moines, from the Iowa March for Life to Hispanic Leadership Institute sending Masses.

Episode Notes

This week on Making It Personal, Bishop William Joensen and co-host Jean Thill welcome Jenni Lihs, Director of Faith Formation at Saints John and Paul Parish in Altoona, for a conversation about intergenerational faith formation — a model the parish has been running and refining for 23 years.

Jenni traces her own path from ten years teaching preschool special education and a season at home raising her family to a "you didn't stand a chance" call into faith formation, rooted in a childhood love of Vacation Bible School and a formative TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) retreat. She explains how Saints John and Paul adopted the John Roberto intergenerational model more than two decades ago and how it has stayed faithful to its core while evolving season to season.

Highlights from the conversation include:

• The monthly rhythm — the whole family gathers one Sunday and one Wednesday each month (the same program, repeated). Each gathering opens with supper, moves into prayer and an activity, sends kids to age-appropriate groups while the adults stay together, then reunites everyone for closing.
• Community first — randomized table seating and gentle "getting to know you" icebreakers lower anxiety so families, including those new to the faith or with one non-Catholic parent, feel welcome learning side by side.
• Parishioners as presenters — adults consistently say their favorite sessions are when fellow parents share from lived experience.
• This year's theme: the parables — adults worked through eight parables (including the workers in the vineyard) at their own depth while children explored the same Scripture at theirs.
• Year-round youth — youth groups begin in third grade to keep kids connected across the parish's many school districts, alongside catechists who often say they receive more than they give.

Jenni's encouragement for parishes considering this model: start small. Add a couple of simple family nights a year, keep the meal easy (hot dogs one month, pizza the next), and let community grow from the mustard seed.

Learn more about the parish and its faith formation programs at SSJohnPaul.org.

Around the Diocese of Des Moines, Bishop Joensen previews a full weekend: the Iowa March for Life at the Iowa Capitol, reflections tied to the nation's 250th anniversary, and Hispanic Leadership Institute graduation sending Masses — Saturday at 6:00 p.m. at St. Ambrose Cathedral and Sunday with the Corpus Christi cohort in Council Bluffs, plus the Hispanic Christian Family Movement Mass at Sacred Heart in West Des Moines. He also gives thanks for the transitional diaconate ordination of Deacon Luke Mohan of St. Francis of Assisi, and welcomes Jean's grandkids to the studio.

Hear Making It Personal with Bishop William Joensen every week on Iowa Catholic Radio and at IowaCatholicRadio.com.

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