It’s important in your approach to calling people to serve as catechists to be positive! I’ve seen bulletin announcements that sound so desperate: “We are in dire need of catechists. We keep losing good catechists every year. Without catechists, we may have to cancel our religious education program!” Language like that makes it sound like you’re inviting someone to hop aboard a sinking ship.
Present your program in a positive light, and describe the role of being a catechist as an opportunity to grow in faith. Avoid sounding desperate, and instead emphasize how crucial this ministry is. Use language that honors the potential catechists and their motivation and gives them something positive to respond to. Most of all, emphasize that, as a catechist, the person will be joining a “catechetical community of faith”—a small faith group in which catechists will find support in their personal and spiritual lives. Here are some effective approaches to consider:
- Witness talks from current catechists (at Mass, after Communion).
- Profiles of current catechists in the church bulletin or local paper.
- Planting seeds when parents are registering their children. (“You would make a good catechist; have you ever thought about it?”)
- Social media, such as a Facebook page for catechists, to direct potential candidates to.
- Invitation to a “no obligation” dinner (or wine and cheese, or coffee and…) for potential catechists.
- Personal appearances at parish organizations to invite people to consider the call to serve as a catechist.
- Visibility at Sunday Masses and other parish functions to observe, identify, and approach people to plant seeds and/or to invite.
- Phone calls to potential catechists and to former catechists.
Use printed materials for support and to build awareness, not as your only strategy. What other approaches would you suggest?
For great ideas on recruiting and retaining catechists, see Jayne Ragasa-Mondoy’s book on Cultivating Your Catechists (part of the Effective Catechetical Leader series).
Read other posts in the Calling Forth Catechists series here.
Joe
I have doe at least half of the strategies you suggest. By the generosity of our people and God’s Grace I will interview a person, recruited by another catechist, on Monday to fill my last opening. Prayer and persistence have paid off.
Be sure to lay out your basic expectations of a catechist, and keep in mind that the less-complicated your expectations, the better your response will be. For example, I email the text below in the body of my reminder to register, which goes out once each summer month.
Faith Formation is always in need of loving adults (Grandparents encouraged!) who’d like to teach and share our Catholic Faith with the youth and children of the parish. Please consider volunteering as a catechist, even if you don’t have children old or young enough to participate in OLG’s faith formation programs.
Ask yourself: is God is calling ME to be a catechist?
– Your commitment as a catechist means:
• We will train and support you in the use of the materials we provide
that form the basis of each class
• You spend some time looking at the material for the next lesson so you
know what you are teaching
• You are present for each catechetical session, usually 22-23 per year
from late-September through early-May
• You are willing to let God use you to both teach, and to learn, about
our Catholic faith with a small group
Love your article and all the great suggestions. Sometimes I feel we do resort to the sinking ship and the message that we are dire need because it often works and people will come if you are desperate and not before!
Hi Terri. Urgency is fine! Desperation communicates that a negative experience awaits!
Thanks for this. Have just been called (ok firmly moved) from simply being a catechist to a leadership role. Also settling into a very different parish community – when I arrived, I was the only active catechist there. We are looking to form a team of catechist and supporters. The idea behind the supporters is to help build confidence to encourage and grow more catechists, or if this is not their calling, to see whether they have other offerings to support children’s and our formation. It feels like stepping out into the unknown, but thanks to God, he is providing a lot as I am not a natural leader of administrator.