Ever since the English-speaking world become aware that the initiation rites would be retranslated, folks have been asking us, “Are you going to change your name?” When we launched TeamRCIA back in 2007, we might have chosen a different name if we had known that the title of the rite would change from “Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults” to “Order of Christian Initiation of Adults.” But the Holy Spirit had other plans.

Our old name has served us well and helped us get the word out to catechumenate teams across the world that a community of people who accompany seekers was forming online to support one another and learn how to become excellent ministers of initiation.

Now that the name of the rite is about to officially and publicly change, the easiest route for us would have been to simply change one letter: from R to O, TeamRCIA to TeamOCIA. (We even secured the domain name, just in case!) But we chose not to do that for a very important reason.

Shortening the name of the rite to its initials shortchanges the meaning of what we all do as disciples. Acronyms become jargon, a set of letters easy to contain and write into a calendar. And without even realizing it, that acronym that began as insider shorthand for describing how we help seekers fall in love with Jesus has unintentionally become seen as a program that one must register for or a meeting that happens in the parish hall. When we speak only in acronyms, all of us—seekers, companions, disciples—have a harder time recognizing that what we do is an ongoing journey of faith that leads us deeper every day into the heart of God.

So instead, we made the harder choice to rename ourselves as: Team Initiation. The goal of our ministry—yours and ours—is initiation into Jesus Christ. We start by announcing the good news to those most in need: Jesus Christ loves us (all of us), gave his life to save us, and is now living at our side every day to enlighten, strengthen, and free us.

The goal of our ministry—yours and ours—is initiation into Jesus Christ.

Proclaiming the message

Everything we do in initiation ministry has to proclaim that message over and over and over again. We believe the name “Team Initiation” captures the spirit of that first proclamation in a way that “TeamOCIA” simply could not.

Our new logo emphasizes the heart of that fundamental proclamation: Jesus’s abiding love. Therefore, this journey of faith is never taken alone. We accompany one another at every step. These companions might be at the beginning of that journey or moving from one stage of it to the next or paused somewhere in between. They may be coming or going, drawn toward us seeking something more or sent out on mission to announce what they have seen. Whatever the circumstances, the journey of faith is always through the heart of the Christian community, the people of God that surrounds the seekers with the love of Jesus who walks with them every day, no matter what.

That accompaniment is also at the heart of the cross of Christ who shares in our joys, knows our sufferings, and draws us closer to him and to one another. As initiation ministers, we strive to do the same in this ministry we share as we accompany each other, encourage one another, and together proclaim Christ’s love for the world.

We hope that feeling of warmth and love also comes across in the new colors, fonts, and layout of the website and that a little bit of the joy we have known in this ministry is shared with you whenever you visit this tiny corner of the internet.

Our new logo emphasizes the heart of that fundamental proclamation: Jesus’s abiding love. Therefore, this journey of faith is never taken alone. We accompany one another at every step. We might be at the beginning of that journey or moving from one stage of it to the next or paused somewhere in between. We may be coming or going, drawn in seeking something more or sent out on mission to announce what we have seen. Whatever the circumstances, the journey is always through the heart of the Christian community, the people of God surrounding seekers with the love of Jesus who walks at their side every day, no matter what.

Building up the community

Even though we spent many hours parsing all these fine details, we realize the message they convey is subtle and even subliminal. It’s all a bit in the background, and next time you come to the website, you might not even remember anything we’ve described here about our new name or logo.

What we hope you do remember is that this is your community, entirely created with you in mind. So we invite you to explore and take part in all the training resources and support we’ve gathered in one place for you, the Team Initiation community, because we truly believe this community will inspire you to engage with your seekers with more confidence and true joy in Christ.

For those of you who are new to this community and ministry, please click on the links above in the navigation bar to explore all that is available for you.

And for those of you who are Team Initiation Members, take a moment to rediscover the many courses, webinars, videos, and podcasts that are at your fingertips. If you are logged in, look for these icons at the top of the page and they will take you to each of these member resources.

If you are not yet a Team Initiation Member, you won’t see these menu icons. But you can! To explore all the many, many benefits of membership and to get your own personalized homepage with access to everything Team Initiation has to offer, click on the button below.

If you sign up today for an annual membership, use the coupon code initiation30 to get a 30% discount off your first year of membership!

At the end of the day, we’re glad the Holy Spirit’s plan for us included this name change. It has given Diana and me the opportunity to remember why we started this ministry in 2007 and to recommit to it. Our goal back then is the same today: proclaim that Jesus loves us (all of us) and is living at our side every day.

We know that’s true because of you. We see how dedicated all of you are to this ministry of accompaniment and initiation. In you, we see Jesus’s love for us all.

Thank you for all you do to walk with others and with us in faith. Blessings on your ministry.