Nick Wagner is the cofounder and codirector of Team Initiation.
I like to think of myself as a lifelong learner. Right now, I have ten books on my “to read” shelf. I also like learning new skills, exploring new places, and trying new recipes. But sometimes learning is drudgery. I struggled to learn just enough French to complete my master’s degree. I had to learn […]
What is adult learning in the RCIA? Six concepts
For the first five centuries that the church existed, the norm for initiation was baptism of adults. Infants were probably also baptized, but the New Testament never explicitly mentions that they were. By the second century, there is more firm evidence of the baptism of infants and children, but it is not the norm. Some
Why is the norm of adult initiation so important?
As RCIA ministers, most of us know what we do. We make Catholics. The fuzzier question is why. Why do we make Catholics? Answers we might expect include things like having the fullness of the faith or Real Presence. Some answer by saying we were founded by Jesus while all the other churches were founded
The Culture of Death vs. The Culture of Life: Why we do RCIA
Recently someone asked me if we had a program for RCIA. I told them the parish is the program. That might sound evasive or nonresponsive, but I really believe that. Let’s look at how this might work. In the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, we are told that before an inquirer can celebrate the
What is the program for conversion in the RCIA?
Storytelling is the only way to make sense of having your life turned upside down and inside out. Think about your “Mary at the tomb” moment or your “Paul getting flattened by the Holy Spirit” moment. How are you going to tell others about what happened? How are you going to tell yourself what happened?
Why is it important to tell your dying and rising story?
Rita Ferrone, a team member here at TeamRCIA, has taken on the responsibility of editing the Yale ISM Review, published by Yale Institute of Sacred Music. (Yale is where Rita did her graduate studies). In the inagural issue, she included a reflection on the mosaic floor of the Honan Chapel in Cork, Ireland. The mosaic
A pre-Vatican II preparation for the catechumens
The first TeamRCIA institute of 2015 was a great success. Ninety of us gathered in Richmond, Virginia to explore the basics of the RCIA process. There were many memorable moments, but one of the best was the mystagogical reflection on our adapted Presentation of the Creed. We celebrated the rite at the end of the
The Diocese of Richmond starts off our 2015 RCIA institutes
In this series of posts, I have been exploring why it is important to involve the whole parish in the initiation process and some ways we might make that happen. We explore the same questions on our TeamRCIA Making Disciples Institutes, and we conclude by asking the participants: What would happen if we actually engaged
Four roadblocks to involving the parish in RCIA
“Your ideas sound great for big city parishes, but I come from a small rural parish. Our parish doesn’t have any activities.” Jane was responding to a point I made last year at one of TeamRCIA’s Making Disciples institutes. I was pointing out what the U.S. Bishops said about catechesis: In addition, learning by Christian
Is your parish too small for RCIA?
