Philip Lomneth is a husband and a father who works as a Director of Formation at the Co-Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Rochester, MN. Since 2017, he has helped guide people through the Rites of Christian Initiation where they come to love the Lord with all their heart, their mind, their strength, and […]
Toward a year-round RCIA process—one thing at a time with small steps
For those of you who are Star Trek fans, the term “first contact” has a special meaning—it’s that moment when the Federation (typically humans) encounter an alien race for the first time. In the Star Trek universe, how well that “first contact” goes can have repercussions for generations, be it the positive relationship that developed
Is your RCIA open all year-round? First contact: Catechizing your parish on talking with seekers
Rosie Rundell has been a Pastoral Associate for Seven Dolors Catholic Church in Manhattan, Kansas, for 21 years. She has been involved with RCIA ministry for over 30 years in four different parishes. She received her undergraduate degree from Benedictine University, Atchison, Kansas; a Masters degree in Pastoral Ministry and a certificate in Spiritual Direction
A year-round, apprenticeship model for RCIA gives me confidence that we are forming disciples
Evangelization and outreach Host a weekly or monthly online chat on “What Catholics Think about _______.” Fill in the blank with common questions about Catholics or else whatever is in the news right now. For example: What Catholics Think about the Bible What Catholics Think about Saints What Catholics Think about Climate Change What Catholics
50 ideas for RCIA teams during the pandemic
Perhaps one of the most common questions I hear when moving to a year-round process is, do we need to break everyone up into separate groups to facilitate the preparation process? In other words, keeping together certain cohorts who may be on a similar path? Or keeping cohorts who “started” together in a separate group?
Is your RCIA open all year-round? Having all your seekers around the same table
Don Roberts has been the RCIA Team Leader for the Parish Community of St. Joseph in Belmont, NH, since 2012. In the 1980s, he and his late wife Pat introduced the process to their suburban Albany, NY, parish. After a 15-year stay in Virginia, they returned to RCIA in their retirement in New Hampshire. Don
We’re flexible: How our parish does year-round RCIA
Here at TeamRCIA, we spend a lot of time talking about the inadequacy adapting the catechumenate into a school model. Using a classroom paradigm is so common in parishes that many RCIA teams think it is the norm. However, if you read the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults carefully, you will find no reference
The school model is a chokehold on the RCIA
Jess Panlener is on the Discipleship Team at St. Charles in Hartland, WI, outside of Milwaukee, where she is the RCIA (Becoming Fully Catholic) director, baptism coordinator, and adult and family minister. She holds a master’s degree in historical theology from Marquette University, but she is a Wisconsin Badger through and through. Jess and her
Jesus’s timing is perfect—one parish’s experience of year-round RCIA
Let’s be honest—many of our parishes do a poor job of connecting with and communicating with their communities. Not just with regular their parishioners, but especially with those whom we want to attract and bring into our communities—our seekers, our catechumens, and our candidates. One of the inadvertent gifts of COVID-19 was bring this challenge
Q: We have the people, support, space, everything needed to make a continuous initiation process happen. But exactly how do we proceed with the actual logistics of having people at different places, and how you speak to them individually but also as a group? How do you integrate new people without repeating yourself over and
Q&A: Multiple seekers on the journey of faith—how to start a year-round RCIA
