Welcome to the final installment of Catechists in Action, a feature that has enabled us to be a “fly on the wall” of a number of catechists in this past year. In this final installment, we meet Marge Garbacz, Director of Religious Education at St. Symphorosa Parish in Chicago, IL. Among the many hats that Marge wears (including “parish carnival coordinator”!) is the coordinator of the parish RCIA process. Marge has assembled an impressive team of catechists and sponsors to accompany the catechumens and candidates on their journey. In these upcoming segments, we will have an opportunity to see how Marge, as a catechist of adults, implements sound and effective techniques for catechizing adults. In this segment, Marge gives us an overview of what we are about to witness in her RCIA process.
Adult Faith Formation
Getting Away from the Presentation/Lecture Method for Adult Faith Formation
One of the patterns that we need to break in order for ongoing Adult Faith Formation to take root and grow is the bad habit of lecturing to adults for 45 minutes or an hour and calling that adult catechesis. In many parishes, adult faith formation takes the shape of a staff member (pastor, associate pastor, deacon, pastoral associate, DRE) deciding that he or she will offer a series of classes for 6 to 8 weeks. […]
Catechetical Leaders
RCIA Catechists: Getting the Newly Initiated to “Come Back” for Mystagogia
I had a nice discussion last evening with some RCIA coordinators, catechists, and sponsors, who were lamenting how difficult it is to get the newly initiated to return for sessions following the Easter Vigil. (Sounds very similar to the struggle we have getting kids to come back after Confirmation, eh?) The Easter season is to be a period of “mystagogia” (miss-tuh-GO-jyah) – an opportunity to reflect upon the mysteries of our faith (which basically describes […]
Catechists in Action
Catechists in Action – Marge Leads Discussion
In this segment of Catechists in Action, Marge Garbacz leads her RCIA group in discussion about the Catholic approach to human dignity. Watch for the following: Marge offers comments on the “Mr. Cellophane” song that the group just viewed. The group offers their reactions and experiences of feeling “invisible” or treating others as though they were invisible. Notice how Marge pulls back and allows discussion to flow and how she asks if anyone else has […]
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