Nick Wagner is the cofounder and codirector of Team Initiation.
At our 2021 year-end review meeting for TeamRCIA, we discovered a surprising fact about millennials. When we started TeamRCIA in 2007, millennials were barely a thing. That year, the oldest of them was in their mid-20s. Today, the youngest of them is in their mid-20s and the elders are just reaching their 40s. What have […]
Do you have millennials on your catechumenate team?
In previous posts, we looked at what the Rite (Order) of Christian Initiation of Adults says about why conversion is important and what the church means by conversion. In this post, we want to look at how, according to the rite, we can foster conversion in seekers. When we are talking about the initial conversion
I once had to call an online shoe company about a problem with my order, and I was dreading it. These days, you don’t get to talk to a human. You have to “press or say” numbers in response to robotic questions. But I had no choice. I took a deep breath and dialed the
You get what you measure: What the new translation means by “conversion”
Blessed Christmas to you from all of us here at TeamRCIA! May Jesus, the Word Become Flesh, dwell in you that all may know our good and gracious God.
On the Third Sunday of Advent, I went to a church where a friend of mine is the pastor. I arrived a few minutes late, and I was surprised the liturgy hadn’t started yet. The Mass was being celebrated in the church basement because the church itself was being renovated. And the renovation was four
Why conversion is so important in the Rite (Order) of Christian Initiation of Adults
We all know the saying about not being able to fit square pegs into round holes. When we accompany others on the journey of faith, we are almost always in the business of getting squares to fit into rounds. In some sense, that is what we mean be conversion. People are living “square” lives and
How to fit in square pegs when our formation process is a round hole
When the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is retranslated, the new title of the rite will be Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. We’ve already seen some people referring to the new translation as “OCIA.” This is probably fine if you are referring to the written text of the document, “Order of Christian Initiation
When I was in college in the late 1970s, I read the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy for the first time. I remember highlighting and underlining so many phrases from that document. It was like someone had given me the key to a treasure chest. Some key passages include the teaching that Christ is present
What are celebrations of the word? How to give your RCIA seekers a foretaste of heaven
I discovered how to be a catechist for seekers almost by accident. When I was in my 20s, I learned all about liturgy, and I worked in a parish that had a vibrant catechumenate ministry. My role in that ministry was to plan and facilitate the rites for the seekers. When I was in my
Uncover the hidden gem of RCIA formation—celebrations of the word
Antonia is the catechumenate coordinator in her parish. She recently went to a diocesan workshop that encouraged parishes to accompany seekers all year long — not just October to April. She got very excited about implementing some of what she learned. But the pastor likes the current school model and refuses to change. Theo had
46 ways to accompany seekers even if you’re not in charge of the RCIA process
