Nick Wagner is the cofounder and codirector of Team Initiation.
Several years ago, I was leading a workshop, and I asked the room what they thought the most important reform was to come out of the Second Vatican Council. For those of us who remember the church before Vatican II, there are many choices. However, on that day, no one with gray hair raised their […]
The secret to holiness—an RCIA challenge
When I moved to California over 20 years ago, I left my Midwestern roots, my family and friends, everything I knew. I moved 2,000 miles from home. That is about 500 miles more than the distance between London and Moscow. You have to cross two mountain ranges to get from the Midwestern United States to
Pope Francis wants to know, does your RCIA team smell like sheep?
Fifty years ago today, the bishops of the world issued this mandate: “The catechumenate for adults…is to be restored” (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, December 4, 1963). Fifty years later, I don’t think we have yet answered this call—not completely. In fact, I think we may be getting off track and “restoring” something that never
Pope Francis is setting sail…is your RCIA team onboard?
This is a guest post provided by Joseph Mangone, a pastoral liturgist from Irving, Texas. Last week my friend told me that his pastor wants to install a baptismal pool in the center of the church replacing a traditional font located in a side baptistery area. It would cost $15,000, and he was asking people
Planning for a new baptismal font
I remember the first time I read a papal letter. I was a junior in college, and I had recently taken a job as a campus minister. The new, young, exciting pope, John Paul II, had just issued his first encyclical. There was no Internet in 1979 (well, there was, but only computer geeks and
Five ways Pope Francis will change your RCIA ministry
One year in high school, I worked a part-time job at K-Mart to pick up some extra gas money. Early in November, there was a notice in the employee break room asking for associates to work on Thanksgiving Day to stock the shelves in preparation for “Black Friday.” The store was not going to be
Does your RCIA team have a recipe for a greed-free Thanksgiving?
Here is a made-up story that is nevertheless true. Carmen and James have two children, ages one and two. James is not Catholic, but both he and Carmen have agreed that for the sake of family unity, they should both practice the same faith. So James has started the RCIA process at his parish. The
Why one catechist stopped doing RCIA
Educational researcher Sugata Mitra speaking at TED2013In 1999, Sugata Mitra was teaching computer programming in New Delhi. His school was right next to a slum. He wondered if the children from the slum would ever be able to learn to write computer programs. So, out of curiosity, he gave them a computer. And then he
An amazing lesson from Tamil-speaking children for RCIA teams
We have to wonder why this is even a question. The teaching of the church is crystal clear: In order to signify clearly the interrelation or coalescence of the three sacraments, which are required for full Christian initiation (canon 842.2), adult candidates, including children of catechetical age, are to receive baptism, confirmation and eucharist in
Can we delay confirmation of child catechumens in the RCIA?
We all know there is a shortage of priests in the United States church, right? But what is the impact of that shortage on our evangelization efforts? Of course, the fewer priests we have, the fewer evangelists we have. But the shrinking ranks of the priesthood has an even more profound effect than just the
One unexpected way the priest shortage impacts evangelization
