Diana and I have been on an amazing month-long journey through much of Australia. In our time there, we learned (or relearned) several things. We are on a journey that promises life, but we don’t always see it. We are called, as Abraham and Sarah was, to leave our country for a country the Lord […]
Journey to the source: Five things you need to know about the RCIA
If I asked you what Pope Francis said in his speech to the U.S. Congress last September, I’ll bet most of you couldn’t tell me. But if I asked what kind of car he drove off in after the speech, most of you will remember it was a tiny black Fiat. The Fiat made more
RCIA as a little black Fiat ministry
At almost every TeamRCIA institute Diana and I have led over the last two years, someone will complain that some aspect of the RCIA process they are doing is not working. And we will then ask why they keep doing it. And invariably the reply is, “Because that’s the way we’ve always done it.” I
Reasons to stop doing RCIA the way you’ve always done it
When I first leaned about the RCIA in the 1980s, it was a brand new rite in the church. What caught my attention right away was the dismissal of the catechumens. I didn’t know anything about the theology of the dismissal or even much about catechumens. But I did know about Catholics. Right away, I
How to make parish renewal a byproduct of RCIA
If you want to move to a year-round catechumenate but you think it will be too much work or you don’t know where to start, start with baby steps. You don’t have to do everything all at once. For example, I was at Mass at a parish outside my diocese on a July Sunday. At
Your first small step toward a year-round RCIA process
How many team members do you need for an effective RCIA process? The answer to that depends on what you mean by “RCIA.” If your RCIA starts in September and ends at Easter Vigil or during the Easter season, then you probably need about five to seven highly committed team members (not including sponsors). If,
RCIA: Learn why year-round is easier
Recently, we asked you what your RCIA timeline looks like (click here to contribute your responses). I thought you might like to see some of the responses so far. One question we asked was, “Has your parish moved from a time-limited catechumenate to an ongoing, year-round process?” Honestly, I was surprised by the number of
The benefits and challenges of a year-round RCIA process
Mary Birmingham and I just completed a TeamRCIA Catechist School in Columbus, Ohio. Toward the end of the school, we asked the participants what they learned and why that was important. Many of them said they learned the importance of providing formation for the inquirers and the catechumens all year long. And a lot of
Four easy ways to start a year-round RCIA process
If you have been reading the training articles on TeamRCIA for very long, you know that the RCIA is the model for all catechesis. But does the rest of the parish know? Who needs to know this stuff? You might consider “evangelizing” other catechetical teams in your parish to begin using the six principles of
Discover a simple way to help the whole parish catechize the RCIA way
As RCIA ministers, most of us know what we do. We make Catholics. The fuzzier question is why. Why do we make Catholics? Answers we might expect include things like having the fullness of the faith or Real Presence. Some answer by saying we were founded by Jesus while all the other churches were founded
The Culture of Death vs. The Culture of Life: Why we do RCIA
