Calling all catechists! We have a fellow catechist in need. Ross sent me the following:

I have a particular problem in that I have recently taken over a class of 20 children of different ages. Although qualified as a teacher I have have no previous teaching as a catechist.
I only have half an hour each week to do this. The Children range from K1 (kindergarten) to year 6. Any help would be appreciated – regards ross

Ross, this is indeed a challenge. It would be helpful if you can clarify a few details:

1. What is the reason for the unusual age-grouping (K-6)?
2. Is this a children’s catechumenate (preparing them to receive the sacraments of Initiation)?
3. What are you being asked to do in 30 minutes? Teach lessons? Do a children’s liturgy of the Word? Have you been given a textbook or materials to use?
4. Are there other groupings like this in the program?
5. What was done previously? What direction is the DRE providing?

Perhaps with a few more details, we may be able to offer some concrete advice on how to most effectively catechize in your situation. My first reaction is that you may want to proceed as though doing a children’s Liturgy of the Word, a lectionary-based approach, where you focus on the Sunday Scripture readings and lessons that can be drawn from the readings. Not knowing some of the details of your situation, however, I’m hesitant to jump too quickly into offering solutions.

If any folks already have some advice to offer, by all means, let’s hear from you!

p.s. I have Ross’ email address if anyone wants to contact him personally. I’ve taken it off of his comment to protect him from spammers

Last night was my first class of the R.E. year and I couldn’t be more delighted with how things turned out! Here are the highlights:

• I arrived to discover that there is no period 1 class (5:30 – 6:45 pm) taking place in my room which means that I can get there nice and early each week and set my room up without rushing!
• I have a very large room this year…no desks…just tables and chairs. This made it very easy for me to re-arrange the furniture, create a “horseshoe” with chairs, set up a little prayer center in the middle, and have all of my supplies in place with plenty of time to spare.
• I greeted each of the kids with a handshake as they entered and asked them their names. They were very polite and sociable.
• They had a palpable sense of curiousity about the setting – no desks, chairs in a semi-circle, Bible, candle, and holy water in their midst, lights slightly dimmed, quiet music playing in the background – that seemed to foster a sense of quiet (either that or they were afraid of me!)
• Our introductions went very nicely…in addition to introducing themselves and sharing a thought or two about their interests (sports, musical instruments, etc.), I had them share the name of the person they most trust in the world (the theme of the class was “We TRUST in the goodness of God). They did this without much hesitation, most naming one of their parents or one of their classmates (which was very nice), while one said “me” referring to himself.
• We had a nice opening prayer in which I read to them their “classroom covenant” (which states the rights and responsibilities of each young person participating in this class) and then had them come forward prayerfully to sign the covenant, bless themselves with holy water, and return to their seats. At that point I prayerfully presented their textbooks to them, calling them forward one at a time by name and saying “May you find God in all things” as I handed them their Finding God textbooks.
• Following the prayer, I invited them to leaf through their books just to get an idea of what lies ahead.
• I introduced the notion of trust and played to them a recording of a song by Linkin Park (”From the Inside”) that summarizes the difficulty that young people have when it comes to trusting, especially after being hurt. They were a bit blown away that their catechist knew who Linkin Park was and actually played one of their songs in class! I told them that they probably won’t hear that song in church on Sunday…they laughed!
• From there, I assigned them a couple of articles from chapter 1 that deal with the concept of faith (trust) in God. Half the group read one article (silently) while the other half read the other article. Then, I paired them up and had them interview one another about what they read.
• We gathered once again as a large group and summarized the key points in the articles, namely, that we are called to place our faith in God whose goodness can be trusted.
• I introduced them to the concept of “sacred space” – they each could find a place in the room to call their own – a space that they will use for prayer and reflective reading. Most chose to sit under one of the many tables! They really got a kick out of this.
• As they sat in their sacred space, I invited them to listen to the song On Eagle’s Wings which is, of course, a song about complete trust in the goodness of God (the antithesis to the Linkin Park song). I also gave them the lyrics to reflect on as they listened. I never expected anyone to sing along, yet a couple of the girls started to sing on the refrain (I heard one say out loud, “I love this song!”). During the next refrain, a number of the boys chimed in but in a sarcastic manner. I paused the song and said, “if you want to sing along, you’ll do so prayerfully. If you’re making fun of the song, don’t sing…just listen.” I resumed the song and the sarcastic singing was gone. Interestingly enough, however, those couple of girls kept right on signing and I can’t be sure but I believe a few other voices joined in!
• When the song was over, I invited them to sit quietly and ask God for the grace they need to trust him. They were nice and quiet for a couple of minutes.
• It was time to go so I invited them back into the semi-circle and had them collect the books and supplies. I told them that they had done very well for the first class and that I looked forward to working witht them this year.
• They left with a great deal of energy and, believe it or not, when they were down the hallway, I heard a few of them break into the refrain of “On Eagle’s Wings!” Not that this singing was even close to being reverent, but I had to laugh to myself that I “got in their heads” which is no easy task!

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for being with me last night and for guiding and inspiring me and my students to encounter you!

With class beginning tonight, my only thoughts are, “Lord, send out your Spirit!”

Here is a Catechist’s Prayer from the Finding God catechist manual that I am using:

Loving God, creator of all things, you call us to be in relationship with you and others. You are the giver of all I possess, the source of all my blessings, for which I thank and praise you. Help me to desire nothing more than to be filled with your love and grace. Thank you for calling me to be a catechist, for the opportunity to share with others what you have given to me. May all those with whom I share the gift of faith discover how you are present in all things. May they come to know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. May the grace of the Holy Spirit guide my heart and lips, so that I may remain constant in loving and praising you. May I be a witness to the Gospel and a minister of your truth. May all my words and actions reflection your love. May all see in me the fruits of your Spirit, so that your glory may be seen in the world. Amen.

I received my class list today and I have 13 eighth graders: 8 boys and 5 girls. Of course I would have hoped for a better gender balance but oh, well! I’ll be planning my lesson this weekend and gearing up to go Monday evening. Have a nice weekend!

p.s. a shout-out to all the wonderful catechists I met in Iowa on Wednesday and Thursday!