Three easy ways to evangelize
The period of the precatechumenate is all about evangelization. Don’t send seekers away, asking them to come back later. Use these simple skills to engage them immediately.
Evangelization
5 ways RCIA leaders can overcome “the way we’ve always done it”
In 1968, the best team in the upstart American Football league was led by a brash young quarterback who had thrown most of his passes that year for interceptions. Even so, they were slated to go up against the far superior National Football League champions—the Baltimore Colts—in Super Bowl III. Most people expected a crushing
5 ways RCIA leaders can overcome “the way we’ve always done it”
Wow! The universal truth RCIA teams can learn from box-office hits
I was once part of an RCIA team along with another catechist who had a great devotion to St. Michael. Whenever she would lead a session, somehow the conversation always got around to St. Michael. On the team I’m currently with, one member is a dedicated supporter of our parish food pantry for the poor.
Wow! The universal truth RCIA teams can learn from box-office hits
Surprising demographic trends that will change the way you do RCIA
If you have been working in RCIA ministry for a number of years, you may have already noticed some shifts in the way you need to minister. These trends in the United States are upending our usual patterns and causing us to rethink our processes. Catholics are leaving the northeast Catholics are leaving the northeast
Surprising demographic trends that will change the way you do RCIA
Wow! Do you know the secret for creating real presence for RCIA participants?
In the Eastern rite churches, just before Eucharist begins, the deacon chants, “Kairos tou poiesai to Kyrio” (“It is time [kairos] for the Lord to act”); indicating that the time of the liturgy is an intersection with eternity. One icy fall away from eternity Have you ever been to a liturgy like that? Or have
Wow! Do you know the secret for creating real presence for RCIA participants?
Wow! Give your RCIA participants the gift of fear
One of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit is fear of the Lord (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1831). The other six all seem like gifts we would want to get, but who would want to open up a brightly wrapped box of fear on Christmas Day or your birthday? Do your RCIA candidates
Wow! Give your RCIA participants the gift of fear
Wow! Build anticipation in your RCIA process—without walking on water
When we set out to teach inquirers and catechumens about faith, we sometimes get caught in a worry-trap that we may not be giving them enough doctrine. When you think about how Jesus taught, you’ll notice that he delivered a lot of “doctrine,” but he didn’t worry about it too much. What he focused on
Wow! Build anticipation in your RCIA process—without walking on water
Wow! The importance of “surprise” in the RCIA
Michael Hyatt, chairman of Thomas Nelson Books, has written a lot about creating “wow” experiences. I think we can learn some things from him and apply his “wow” principles to our RCIA processes. The first step, as I wrote about here, is to identify the wow experiences in our own lives. Then, Hyatt says, we
Wow! The importance of “surprise” in the RCIA
Wow! What RCIA teams can learn from Steve Jobs
If you can stand one more reference to Steve Jobs, I’d like say a word or two. Steve Jobs was great at many things, but I think what he was best at was selling stuff. He did not invent the Mac, or the iPod, or the iPhone, or the i-anything. What he did was figure
Wow! What RCIA teams can learn from Steve Jobs
Set the stage for effective evangelization
We get a lot of questions at TeamRCIA, but one question we never get is, “How can our team be better at evangelization?” If you think about it though, shouldn’t this be the burning question for every RCIA team? The first stage of the catechumenate is named the “Period of Evangelization.” Everything else we do
Set the stage for effective evangelization
