Nick Wagner is the cofounder and codirector of Team Initiation.
In a previous post, I talked about how all of the baptized have a vocation to accomplish the mission of the church. Our number-one job as RCIA team members is to form our seekers to be able to accomplish that mission. The first step in the process of formation is to develop in the seekers […]
Do your RCIA seekers have a spiritual formation plan?
When your seekers look at the church, what do they see? I wonder if they see a pyramid — with the bishops and priests at the top, supported from below by the laity. Honestly, that’s the way I saw the church throughout my childhood and most of my teen years. It is the way the
Your RCIA team’s number-one job
Several years ago, I was helping lead a training institute for RCIA teams. One of the participants was quite young compared to the rest of us who were mostly well past 40. I asked her how she wound up serving on her parish’s RCIA team. She told me that when she was in college, she
RCIA formation is a call to holiness
We often hear from RCIA coordinators that they encounter seekers who are too busy to participate in very much of the formation process the parish has designed for them. In a previous post, I suggested that often the seeker is not necessarily too busy but is instead not making formation a priority. However, exceptions prove
On a recent trip for a TeamRCIA institute, Diana and I took time to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. As I stood contemplating a 19th century Impressionist work, two young women dashed in front of me, snapped a picture of the paining, and hurried away as quickly as they’d arrived.
Teach RCIA seekers to imagine salvation
Recently, a candidate for reception into the full communion of the Catholic Church wrote an article for America magazine titled: “How can I think about becoming Catholic after the latest sex abuse reports?” I share the writer’s overwhelming grief, and I am completely dismayed and disheartened about the abuse scandals. I suspect many of you
Why be Catholic in the midst of scandal?
An RCIA leader recently wrote this response to one of our blog posts: “Many of our inquirers are on a ‘fast track’ and we are lucky to get them to attend a session let alone extra parish functions. We know what should be done but the realities of the fast paced life of many of
The truth about busy-ness for RCIA seekers
I have a confession to make. I don’t like RCIA. I do love everything about the catechumenate and the ministry of initiating new folks into the mission the gospel. But I do not like how this awesome process of joining people to Christ is reduced to a set of initials. You might think that’s odd
RCIA or OCIA? Rite vs. Order in the catechumenate
Ever since the Roman Missal was retranslated and we had to learn all new responses in the Mass, people have been asking if there will be a new translation of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. It is likely that there will be, but we do not have one yet. Free download: How long
Is there a new version of the RCIA?
It took me a long time to think of myself as a catechist. When I was growing up, a catechist was essentially a religious education teacher. I never wanted to be a teacher. I’ve substituted for classroom teachers twice in my life, and I failed both times. I’ve never had formal catechist training. And I
Look for RCIA catechists who are good at these three things
