Your Parish Is the Curriculum
RCIA in the Midst of the Community
Why this book matters
Taking to heart what the United States bishops said in their document on adult faith formation—”While the parish may have an adult faith formation program, it is no less true that the parish is an adult faith formation program”—Diana Macalintal argues that we have to stop trying to get the parish involved in the RCIA and start getting the catechumens and candidates involved in the parish.
When you make your parish the RCIA curriculum, you will be shaping not just a group of people but an entire community into lifelong disciples.
In this book, readers will discover:
- why doing the RCIA in the midst of the community not only forms seekers into disciples but renews the conversion of the entire parish
- what parishioners can do to take responsibility for the initiation of adults, without adding another meeting to their lives
- how to use the four key areas of parish life and the liturgical year to introduce seekers to Christ and train them in the Christian way of life
- the three levels of catechesis and how to use mystagogical reflection on parish life to provide a systematic and complete catechesis appropriate for each level
What others are saying about Your Parish Is the Curriculum
Often forgotten in discussions of evangelization is the role of the parish in forming a new way of life. Diana Macalintal’s description of the parish as the curriculum for the RCIA serves as a medicine against this amnesia about the parish. Readers will discover in this book not simply an introduction to the role of the parish in the RCIA. They’ll also learn a deeper appreciation for the way that the parish is the curriculum for formation in mature Christianity. Macalintal’s book is an important contribution for those involved in adult formation, catechesis, and evangelization.
— Timothy P. O’Malley, Academic Director, Notre Dame Center for Liturgy
Diana Macalintal lays out the Church’s reasons why the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is not the task of a few but the right and duty of the whole parish community. She does this by real-life stories and examples, by helpful definitions and charts, and by connecting the RCIA rites and methods to our broader Christian tradition. This book is imbued with reasoned and practical ways for trusting Sunday, the liturgical year, real catechesis, and all the baptized parishioners to care for seekers, catechumens, and candidates who want to be faithful with us. Instead of creating new structures, she urges use of what already exists in parish life and Church structure as the way to initiate.
— Eliot Kapitan, Former director of Worship and the Catechumenate
in the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois
In Your Parish is the Curriculum: RCIA In the Midst of the Community Diana Macalintal offers a practical and engaging vision for parishes as communities of discipleship that accompany people at all stages of their faith journey through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. In an accessible and down-to-earth manner she outlines principles, suggestions and ideas to help parishes-both those who are new to the RCIA process and those who are veterans-to facilitate and foster conversion.
— Julianne Stanz, Director of New Evangelization, Diocese of Green Bay
Have you felt daunted at fully implementing the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults in your parish? When you finish Diana Macalintal’s book, you’ll wonder why you worried. Your Parish Is the Curriculum is a readable, concise, realistic, invigorating view of the entire formation and celebration of the RCIA. Whether you are new or experienced in this ministry, you will find fresh ideas and gain total confidence in the joyful task of helping interested adults join the Catholic family.
— Fr. Paul Turner, Pastor, Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Kansas City, Missouri, Director, Office of Divine Worship, Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph
Meet Diana
Diana Macalintal is the codirector and cofounder of TeamRCIA.com, a free online resource for catechumenate ministry. She is an author and speaker on liturgy, music, prayer, RCIA, and intercultural ministry. She holds a Master of Arts in Theology from Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, and has served in campus, parish, and diocesan ministries for almost 30 years. Her latest books include The Work of Your Hands, a collection of prayers; Joined by the Church, Sealed by a Blessing, a parish resource for marriage preparation which she wrote with her husband, Nick Wagner; Living Liturgy, a Sunday by Sunday liturgical year resource; and Your Parish Is the Curriculum: RCIA in the Midst of the Community, all published by Liturgical Press.
Discover how to transform your parish through the RCIA
Your Parish is the Curriculum will help you shape not just a group of people but an entire community into lifelong disciples.
