Do you ever find yourself getting frustrated with your whole RCIA process? Sometimes I sure do. Dealing with team members with different ideas, catechumens and candidates who don’t show up, or pastors who want things a particular way that might go contrary to the way you would like. There’s any number of frustrations that go […]
Is your RCIA open all year-round? Do we even need catechetical sessions?
One of the common misconceptions of our role as catechists is that we are “teachers” of the faith. That it is our job to give seekers (often mistakenly referred to as “students”) knowledge about our faith’s doctrine and traditions. But this view, especially for the RCIA catechist, is, if I may say, a little too
Is your RCIA open all year-round? The Pyramid of Acceptance/Belief
Like most people, I am terrible at keeping New Year’s resolutions. But several years ago, I found a way to become better. Now, I make 90-day resolutions. At the end of 90 days, I check in with myself to see how I’m doing. Then I either recommit to my resolutions, or I trade them in
13 New Year’s resolutions for RCIA leaders and teams
I know a lot of catechists who approach their ministry with all the zeal of a foreign missionary, especially when it comes to the RCIA. That was the feeling we all had in our RCIA team when I first joined them 21 years ago. Here was our chance to bring Christ to those who had
Is your RCIA open all year-round? Are we catechizing for knowledge or understanding?
In a recent post, I pointed out that the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity from the Second Vatican Council instructs that we who are members of the royal priesthood should be especially focused on social action (see paragraph 7). I then drew the conclusion that if our RCIA processes are not making this
What commitment is your RCIA prioritizing?
Some years ago, business leaders were caught up in a trend called “Management by Objective” (MBO). MBO is a method of organizing and motivating employees to accomplish the objectives of the company. So if the objective of a company is to sell a million widgets, whatever any employee does to help the company reach that
What is your RCIA team’s objective for the catechumens?
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?
It never fails… whenever I talk with fellow RCIA catechists about our year-round process, I inevitably get the question, “Does that mean you run your sessions all year round?” My answer is always a definitive “no!” Running a year-round process does not mean you have to run catechetical session all year round. Instead, it’s understanding
Is your RCIA open all year-round? Does this mean year-round catechetical sessions?
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
“When do your classes start?” If you’re an RCIA coordinator you probably hear this question on a regular basis. Most times you hear it from seekers, but I’ve also heard it from our own parish staff. I have two problems with this question. First is the use of the word “classes.” Second is with the
Is your RCIA open all year-round? Watch your language
