During my years at Loyola Press, I have had the joy of working with and reporting to a number of directors who can vouch for the fact that one of the first things I ask from them is a regular meeting (weekly or bi-weekly) to ensure that we have open and ongoing communication. Without such communication, any relationship suffers.
So when it comes to catechists and catechetical leaders, I must ask the question: how often do you talk to one another? When I was a parish catechetical leader, I met with my catechists as a group monthly, dropped in on their classes weekly, and had individual interviews with them at the beginning and end of every catechetical year to ensure that we had good communication.
In her outstanding book, Cultivating Your Catechists (The Effective Catechetical Leader series), Jayne Ragasa-Mondoy reminds us of the following:
Supervision is about relationship building. There’s a saying in the corporate world: people leave managers, not corporations. In the same way, catechists often leave catechetical leaders, not programs. While you can’t please everyone, focusing on building and nurturing relationships with catechists is of major importance. The last thing you want to do is to assign them their duties and leave them alone.
I agree with Jayne’s assessment that one of the best ways for catechetical leaders to retain catechists is to foster regular and ongoing communication with them. Likewise, for catechists, one of the best ways for you to grow and improve in your ministry is to be in regular communication with your catechetical leader in order to seek feedback, insight, and wisdom.
How often do you speak with your catechists/catechetical leader?
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