Catechist's Journey

When discussing catechesis and evangelization, I am very comfortable using the phrases such as  ”public relations” (PR) or marketing, and find that I often encounter push back. “The Church is not trying to win a public relations battle!” “Proclaiming the Gospel is not a popularity contest!” “The Church is not about public relations!” The conclusion that [...]

It is truly amazing how social media keeps us informed and connected these days. As I sit here in the Manchester, NH, airport, I checked Facebook and saw that my friend and colleague Casey Karl linked to an interesting-sounding article about how to use Twitter for your Religious Education program. I clicked on that and [...]

On my recent trip to the Diocese of Rochester, NY, to do a couple of presentations, I had the pleasure of sharing a couple of long car rides with  Jonathan Schott, the Coordinator of Adult, Family, and Catechist Formation. Our conversations were wide-ranging: sports, movies, TV, and, of course, catechesis! In particular, we talked about [...]

In this segment of Catechist in Action, 8th grade catechist Chris Brett reads and discusses the Sunday Gospel with his students. Watch for the following: Chris has a key line from Gospel (the story of the Transfiguration) written on the board Chris tells the students what to listen for and what to do as they [...]

While in Tucson, AZ, at their catechetical conference last week, I spent some time at a booth in the exhibit hall sponsored by The World Community for Christian Meditation. There, I found some very nice resources for teaching Christian meditation to children. The WCCM traces its contemporary roots to London, 1975, when John Main established [...]

In this segment of Catechists in Action, 3rd grade catechist Steve Lascola talks to the children about forgiveness. Watch for the following: Steve invites the kids to color in the word forgiveness; Steve asks how many of the kids know the Lord’s Prayer; Steve recites the Lord’s Prayer and asks the kids to write down [...]