Nick Wagner is the cofounder and codirector of Team Initiation.
1. Don’t rehearse the Easter Vigil Almost everywhere, parishes are planning to rehearse the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday. I know this is going to be hard to hear, but we have to stop making Holy Saturday a work day. It is a day of prayer, reflection, and fasting (see RCIA 185). In the Eastern […]
Seven ways RCIA teams can make Holy Saturday holier
Q. We do not have any catechumens this year, and therefore no scrutinies. How do we liturgically engage in the journey of the baptized candidates? A. This is a common question. Because there are few Lenten preparation rites for the baptized candidates in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, we can tend to think that
Q&A: What rites can we celebrate with RCIA baptized candidates in Lent?
Most people who want to delay the confirmation or first Communion of children who are baptized through the catechumenate process believe it is more pastoral for the children to celebrate confirmation or first Communion when they are older, with their peers who were baptized as infants. Two reasons for this run along the following lines
Will the Rite of Election be celebrated in your parish worship space this year? Many dioceses are shifting the rite out of the cathedral and into the parish because of the COVID-19 pandemic. And in dioceses where the celebration will still be held at the cathedral, the number of people present will be dramatically smaller
Will your Rite of Election be a true decision point this year?
Q. How do I get buy-in for my RCIA vision from the parish leadership and faith community? A. This question is at the heart of being human and being in relationship. Differences among us are baked into our DNA. The challenge is, in spite of all our differences, how do we join together to proclaim
Q&A: Eight ways to get RCIA buy-in from everyone in the parish—including the pastor
Q: What would you do with someone coming from a tradition that baptizes adults and older teens and so was catechized but never baptized? We don’t have an unbaptized, catechized, category. A:This is a great question, and it is actually a fairly common one. In the United States and in some parts of Canada and
Q&A: Does the RCIA have a category for unbaptized, catechized seekers?
Every January, I resolve to lose weight. And every December, I weigh about what I weighed in January. Sometimes, it is just too difficult to follow through on the commitments we make to ourselves. But more often, we don’t follow through on our resolutions because we don’t have a clear, compelling reason why we should
Five small RCIA upgrades that will have huge impact
Mollie Muntefering is the coordinator of liturgy and music at St. Mary Catholic Church in Waverly, Iowa. Does your parish have a year-round RCIA process? Do you have a story you’d like to share? If so, please send about 1,000 words to Nick Wagner, nick@teaminitiation.com. On the first Sunday of Advent this year, St. Mary
Originally from Montreal but now in Alberta for 25 years, Bonnie Kirk is an Oblate Missionary of Mary Immaculate, She completed her Master’s degree in Pastoral Ministry (1980) at St. Paul’s University in Ottawa. Bonnie has been in active ministry since 1977, enjoying the RCIA adventure for close to 30 years. She currently serves as
How RCIA teams can be witnesses even in cyberspace
The COVID-19 pandemic has completely disrupted our liturgical life. And that disruption has uncovered some previously unspoken assumptions about liturgy and the rites for catechumens. In a recent article in America magazine, for example, Anthony R. Lusvardi, SJ, writes about his struggles with presiding at streamed liturgies. The main point he wants to make is
The pandemic and three unspoken RCIA assumptions
