Why is mystagogical catechesis—the kind of catechesis envisioned by the RCIA—so important? Why not just give seekers a catechism, tell them to memorize it, come back when they have, and zap them into the church, no muss, no fuss? The reason lies in the deepest wish Jesus has for those who earnestly search for God: […]
Why is mystagogical catechesis important in the RCIA?
Here is a simple process for helping your catechumens find their way around the Bible. If you would like to know more about the Bible, check out this webinar recording: “What your RCIA team needs to know about the Bible.” Click here for more information.
Finding your way around the Bible: basic steps for RCIA
My first experience of teaching adults was a lector training I did in the first parish I worked in. I was soooo nervous. I typed out my presentation (on a manual typewriter, pre-PowerPoint days), which came out to be 13 double-spaced pages. Then I stood in front of those suffering souls and read all 13
The secret to becoming a great RCIA teacher
Here is an exercise to try with your team that will make you a better RCIA catechist. If your team is small, grab a few other parishioners to help. Or even better, get some folks who have gone through your initiation process in past years. Try to have at least six people involved in this
Become a better RCIA catechist with this simple exercise
TeamRCIA is considering starting a Catechist School specifically focused on catechists who work in initiation ministry. Please help shape the form and direction of this exciting program. Add your thoughts to the survey below. Or e-mail your great ideas to Nick Wagner Loading…
TeamRCIA Catechist School Survey
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
Nearly sixty initiation ministers from the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois and the Diocese of Belleville, along with some folks from St. Louis, gathered August 2-3, 2013 for a workshop on children’s RCIA. The workshop, entitled Wading Deeper, is an annual event for RCIA ministers in the two Illinois dioceses and did we ever get
Children’s RCIA a hot topic in Springfield and Belleville
In a previous post, I said that if we want to involve the whole parish in the RCIA process, we have to stop making scholars and start making disciples. This is not easy. Our entire formation system is designed to create scholars. We place a heavy emphasis on “knowing the faith,” by which we usually
Five things every Catholic parish must do—and how RCIA matters
