Whether you work with little children, teenagers, or adults, you are not alone in catechetical ministry. These posts highlight stories from catechists and faith formation leaders in the field, sharing the ups and downs of their work.

A “Crash Course” on Papal Conclaves!

Last evening, I had only about 10 minutes with my 6th graders (after we attended a presentation in the gym) so I used the time to talk to them a little bit about the papal conclave. First, I asked if anyone knew what important event was happening in Rome beginning Tuesday and most of them knew that a new pope was being elected. Then, I asked if anyone knew the correct term for this event […]

6th Grade Psalms

We had a very enjoyable session last evening focusing on the Psalms. In case you missed it, here is what I had planned. The kids enjoyed the opening activity of describing the emotions portrayed in a series of pictures and selecting one that best described how they felt at the moment (they almost all selected the picture that represented being tired except for one very peppy young man who said, “I’m just happy to be […]

The Psalms: The Sound of Music Returns!

No, I’m not showing the Julie Andrews classic! I’m simply referring to the fact that my session for this evening will include a return to the use of music as a key feature. I’ve done a lot with video this year so I thought it would be a good idea to do something more auditory. For tonight’s session, I’m going to focus on the Psalms. Due to a quirk in the calendar, this is really […]

The Lure of Technology

I mentioned in my post the other day that I used my laptop and LCD projector to invite my 6th graders to come forward and arrange images in chronological order to tell the Exodus/Passover story and that they did this for the parents who were visiting for Open House. One of the parents attending had her 3rd grade son with her and he was transfixed by the images on the screen. As we were nearing […]

7 Parents Showed Up for Open House!

Last evening’s session went exceptionally well and thank goodness, because parents of 7 of my 13 kids showed up for the open house! It was a great pleasure to meet so many of the parents and to have the kids do such a wonderful job of showing them what they learned! They did so by first reviewing the Exodus/Passover story – putting in chronological order the pictures portraying scenes from the Exodus/Passover experience ( Exodus/Passover Review […]

A Lesson Plan on the Sacraments of Initiation

For the past week, while traveling from coast to coast, I’ve been rambling about my lesson for this evening on the Sacraments of Initiation (and a connection to the Old Testament) and posting bits and pieces here and there as I came up with them. Now, I’ve put it all together into a coherent (hopefully!) lesson plan for this evening! Here ’tis: The Sacraments of Initiation Big Idea: We pledge allegiance to God through the Sacraments of […]

Exodus/Passover and the Sacraments of Initiation – Update

Here is the latest addition to my lesson for tomorrow evening on the Sacraments of Initiation and how they tie-in to the Exodus/Passover story. I developed a chart that the young people will once again need to manipulate (I will do it as a projection but you can use it as a worksheet) to put the correct words in place to show the connection between the Sacraments of Initiation and the Exodus/Passover experience. The chart, when […]

Connecting Exodus, Passover, and the Sacraments of Initiation

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am preparing a lesson on the Sacraments of Initiation for this Monday evening and plan to connect it to our study of the Old Testament, in particular, the Exodus/Passover story. As part of that, I put together a review of the Exodus/Passover story – 10 pictures from the Exodus story that need to be placed in order – that can be used in one of 2 ways: I […]

Sacraments of Initiation: I Pledge Allegiance…

I’m on my way to Brooklyn, NY, for a presentation this evening, however, here’s my latest thinking about  teaching the Sacraments of Initiation this Monday and tying it to the Old Testament. I plan to introduce the session by inviting the kids to say the Pledge of Allegiance and to talk about what it means to pledge one’s allegiance to someone or something (loyalty, obedience). I’ll use that as an opportunity to talk about how […]

Looking Ahead: Sacraments of Initiation

As I look ahead to this coming Monday’s session, I see that I am scheduled to teach about the Sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist. It’s one of those strange situations where I’ve been teaching about the Old Testament and then all of a sudden I’m supposed to teach about the Sacraments of Initiation. Personally, I want to be able to keep a connection with the Old Testament going so I plan on developing […]

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