It’s that time of year when catechumenate ministers ask the annual questions: “How many do we have in our RCIA?” and/or “Do we have people for Baptism for the Easter Vigil?” At times, the team can experience pressure to “find” someone as if it is the team’s responsibility to procure candidates for initiation at the […]
How many do you have in your RCIA?
This past weekend, I participated in an exciting two-day intensive in Houston, Texas. Two hundred RCIA leaders—including my mother!—gathered at St. Anne’s Catholic Community to discuss how the catechumenate can be a model for all faith formation. The event flowed flawlessly from beginning to end. That’s thanks to organizational rock star Sandy Higgins, who is
Houston RCIA teams focus on catechumenate as the model
I gave my last Forum institute this past weekend. Well, sort of a Forum institute. Forum, as our readers will know, closed down on June 30. But this institute had been scheduled many months ago. When Jim Schellman asked the diocese of Shreveport — and me — if we still wanted to go ahead with
RCIA ministry is flourishing in Shreveport
The answer might seem obvious. But if you think so, ask a few people and note their answers. A catechist has a vocation. We tend to use that word in the context of ordination or profession to a religious orders. When we are asked to “pray for vocations,” the clear intent is that we pray
Why are artists and RCIA catechists important?
The Washington Post has published a feature article on a local campaign for “the new evangelization” in Washington DC. Targeting strategies for face-to-face witness and invitation, the Archdiocese is seeking especially to mobilize young Catholics to share their faith. The campaign seeks to overhaul the concept of evangelization to something built for 2013, more subtle
As most of you know by now, the North American Forum on the Catechumenate will be closing its doors on June 30, 2013. (If this is the first you are hearing about it, you can read more here.) The Forum has been a grassroots organization that was made up of everyone who was ever touched
Goodbye to good friends at the North American Forum on the Catechumenate
I remember watching Joan talk with a group of middle schoolers who were just beginning the RCIA process. All the kids seemed to be smiling and engaged. Afterwards, I said to her, “You are a master!” She very casually replied, “Nah. I just love kids and I love Jesus.” This simple encounter got me thinking
Six skills every children’s RCIA catechist must have
When I was in third grade, Sr. Matilda drew an empty milk bottle on the blackboard. She said that when we were good or when we celebrated one of the sacraments, God filled our souls with grace. Then she turned the chalk sideways and filled in the milk bottle. She went on to say that
Abundant grace—a simple lesson for RCIA teams
You might not think you’re a theologian. But if you’ve ever tried to answer the questions, “Who is God?” or “Why does God matter?” then you’ve done theology. These big “meaning of life” kinds of questions often lie beneath the questions seekers and catechumens ask us, and our job as RCIA ministers is to answer
Why your RCIA process needs a theologian…and why that’s you
As evangelists and catechists, our number one job as catechumenate ministers is to bring people into intimacy and communion with Jesus Christ. That is impossible to do if we do not fully comprehend and teach that Jesus is part of a Holy Trinity. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that the truth of the
The Trinity is not a math problem
