As you may know, this past year, I ran a feature here on my blog called Catechists in Action consisting of videos of various catechists “doing their thing” so that we could watch like a fly on the wall. Now, we’ve put together a 4-minute compilation of all 8 catechists we visited so that you can see in a nutshell what the ministry of catechesis is all about. I encourage you to share this video with anyone who is contemplating becoming a catechist and is wondering what it is like and whether or not they can do it. And be sure to tell them about the Thinking of Becoming a Catechist page!
Catechist Recruitment
Calling Forth Catechists: Your Pool of Candidates
If your efforts to call forth catechists boil down to an “all call” approach (a bulletin announcement inviting anyone to respond to a need), you will not have much success. The most effective way to call people to the vocation of serving as a catechist is through personal invitation! One catechetical leader recently told me that, last year, she made 43 individual contacts (either in person or by phone) and ended up with the best […]
Catechist Recruitment
Recruiting and Retaining Catechists Who Evangelize with GIFTS
Many catechetical leaders are familiar with the struggle of trying to find catechists at the last minute and begging parishioners for help. We have all heard the horror stories of people who tentatively volunteered and two weeks later found themselves standing in front of a room full of students, unsure of themselves and wondering how they ended up in this position. If our catechists are the backbone of our faith formation programs, then recruiting and […]
Catechetical Leaders
Challenges and Successes of Being a Catechetical Leader
Every year as a Director of Religious Education has its own unique challenges and successes. I keep telling myself that if I’m doing the same thing as the year before, then I’m doing it wrong. Here are some continual challenges I face and the ways I have found success amidst them. Challenge 1: Recruiting Catechists I have a large program, and even though I have some very dedicated catechists, I also have an average turnover […]
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